What I Noticed
After receiving massage for almost 25 years and providing massage for 20, I have noticed a trend. Many people are not reaping the full benefits of their massage! Part of what inspired me to write this for you was the experience I had when I rode multiple roller coasters for the first time in years. My kids were old enough to ride the big ones for the first time, so I wanted to experience that with them. Man was I scared at first, which surprised me because as a teen I was so very fearless in this situation. As we climbed the first gigantic hill, I wondered if I would survive and why the heck I had decided to do this!! About halfway through the first ride, when I realized I wasn’t dead, I went ahead and let out a few hearty screams. I noticed that the queasy feeling in my tummy and the sweaty palms went away, and my screaming allowed me to loosen up and actually enjoy the ride! This experience highlighted part of the process I tap into and is how I get more healing benefits from a massage.
Massage is a tool
Massage is a valuable stress management tool. I personally receive a massage each month and find it vital to my self-care regimen. As a nurse, mom, healer, and coach, by the end of the month I start to look at the calendar asking myself, “when is my massage!”, because, despite all of my other self-care efforts, I can feel an accumulation of stress and tension in my body that isn’t usually there. If your experience is anything like mine, you know how uncomfortable it can feel. You may even know people who take medications to help manage their moods and anxiety levels.
When you feel the feels
Being a highly sensitive person, when I feel stress, I REALLY feel it. I have tried medications for depressed mood in the past during a couple of especially difficult periods in my life, but the negative side effects were so pronounced for me that they were not the right fit for me. And, since I gave up sugar several years ago, I don’t even reach for that glass of vino anymore to unwind after a particularly stressful day. These days my stress relieving go-to’s are frequent hot baths, journaling, prayer/meditation, yoga most days, other gentle exercise, remaining off the sugar roller coaster, and monthly massage.
How I Get More Healing Benefits From a Massage
When I receive a massage, I use it as a time to really tune in to my body and what it is saying. The two most helpful things I do to get more healing benefits from a massage are deep breathing and using sound.
Deep Breathing
- I use deep breathing throughout the massage.
- If an area is tense and sore, I use lots of deep breathing to help open the area and to help the tension dissipate. I take as many deep breaths as the area seems to require until the soreness lessens. The breathing communicates to my therapist that there is more tension here and signals him to spend more time in the area.
Sound
I use sound to help the deep tension dissipate! Whatever sound that area is holding in, I let it out. The different sounds that come out sometimes surprise me! I just let them out without filtering them through my brain. For me, a deep, gutteral, long “uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhh” sound with each exhale that seem to come from deep within my belly and bones tends to do the trick, and the tension just melts away. My body really responds to the verbal acknowledgement of what it has been storing and lets it all drop away so nicely. Inevitably, at some point during the massage, I no longer focus on breathing or sound and my mind lets go completely into the sweet and infinite peace of deep relaxation.
It may seem strange
At first, I was self-conscious about it, thinking it may make the therapist uncomfortable, and didn’t explore using sound. But, as both a therapist and a receiver of massage, I realize more than most that massage is for the receiver, and if breathing and sound helps the receiver in reducing stored stress then by all means, do it! Also, as a person with fifth chakra issues, which involves challenges at times when it comes to verbal expression of my truth, I find it essential and powerful to release stress stored in my body using breath and sound.
Let’s normalize it
During my last massage I asked my therapist, who has practiced for 16 years, how many people use deep breathing and sound during massage. We agreed that less than 10% do, and that so many more people could benefit from doing this! To be fully present and in the flow of life, we need to learn not only to give, but also to fully receive. Please write me and let me know your experiences with trying breathing and sound while receiving massage. I wish you deep relaxation and peace. Enjoy!