What to Expect from a Pantarei Session
I am a big fan of self-work, self-care, and yea just self in general. What can I say, I love myself! :)
So when I saw a Pantarei practitioner was offering a free session on a local listserv, I decided to reach out. But first I decided to do a little research to see exactly what Pantarei was. Unfortunately, their website was not very helpful.
After some digging, and stumbling over a broken link, I found this explanation:
Each session involves a combination of touch, movement, and spoken communication. Together, the practitioner and client verbally describe the client’s experiences, and the practitioner uses both touch and instruction to guide the client through the sessions.
Hmm, still not 100% clear, but I made the appointment anyway figuring, that if nothing else, it would make a funny story to share with my bff later. Plus, the first session was free! I literally had nothing to lose.
Here’s a Recap of My Experience
A day before the appointment. my practitioner wrote me an email asking if there was anything specific I wanted to work on in the session. He also told me to make sure I wore comfortable clothes.
I wrote him back, Issues? What exactly do you mean?
To which he replied,
Oftentimes people come and they don't exactly know what they want to look at or work on, this is no problem whatsoever. Pantarei can work with a very wide variety of topics, and during the session, we always find a relevant topic. But examples of subjects that people come up with are:
1. Fears of being left alone, making someone's romantic relationships harder
2. Trouble feeling emotions
3. Being overwhelmed with work
4.... etc
However, the sessions themselves often don't focus only on the 'negative' subject. Often a session is also about reconnecting with a passion, feeling increased self-love and self-acceptance, or something in this direction.
When I showed up the next day, I decided I wanted to work on my occasional bouts of insomnia. Having had a crap night’s sleep the night before, I thought, What the heck! Let’s try to crack this mystery once and for all!
For the first half hour, my Pantarei practitioner first shared a bit about the Pantarei approach (and even admitted that the website left much to be desired) and then asked me loads of questions about my life story. I gave him a solid history of my past from day 1 to year 35 and honestly, it was feeling more like a therapy session than the massage movement session I thought I would be partaking in.
I informed him that when I can’t sleep, there is usually a physical tightness in the chest that makes it hard to relax into slumber which usually leaves me feeling wide awake. Because of my crappy sleep the night before, the tightness was still slightly present. He then told me to lie on the massage table on my back.
After climbing up on the table oh so gracefully, I laid back, closed my eyes, and let him work his magic.
He put light pressure on my chest and told me to breathe in with my nose and out with my breath. He welcomed me to make any noises if I felt compelled. He then said, What would the tightness say to you if it could speak?”
“Run,” I said without hesitation, laughing at my own frankness.
“And what would happen if you didn’t run?” he clapped back.
I thought the question was rhetorical until he asked me again.
“Nothing,” I responded.
It was true, nothing would actually happen if I didn’t run. I wouldn’t die, that’s too dramatic. After this moment of realization, I felt my nervous system start to relax.
I kept breathing, and all the while my practitioner was gently gliding his hands down the bottom half of my body and applying gentle pressure on my feet.
“Try to create space for that tightness,” he instructed.
My body and mind began to enter a peaceful state, similar to how I feel when I do Yoga Nidra. It was then that he told me the session was coming to a close and that he would be leaving the room for a while for me to process everything. Afterward, he would come back and we would discuss what happened.
My Takeaways
“Rationally, I know my monkey mind isn’t helpful and I shouldn’t listen to anything it says, but when I am in the throes of insomnia, I get stuck physically.”
I definitely felt calmer - and lighter- after the session, like a baby elephant removed himself from my chest. I also slept very well the night following (although I usually tend to sleep well after a night of tossing and turning). One thing that stuck out for me was the idea that I should welcome this physical discomfort and even create space for it, rather than trying to resist it. Rationally, I know my monkey mind isn’t helpful and I shouldn’t listen to anything it says, but when I am in the throes of insomnia, I get stuck physically. By creating space for the discomfort to roam about, it can pass through more quickly. Breathing through the nose, and breathing out through the mouth (preferably with sound) helps with this process.
Will I go back?
Maybe. Like most humans, I sometimes find that my emotions get stuck in the body and show up as physical ailments. When emotions show up physically, it's not so easy for my brain to just "think them away." That's when modalities like breathwork, ecstatic dance, dynamic meditation, yoga, and sports become helpful. Well, now I can add Pantarei to that list. I was quite surprised by how quickly I was able to enter a state of calmness during this Pantarei session. I would consider going back for a few more sessions but will wait a few weeks to see if anything else shifts in the meantime.