The pandemic has been horrid for a handful of obvious reasons. Widespread disease, and overrun hospitals for starters. Changes in human relations: fear of being physically near one another, or just the opposite; an anti-culture stance towards mask-wearing, and social distancing.
It appears that the social environment is imploding on itself, and people in America are taking cover in their own individual camps, exploring what it is they are made of, and who they are. Despite the political sensory overload that is 2020, this social depolarization may be the healthiest thing that could happen to generations abroad. Now more than ever people are taking self-care very seriously. If we are to continue in this hostile environment, how is it that we will treat ourselves?
Body awareness is a look within a deeper place.
How our bodies feel on a day to day basis is the best tell of how we are managing our mental, and emotional health.
The mind-body connection is the most vulnerable to disconnection. For instance, if we manage our stress poorly, our body ends up suffering from high cortisol levels making it very difficult to sleep properly, recover, and digest food. On the other hand, if the body becomes dangerously dehydrated, the mind will begin to slow, and confusion ensues. The mind-body is a system, and through body awareness, we can become aware of our mental blocks, and bring clarity to where we should be spreading our energy, and in what instances we should be protecting ourselves. To stay healthy we must take care of our bodies first.
As a massage therapist, the most effective way I know of to restore the mind-body connection is through body compression. When a client comes in for a session and is clearly outside themselves, I like to begin bodywork with diaphragm breathing, compression on areas of tension, and active movement on the part of the client to test the range of motion. This type of listening makes clients more aware where they are experiencing restriction, and possibly the trauma, or reason why they have the restriction in the first place. Facing these stored experiences is a very powerful thing. Whether that experience is from an injury, or from something more repressed, there is no replacement for massage and compression when it comes to moving past something that is disrupting our mind-body connection. At times we “bury” stored experiences we aren’t ready to face, but until we look, and determine in what way it’s affecting our bodies, or distracting from our path, we all will continue to be functionally limited.
Learn self-massage techniques, and ways to increase your body awareness with reefRX Clinic Online Classes.
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