Massage can help release anxiety and tension.
Release the fear…release the tension.
Fear Free
Often our fears are based on our thinking. It is usually when a thought enters our mind that the flow of fear can either blossom into full body felt fruition and pass or escalate into a full blown anxiety. My understanding of anxiety from my own experience has been that before I knew how to work with it, it felt like a frozen aspect of Self that was suddenly activated. My physiology, on a cellular level, would be triggered and a movement so quick took over the moment. Control mechanisms then began to roll, and the patterns of anxiety never played out in a safe way until I finally took charge of my thinking and feeling into my senses.
Is fear ever helpful? Actually, fear can be a very healthy thing. It helps us to stay alive . I know that if I think of jumping off a high cliff that my fear of hurt or death stops me. In this way, our fear actually is our ally. It helps us to survive and stay alert with the “fight or flight” response when encountering a threat. However, when we are faced with either internal stress or an outside occurrence that stops us from doing the things that make us happy, help can be found in releasing anxiety and tension. One of the ways to do this to work with the mind body & spirit connection.
Often when a Massage Therapist works with a client for a long period of time, a trusting bond is established. At Lighten Up Therapies, I know that I provide whatever comfort I can offer to make sure that my client feels safe and trusts me and the environment in which we are working. If I know that a client has encountered certain traumas in their past, I take care to understand their boundaries and what signals to look for if they start to experience symptoms outside their box of safety. A client may go into shallow breathing, increased heartbeat, pupils can dilate if an old cellular memory is reactivated. Knowing how to look for these cues is helpful.
Depending on the level of fear, it is important for the massage therapist to be prepared to support our clients. While we are not psychotherapists, professionals do have the option to understand trauma release and to create a sacred and safe place for organic movement to occur and play out. Some of the ways that can be helpful is to help our clients:
1. Feel deeply into the sensory body. Often fear comes from the primal part of the brain. During a massage, the massage therapist can help encourage the client to sense what is happening in the body within a safe range. Once a client start to move outside of that level of soft feeling, it is important to bring them out of the situation.
2. Allow the feeling to emerge and feel into the fear. Gentle coaching can help the client to allow the physiological process to come through into completion.
2. Challenge perception of reality. Often trauma will not be resolved through talk therapy only. However, integrated with the above, challenging belief systems and opening to other possibilities can be helpful.
When we live in fear, our world get so much more limited. We can feel tense and restrict our lives by choosing fear over love and pleasure. By exploring the mind body & spirit connection, our lives can open up into a new reality. We can find freedom in our thinking, feelings and in our spirit.
Healing is a process where we open up to joy. Massage therapy with a therapist trained in Hakomi, Sensorimotor psychology or/and spiritual healing can help you to expand your horizons.
Live Free. Live Joyfully!
Warmly,
Sharon Hartnett LMT
(614) 372-6598
For more information about Lighten Up Therapies:
