Learning How to Find Relaxation from Stress through Grounding

by SharonHartnett | Mar 31, 2014 | Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit

Stress Reduction is key if you want to improve your health and wellbeing.

Some of the easiest things you can do to decrease the amount of stress in your life is to exercise, eat well, meditate, and get involved with the arts, yoga, movement and other creative hobbies. Life is meant to be enjoyable so find your sense of joy!  In my personal field of expertise, most people come to my office because they also find Massage and Bodywork to be quite helpful in achieving their goals of relaxation. Professional touch and mindful sensory interaction is known to have many benefits that allow the the body to find its optimal state of Being. Who hasn’t walked out of massage therapy session at one time or another feeling calmer and yet more in tune with their energy flow? I would like my clients and others to find a way to maintain that well sense of health. 

So how do you daily maintain the same sense of balance and connection that you find after a massage?

Today we are going to talk about how you can make a real change in your life by finding peace Within on a physical level.

To begin, let’s talk and learn about stress…

From a definition point of view, stress is a normal physiological response to events that are considered threatening, engaging the body’s defenses to move into a “fight-or-flight-or-frozen” reaction.  In cases where there is a real emergency,  stress can spring you into the necessary actions needed to keep you alert, strong and able to protect yourself in order to stay alive.  In daily activities, it also helps you to keep on top of things, to concentrate, and be productive when challenges arise.  The problem is that that when the body is continually exposed to a state of stress, it begins to recognize life this way as being normal.  Yet it is not.  In the longterm, stress can negatively affect your mental state, your spirit and health all around.

On an energetic level,  when a person’s is stressed,  the dynamic of being mobilized to use a lot of energy often takes the person out of their grounding.  The brain has issued orders to to initiate nerve cell firing and chemical release to prepare for possible attack.  Thereafter, we move into either defense or offense.  The end result is that our consciousness is focused on fear and the body automatically moves into contraction in some areas.

I have to be honest and say, that most people who come in for massage and bodywork have no clue how they habitually hold their body against life itself.  From a working perspective, a massage therapist can support the body and help clients to self-correct through their tissues and find better alignment.  But when the work is done, what can you do to make the change sustainable?  

Grounding and Breathing

I can’t say enough about how important it is to find your grounding.

Now you may say-  what do you mean about grounding?  This term is often thrown about and it is not necessarily an easy concept to understand.  That makes sense because if you are trying to figure out grounding in your thinking, you will go in circles.  Grounding is a real connection between the body and the earth.  It is more of a sensory experience that feeds your brain.

When you think about it, we are walking, sitting and lying down during out days.  Most of the time our minds are occupied on how we need to interact from these position to make things happen in our environment. Even when we are asleep, habitual stress will ended up showing up in clenched teeth and TMJ and such.  If you want to get in contact with your authentic centered self,  awareness to our bodies is key to making that happen. 

So what is the key that helps us make the connection which will enable us to let go of that stress?

Explore your relationship to Earth with mindfulness.

Lay down on the ground and bring your attention inward.  I know this takes patience and a different mindset for some to actually give themselves this gift of time.  I know most people have a lot on their plate.  But restoration and kindness to one’s sense of grounding is really important to keep your body in health.  The physicality of your whole self has important data that needs to be sent to the brain in order to relieve stress.  So take the time to scan, feel and be curious about yourself.  This is your time for you.

Next Feel how your body rests on the ground.  Are you comfortable?  Are you tight somewhere?  Do you feel numb at all? How about noticing the texture and strength of the floor beneath you? What happens when you begin to explore where you end and the ground begins?  Getting into body awareness is important if you want to understand how to release tension. When you are ready, find a place in your body that feels at ease.  Move that area very slowly , -imagine in micro movements.  Before you approach any tension, stop and allow new information to come in.  In this exercise, less is more and you don’t want to be living in pain, but in the easy mobility that is available. Then bring the movement back to it’s original place.  Sit in the quiet for a moment and allow this to integrate.

The last step is to try a specific exercise. Situate yourself in a place that is very comfortable either inside or possibly outside in a beautiful field connected to nature.  I will outline an exercise here for people who have tight backs and shoulders.  As you have completed the first two steps, while lying on the ground, interlock both hands  above the head, and allow them to rest on the ground superiorly.  Observe and experience your breath, and notice how that is either in movement, or stillness.  Taking your time, bring the hands ever so slowly to the right on the ground, while keeping the motion effortless and very small. Play with this going one way and then the other. If you run into any discomfort make sure to stop.  Less is more! After the right side is explored come to center above your head and relax.  Try the left side as well.  This exercise might take about 10 minutes at most.  When the whole thing is complete, allow your arms to come down to your side with palms up and allow this quiet but spacious work to integrate in the body.   If there is any residual holding, breath and let it go.

Now bring your awareness to how the back and shoulders feel on the ground.  Do you feel more relaxed?  Has the tension began to dissolve?  Can you feel how pleasant it is to relax on the ground beneath you?  As you can see, by keeping your whole body in contact with the ground and experimenting with micro movements, while staying in intimate relationship-  the human body starts to feel supported and can send messages to the brain that everything in the world in good.  It alters our thinking and our feelings as a natural integration occurs.

Wellness

It is because we are always moving through gravity in reactive relationships outside of ourselves that we loose our ability to stay centered.  That’s not a bad thing because it is part of our human experience. However, if we truly want to find a way to interact with less stress, we must re-orient ourselves with grounding and  support.

One of the links I recommend for this type of work is:    

https://www.feldenkrais.com   

With practices like these, you will feel more whole and complete.  

You can do these exercises at home, find a practitioner for 1:1 work or you can take classes.

In order to find relaxation in your life-  it is absolutely essential that you find ways to feel open and spacious inside of your body.  Grounding in a sensory experiential always helps to calm and nurture.  Take the time to be generous with yourself and wellbeing.

For more information, contact, Sharon Hartnett LMT in Columbus, Ohio: 

(614) 372-6598

For more information on movement awareness check out this youtube sample of Feldenkrais: 

Blessing in our evolution into Wellness!