Why Getting Massage from a Pro is Your Best Bet

“I’d like to invite you in for a moment, into your body. Down, out of your brain and out of your thinking mind and into the sensations of your muscles”

First, take a moment to bring your attention to your shoulders.

Where are they? Are they up in your ears?

Do you notice any tightness or pulling when you move them up and  down, or when you roll them backward and forward?

What else are you noticing there: are you experiencing any emotions as you move your shoulders around? 

Super! Even just the act of observing your muscles is beneficial. And now we’ve taken a moment to connect to our bodies. If you are unhappy with how your shoulders were moving ( or not!) there is probably someONE who can assist you in making that area move with more ease. I’m referring to you receiving bodywork from a professional.

Yes. Yes, I know you can massage the area with your own hands, but you will not be able to achieve the results you desire solely on your own, as you may have found.

Why not, you ask? Do understand this is not to discourage you from self massage or self care but to encourage you to invest in a full experience to get relief from what ails you.

We simply have too much going on to be able to relax enough for our bodies to get into the parasympathetic or calming nervous system which is where healing occurs. 

First of all, have you ever tried massaging your own shoulders? We are sort of working against ourselves in our attempt to create ease. 

Second, when we use our own hands, our brains are paying much more attention to the information in the fingertips and palms than the area we are massaging.  With around 3000 touch receptors in each individual fingertip and 17,000  touch receptors in the palm our brains are busy handling THAT information. The touch receptors in your shoulder are not getting the same amount of attention. As we massage ourselves attempting to ease our muscles, the tension we are seeking to ease gets overwhelmed by the information coming from the hands. It sort of “blanks out” the information we need to pay attention to at the site of tension. We can feel what our hands are feeling, but we can’t feel from the part of our body under our fingertips. This is why your massage therapist is able to find all of “the right spots” with their expertly trained, highly sensitive hands!

(Side note: Yes, there are massage tools we can use to do self - massage to home. Using these tools is beneficial and supportive for our healing journey. Self - massage is a vital part of self - care, but I’m attempting to show how it is limiting. Thanks!)

Third, as we massage ourselves we are focused on the action and trying to feel. These “actions” make “being” difficult. Our bodies have two main nervous system options: ON or OFF. ON mode is everyday living: problem solving, movement, analyzing, lots of thinking. OFF mode is sleep, rest, mediation, or other flow states. Healing occurs in OFF mode. As we try to figure out how to reach that spot in our shoulder and move around to get there we are in ON mode. The relief we get may be very momentary and localized. Good in a pinch, but not for lasting relief. 

These are a few reasons to receive bodywork from a licensed professional. 

To begin with, when you receive bodywork from someone else, you get to relax more. When we feel safe, and we allow someone else to touch our skin and tissues with the purpose of bringing relief, we can more easily get into OFF mode. 

OFF mode is also referred to as the parasympathetic or calming nervous system. Just as we feel ourselves drift off to sleep, our breathing slows, our heart rate drops and our body tends to the tasks of living without the stress that comes with alertness. Digestion, cell repair and other healing type activities take place. Receiving bodywork is another pathway to accessing this.  Being on a massage table or in a massage chair, or even on a yoga mat and being still allows your whole body to soften into ease. Getting us into the rest and healing side of ourselves.

Next, when receiving bodywork our brain CAN pay attention to where the therapist's hands are and what they are doing. Our whole focus can be on our body. Because our hands are not doing the work of massaging, our brain has more space available to notice what else is going on with our bodies. We are able to provide feedback to the bodyworker that allows them to use their skills to assist us. And in many types of bodywork it is acceptable to drift off and fall asleep which just deepens our connection to the body and its relaxed state.

Another aspect I want to address comes from one of my earlier questions above: 

Are you feeling emotions as you move your shoulders around? What does that mean?

Our bodies hold onto our experiences and emotions in the fascial or connective tissue system. You may have heard that concept before. I heard it in massage school but at the time it was not explained where in the body. I would be looking down at myself asking, “Where is this stuff being stored? And how can I get it out?” I believe all types of bodywork allow for the possibility for us as clients to have an emotional release. I have experienced it myself in massage and in the unwinding of my body in myofascial release work. Allowing ourselves to have an emotional release is a gift of healing, a sort of off ramp for our emotional buildup. Professional bodywork providers are aware of the possibility of tears, shudders and other sorts of movements and sounds. It is a normal and accepted part of their work. I am bringing it to your awareness as a client so that if you do have an emotional release you can know that you are normal and not crazy. It is not wrong for us to experience emotions and let them move through our bodies during bodywork. It is normal and healthy. There is a bond that happens in those moments and it is supportive to have that witnessed by the therapist. 

There are other more scientific techy types reasons to receive bodywork, but the most basic reason to receive bodywork from a professional is we all need human touch to survive and thrive. It is a basic human need. That alone is an invitation to schedule an appointment with a trusted professional. Next blog I’’ll be sharing some tips about communicating with your chosen therapist. 

To receive bodywork from me, you can use this link to schedule your appointment. I look forward to seeing you!