Like most teachers, I like to review my own teaching at the end of each class or workshop and make notes on what went really well, as well as identifying any aspects of the day that I wish to amend or improve. Back in London and, I have to say, a far colder environment, I have now had the chance to reflect on the last Intensive Advanced Sports Injuries & Massage Diploma in Turkey and how that went from a teaching point of view. It was one of the best diplomas I've been fortunate enough to be involved with and both Zoë and I spent considerable time mulling over why this was so. It may have been because of its location—the Southern shores of Turkey—or it may simply have been because the students who undertook it were highly motivated. Being away from home obviously played a large part in everyone's enjoyment of the course. None of us had any commuting to do, we didn't have to get up early and fight our way onto and off of crammed tube trains or along busy streets both at the start and the end of each day, we simply rolled down to breakfast and were already in the training venue. So we all began each day feeling relatively fresh. Also, not having to prepare meals, collect kids, pay bills, answer calls or do any of the usual 'chores' meant that most of us soon began to relax, slept better and began to feel more alert and more alive. Located on the shores of the Mediterranean we all ate well, with fresh fish and salads and had the benefit of pollution-free coastal air. It was warm, varying between 24-29 degrees each day, so everyone felt inclined to drink plenty of water. Prone to dehydration, that too must have done me good in particular.
The change of routine helped too. Each morning I stood in silence on the balcony and watched as the sun slowly rose. Some of the students went for a dawn swim, slipping through cold water doing their lengths before others were awake. Each evening some of us sat on the balcony and watched the sun dip behind the Greek islands and then in the warm night air wandered lazily down to the town for dinner. Most nights before retiring for bed I lay on my back on the patio and let my mind go blank, staring up and into the stars and their wonderful configurations, clear in the October night sky. The local plant called Melissa was blossoming everywhere and the air was filled with its jasmine-like scent. It took around three days before I stopped feeling like there was something else I ought to be doing but eventually relaxation lead to laughter and a letting go of anxieties.
However, the course was not without its challenges and, in a way, that made it a great course from a teaching point of view because it kept me on my toes and stimulated me to find new ways of working. One of the biggest challenges was working in a Muslim country. Clinic and practice days had to be managed carefully so as to respect the cultural norms of the society in which we were working. We got around this by never treating male and female clients at the same time in the same room. On one day only men were treated, on another day the women on the course went into town and treated the female residents, clients who did not feel comfortable coming into the hotel for their treatment sessions. With everyone we had to start by working through clothing, and once we started using oil, made sure that only very discrete parts of the body were ever exposed at any one time. When treating the male clients in supine the female students avoided making eye contact and were careful and respectful of the kind of body contact that is actually perfectly normal and acceptable by westerners receiving sports massage treatments.
Once we had gained their trust, many of the staff were keen to receive massage and it was interesting to note how all of the waiters had exactly the same musculature, with hypertrophy of their left rotator cuff and thoracic extensor muscles, the result of constant loading of that side as one-armed, they carried multiple layers of plates to and from tables, seven days a week for seven months of the year.
Another interesting aspect was the language barrier. With my basic smattering of Turkish I was able to formulate basic commands and solicit simple answers. (According to the Turks, I apparently speak Turkish “the way a Welsh person speaks English”). Zoë, having worked as a therapist in Morocco, also with Muslim clients, had a natural flair for gaining rapport with pretty much anyone we came into contact with and chatted away happily in French to the owner of our favourite restaurant when she discovered that he was also fluent in that language.
I know from past experience that students studying on intensive courses such as this often get very tired, and I was expecting this to happen in Turkey too. So to counter this Zoë and I had scheduled in a free day following every three days of training and in fact this worked very well. Some students chose to remain in the hotel and practice what they had learnt in the training room, others sat around the pool or in the shade reading through their notes. One or two chose to go off exploring and spent the day in town or on the beach or wandering through the zig zag maze of tiny alleyways with their jewellery and carpet shops. Some even chose to visit the nearby village of Kalkan, and two even hired a car and went further a-field. The net result was that when we returned for training the next day we were each of us more refreshed and ready for study.
Hotel staff enjoyed our company and were delighted by the students who practiced saying 'hello' and 'thank you' in Turkish. This greatly elevated us in the eyes of the town and I feel sure was the reason behind some free lunches some students enjoyed. Hotel staff no doubt observed everyone milling around with large files of notes and textbooks, happily reading and making notes either alone or in small groups. They also noted that most of us, most days were laughing. In fact, many of the students reported this as being one of their key memories, the fact that they laughed so much. One day the manager, most impressed by everyone's diligence, leant over his coffee and said "your students, they are very clever people, yes? They working very hard, yes? They are very clever peoples I think? Very good peoples?". What could I say? He was delighted at the thought that myself and Zoë had selected his hotel for to bring these good, clever people, people who tried to speak his language and laughed a lot. "Yes," I nodded, "They are clever. They are good," and I meant it. Students are always clever, and they are always good. And I realized that here they had simply been afforded the opportunity to let that aspect of themselves shine. They hadn't necessarily done it consciously. The sunny days, fresh air and finding themselves amongst like-minded people had enabled that. And that, I decided, was what had made the difference for me from a teaching point of view. Having it revealed to me that once people are given the environment, emotional space and just a little bit of support, their natural ability to learn thrives like there is no tomorrow. And that’s why I choose to believe that all the students I work with are good, all the students I work with are clever.
To find more about the Intensive Advanced Sports Injuries & Massage Diploma in Turkey visit : www.thelondonmassagecompany.com or email us:
ask@thelondonmassagecompany.com
