We often think of massage as a luxury. We only think to get one when we are at the end of our rope, strung out, exhausted or in acute pain. I know. I’ve been there. I had only received a handful of massages in the years before I went to massage school.
But then my body made a large, extreme and elaborate cry for help. I was sick for months. Many days I couldn’t get out of bed. I felt completely out of control of my body and my life. And no doctor could help me. Seriously, my doctor said, “There’s nothing more we can do. See ya later.” But I remained sick.
Somewhere I read an article that said acupuncture could be helpful in treating my symptoms. I was willing to try anything. Stick needles in me and make it go away, was what I was thinking.
I looked through my insurance and found Mary Morrison at Your Access Acupuncture not far from me. I booked an appointment and headed over. Because of the long history of my body, I have a tendency to try to get as much history blurted out in as short a time as possible so that the practitioner can get to the treatment.
The first thing that Mary did was to interrupt my torrent of thought for just a minute. She said, “Stay right where you are. Notice your body. Notice how you’re sitting. Is there anything you notice?”
Well, yes, indeed. I noticed that I was contorted with urgency. I noticed that I was on the edge of my seat. I noticed that I was wound like a tight spring.
Mary did listen to the story of my symptoms. She is a gracious and patient listener. But what she did that actually began to help me right in that moment was to help me feel my own body. She invited me into myself in a way that I had been afraid of ever before. My body had meant pain, sickness, injury and discomfort. My body had meant fat, ugly, and too much. It was not a neighborhood I visited often. But Mary took my hand and led me into myself.
That was the beginning of the great unwinding. As I began to feel my body in ways I never thought possible, I learned not only what safe felt like, but I also learned how to get there. With Mary’s help I began to heal. I kept looking for a solution “out there” and discovered the solution was all along “in here.”
Massage had always been something I enjoyed, but now I understood that it was something I could do as a career that would help people rediscover their own bodies in this same way, learn to feel safe again within themselves and maybe help create a society of embodied, balanced and loving people.
Potomac Massage Training Institute led me further on this journey of self healing and self discovery. Since beginning my work in massage, I have taken this theme of embodiment on as my motto for my business and my life.
Our bodies have the answers. Our bodies are us. Therefore, we have the answers, if we’ll only stop to listen. Massage helps us listen. Whether you are trying to recover from an injury, keep your body in condition for athletic training, working through trauma, anxiety or depression or just want to feel less stress in your daily life, massage can help.
Massage is balance.
Massage is homeostasis.
Massage is parasympathetic.
Massage is stillness.
Massage is healing.
Massage is therapy for your being.
Book a session with me soon and see how massage can help you.