Backwalking for Relaxation
and Recovery
by Andrea Caplan, B.A., C.M.T.
Thai Bodywork Practitioner and owner of The Body Politic
After the Pentagon was hit on 9/11, I volunteered to work with members of the rescue squads when they returned to the hotels housing them in Crystal City. Twice following the disaster, I went to the Crystal City Hyatt to help rescue workers de-stress, and relieve muscular fatigue and injury. During the first long evening, the stream of exhausted men seeking relief seemed to be never-ending, and I realized I was exhausting my own arms trying to loosen them up. These guys were built, and tight, and my 98-lb. frame just couldn’t keep up. So, I decided to ‘go public’ with work I had already been doing in my home office for six months: backwalking. As a kid, I had walked on my father’s back and knew how much a person could enjoy it. But it certainly was not on the agenda in massage school, nor had I seen it offered anywhere as continuing education.
I had been doing Thai-style assisted-yoga stretching routines since taking two professional training courses in 1998 and 2000. I had been using my feet, knees, elbows, and even my head (literally) in working with clients; in effect, crawling all over them, so walking on their backs wasn’t, pardon the pun, too much of a stretch for me to consider. For several years, I had realized that working hard with my hands and elbows was jamming them, and I wanted more impact while exerting less force and sparing myself.
By the time of the attack on the Pentagon, I had just completed training at the Washington Institute for Body Psychotherapy, where I had become acutely aware of character structure and its defensive patterns in the body, otherwise known as ‘armoring’. As a longtime client of body psychotherapy myself, I had personal experience with using my therapist’s weight to ‘take over’ my body’s pattern of defensive energy trapped in the mesoderm (muscles) so that such energy could be released and allowed to run a different, healing course, even if only for a brief period of time. Whether or not the rescue workers knew all the possible benefits of the work was immaterial; the point was I had a lot I wanted to offer, and I wanted to see if they would benefit from it.
So, on my second trip to the hospitality suite, I brought my body cushion, and I set myself up next to the wall, upon which I could lean for balance. In my office, I have ropes that I have hung from the ceiling which give me far more stability as well as mobility, but when you take your show on the road, improvisation is the name of the game. Admittedly, some of the men were either disinterested or downright wary of backwalking, even as they watched their cohorts enjoy the process. And backwalking, like every other modality in the massage therapy world, is not for everyone. But many were grateful, and claimed the work to be highly effective for them; both relaxing and energizing at the same time. And that was exactly what I was aiming for, with the added benefit of saving my own upper body from overuse, while incorporating more of me physically into my work.
I now use backwalking as an integral part of my stretching routine with clients, as long as they are enthusiastic about it beforehand. I won’t incorporate it if they have any ambivalence. And I always make sure it is not medically contra-indicated, just as I would any other ‘depth’ bodywork technique. Most clients just enjoy the weight, the shifts, and the stretches as I walk on them. But some clients have begun to ‘use’ me more fully in co-creating their own sessions, particularly when I walk on them, and this has led to some very satisfying results.
While it is a fairly straighforward process to describe this work, and I believe the photos help ‘speak’ for me, what I cannot do is describe is how profoundly individual the sensations, feelings and attitudinal changes this work creates can be. Like so many things, it must be experienced to be understood. If the work interests you, please visit my website for more information about me and my practice at , or contact me directly at andrea@thebodypolitic.net or 301/346-5716.