Finding words

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Is it really necessary to use English words when we speak Italian?
Hi, I’m Paola Dalmasso, and in my daily life I speak English, French, and Italian—and sometimes all three of these languages at once.

No, I don’t intend to write a treatise on sociolinguistics in this Agorà post, but I like to poke fun at something that actually happens quite often in my work.
You may not have noticed, but next to my name on my website and social media, there’s the term “bodywork.”
I’d like to explain why that is and why I sometimes borrow words from English.

When I started this work, almost 30 years ago, the holistic field didn’t exist in Italy.
It’s a field I don’t fully identify with because, over the years, any sort of professional or practitioner offering an alternative way to feel good or better about oneself has labeled their approach “holistic.”

It’s understandable that such a broad label might have encompassed many different methodologies—some more effective than others—but these haven’t always earned people’s trust.

I do recognize, however, that it has helped people become familiar with certain topics and enrich their vocabulary with terms that form the concepts within which I, too, operate.

Addressing anxiety, better managing relationships with others and with oneself, increasing vitality, and achieving deep relaxation.

But that wasn’t enough for me.
I needed to expand my vocabulary, and through my studies and experience over the years, I’ve incorporated other words that are internationally recognized terms and don’t have a true equivalent in Italian.

Let me give you an example.

Starting in the mid-1990s, information technology began making its way into our homes.
The computer, once exclusively a tool for work and development, gradually became an everyday object for general use.
And we’ve all learned what a mouse, a PC (personal computer), a desktop, or a browser is.
Now, would any of you call a mouse a “topo” [italian translation]?

Well, bodywork is the active work of the body: blood pulses, cells regenerate, some die, gas exchange occurs, and electrical impulses flow.
This is the essential condition for life to flow within us.

And I, through my work and with my medical training, act to ensure that this natural process accelerates, spreads, resumes, and ceases to be blocked—so that the body’s healing mechanisms are set in motion exponentially, allowing for a recovery that is often described as unexpected or impossible.
This is the essential condition for life to flow within us.
And I, through my work and with my medical training, strive to ensure that this natural process accelerates, spreads, and resumes—that it is no longer blocked—so that the body’s healing mechanisms are set in motion exponentially, enabling a recovery that is often described as unexpected or impossible.

Words change, travel, and blend together. And sometimes they help us better express who we are and what we do.

I continue to work with the body.
In Italian, English, French, and, when necessary, even without words.