Connecting to Your Body and Healing Through Massage

“The way to health is to have an aromatic bath and a scented massage every day.”

-Hippocrates

For most people, a massage is a way to physically relax the body, but is that all that it is? As one of the oldest forms of holistic wellness, massage has been known to many as the secret to a healthy life. Massages are not just about replenishing the body; they are also about connecting the soul and mind to the body. There is no doubt that one of the greatest benefits of a massage is the pain and stress relief that it provides to the body, but the quality of healing that arises from receiving a massage is incomparable.

Holistic healing

In this day and age, in which we are taught to focus on our careers, we have been forced to neglect our bodies. The only time society deems it fit to allow us to focus on our bodies is when we are body-shamed into losing weight or looking a certain way. But there is opportunity for change and to truly connect with our bodies through the healing art of massage therapy.

To holistically heal, you first need to connect to your core, which can be achieved by giving respect to your body. On the surface, a massage works out the knots of the muscles. Digging a little deeper, massage relieves pain; emotional and physical, and brings about a deeper connection to yourself. With the guidance of an experienced massage therapist, massage releases emotions trapped in physical tension.  It reduces bodily stress, which allows you to be at one with your body. A massage also helps connect you to your breath while working through discomfort, strengthening your mind-body connection, deregulating your nervous system, reducing your blood pressure and stress hormones. By witnessing the immediate effects and changes a massage can have, it allows you to feel compassion, appreciation and connection with yourself. The momentum of this positive reinforcement acts as a motor on your road to wellness.

When you are not experiencing any bodily pains, you will be able to listen to your body and experience the different layers of energetic fields outside our physical form. It will allow you to start the healing process at a much deeper and more intimate level. The identifying mark of a good massage session is that it opens up another portal for you to connect to your body in another fashion. You’ll finally see your body(s) with your minds-eye for what it is, and not through society's convoluted lens. It starts a steady and impactful healing process, and the focus is on the inner person. All the critique that you have received or placed on your body can be managed and worked through.

During a powerful massage therapy session, you realize all the power that you possess. Spiritually speaking, the right way to treat your body is to give it proper respect. In fact, it should be the only way to treat your body. Remember, society is cruel and hell-bent on destroying people's self-esteem, so do not be another victim, and take back your power. Massage opens up an opportunity to accept and appreciate yourself for the way you are, to create space where there was once tightness and relief where there was once pain. Massage brings us into union with ourselves without rushing, without judgment, and without expectations.

 

What Should a Good Massage Feel Like?

A deep tissue massage is a good option if you are a person who is involved with strenuous physical work or heavy emotional experiences. With the specific pressure, long strokes and your steady breath, the RMT will work through tension and rid you of discomfort. After the massage session, you will feel a balance of air and earth; grounded, yet light.  You will experience the calming sense of being centered and connected. At first, it might only last a short while after your first few massage sessions. But eventually, your body will connect to this centered place quicker. You will be creating for yourself an anchor and a baseline to intuitively come back to whenever you feel the pendulum swing. Soon, you will be able to extend the amount of time between your massage therapy sessions because your body will know the way to connect with itself.

The quality of the massage session and, subsequently, your spiritual healing depends upon the expertise of the RMT, which is why we recommend only going for the best experts in the industry. Mountainview Movement is among the best wellness studios to offer such services as they focus on the complete wellness and healing of their patients, allowing them to introspect and have one-on-one sessions connecting with themselves. If you are thinking about massage therapy vancouver then definitely check them out. They offer various modalities of massage including swedish, deep tissue massage, myofascial, trigger point therapy, prenatal massage & more. They have two convenient Vancouver locations:

1160 Burrard Street, Unit 504, Vancouver, BC, V6Z2E8

207 West Hastings Street, Units 512 Vancouver, BC, V6B2N4

Journey to Healing

We term it as a journey because you cannot form a connection with yourself in just one massage session. It is like peeling the layers off an onion. The first few sessions will be about working through the surface—they will be focused on relieving your body of physical pain. In these sessions, you will also become comfortable with getting massaged, and form a routine that will help you look forward to your next session every time. By now, you will have settled down into the sessions and your own body enough to be able to move on to the bigger picture, i.e., connecting to your physical and transcendent bodies and deeper stuck emotions.

If you are overwhelmed about how to do this, you can ask your RMT to do a guided massage session. During this, they will tell you to focus on different parts of your body to form an enriched bond between the physical parts of the body and their spiritual counterparts. The ability to have a conversation with one’s body is not something that everyone is skilled at but one that takes focus, will, and time. You need to reiterate to yourself that you want to spark a light of positivity in every part of your body, as that is how therapeutic healing works.

Manage Your Qi

The only way to align every aspect of your Qi is to be healthy in all ways—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. By now, you have the answer to how you can achieve this, and all it requires is persistence, a present mind, and breath with massage. If you set your mind to healing yourself, your body and emotions will listen and align with your intentions. All they need from you is a little guidance and some tools, some of which can be massage therapy.

Remember that self-care is as important as any other thing in your life because if you do not take care of yourself, you will not be able to do anything properly. If you want to live a full life, listen to your body; be gentle with yourself, and give your body(s) all the respect and love you have. Do not let society tell you how to treat your body. There is no doubt that the body is a temple and should, therefore, be treated with the utmost care, kindness and respect. Live a full life by getting a regular massage from an experienced RMT and feel yourself journey towards wellbeing and healing.