Body Image and Massage

If you turn a critical eye toward your image in the mirror, if you judge yourself by your weight, your level of fitness, your age, or your size, you are not alone. Our culture is a tough one in which to live with self-acceptance and self-love. Attitudes about how we "should look" abound. Many people are slightly, or in some cases, profoundly uncomfortable about his or her body and are therefore hesitant to seek out massage as a relief for pain or stress. I have met both women and men who feel discomfort, embarrassment, or shame, with the appearance of their body. I have heard concerns about weight, size, degree of hair, and any number of other worries that clients have about the body in which they live. Here are my recommendations for helping to put your mind at ease so you can relax and make the most of your massage:

1. Your therapist is not looking at you judgmentally; we work with compassion and respect and honor the trust you put in us

2. We have seen many bodies, in many sizes, types, states of fitness, and we understand the myriad types of bodies in our world

3. We often have our own eyes closed to ‘see’ with our hands

4. We think about range of motion and tension level of your soft tissue structures such as the state of tension or flow in your fascia

5. We are focusing on your muscles; how do they feel?—tight, knots, loose, flexible?; note this has nothing to do with how your body looks

6. We don’t care whether or not you’ve shaved your legs, you are hairy, or your skin is dry

7. We care about helping you feel good in your skin and with yourself

8. We care about helping you enjoy pleasurable touch, pain relief, and that feeling of well-being massage can give you. We care about helping you be at peace in your body.

Massage is a wonderful way to get out of your head (the place where the fears and anxieties in the form of thoughts begin) and into your body. Bodywork can be a great way to trust your body again as the wondrous machine it is. Take this time to enjoy sensations, to recognize all that your wonderful body can do for you, for the miracle of self-healing your body is capable of, and to recognize that you are part of, in and beyond your physical body.

Picture from Digital Experience/Art Installation;
http://www.digitalexperience.dk/?p=320

For more information about massage visit
www.karenpeckmassage.com or email Karen at info@karenpeckmassage.com

10 Ways to Make the Most of Your Massage

Some people just know ‘how to relax.’ For the rest of us, relaxing, paradoxally, takes some effort. With these quick tips, you can make the most of your hour on the massage table:

1. Arrive a few minutes early so you have time to decompress, change without rushing, and share any necessary information with your therapist.

2. If you have any concerns, new health issues, new pain symptoms, or needs, your own oil or lotion you’d like her to use, or allergies to lotions or creams, share them with your therapist before the session begins.

3. If you have a special musical request, for example, restful, or percussive, classical, or new age, feel free to say so. One of my clients brings his own musical selections for me to play.

4. Take three or four deep breaths at the start of your massage and as you exhale, imagine all the stress, worries, or preoccupations you carried in with you, leaving you for this one hour.

5. Many people find clearing their mind of ‘things to do’ and picturing tranquil nature scenes to be helpful in letting go. Ask your therapist to do some visualization exercises with you if you find you are unable to relax.

6. Relinquish your need to be ‘helpful.’ Be limp, like a rag doll, and let your therapist do the work.

7. If you are uncomfortable, cold, hot, need a different bolster, don’t like the degree of pressure, or area the therapist is working, or pain or tickling sensations are causing you to flinch, say so. We want to make your experience wonderful and we won’t mind.

8. If you feel the need to talk, do so. Honor any emotions that surface.

9. If you want to ‘zone out’ and remain silent, do so.

10. This is your time. Be conscious of the touch, and enjoy the sensations and relief you are receiving.

To summarize, make the most of your massage: breathe, let go of thoughts, let your therapist do the work, be mindful of how good the massage is helping you to feel, and you are sure to leave the massage feeling like a new person, full of energy, vitality, movement, and peace.

13 Quick Stress Busters

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.

—William James

Stress Busters
Stress is a major factor in many diseases, emotional imbalances and physical aches and pains. While some stress is necessary, if you find that your stress level is too high for comfort, take action. Many people find solace in these simple steps you can take today to relax and recharge:

Laugh: At yourself, at a funny movie, a favorite comedy show, or comics.

Get moving: walk, go to the gym, ride a bike, dance. Best: 30 total minutes of heart-pounding activity on most days.

Talk to a friend and share your feelings, or start working with a therapist.

Soak: Take a long warm bath.

Read: curl up with a great book.

Write your feelings down.

Touch: pat your pet or a friend’s pet.

Be with nature: visit a nature preserve, start a garden.

Play: your favorite music, with crayons, with your children.

Eat healthy, small, frequent, well-balanced meals and savor each bite.

Rest: Get about 8 hours of sleep a night, schedule down time, and nap without guilt.

Give: a hug, a compliment, a smile.

Receive a massage!