Why do we get massages
When I was a child, I didn’t know anyone in my family or circle of friends who ever talked about getting a massage. Going to a physio- that was probably the only therapy they could image when there was some kind of a strong ailment, but booking for an appointment only when a GP had prescribed it. Any tension, like severe backpain, that my mother regularly suffered from were just suppressed with painkillers, sometimes injectables.
I only started getting massages when the disturbances and restrictions in my body and my mind from emotional pain, unresolved trauma and sitting long hours on a desk were so palpable, that I couldn’t ignore them any longer. Headaches, lower back pain, bad posture, pelvic and gut health issues. Booking in for regular remedial massages, I saw massage less and less as a luxury but as a method to support my whole system. Sometimes, I felt so nauseous after a deep tissue massage as my body and mind were processing and releasing and letting go. I slowly realized that massage can really help to find balance and a return to wellbeing.
Extensive trainings in Remedial massage, Kahuna bodywork, Lomi Lomi Heartworks, Tantra teaching, Yoga and Cranio-Sacral Therapy led me to an increased knowledge and awareness about body-centred therapies and their importance in embodied healing.
Bessel van der Kolk’s “The body keeps the score” talks about groundbreaking trauma research for PTSD sufferers and how including practices like yoga or theatre made all the difference and helped many patients in their recovery and quality of life.
Many people find their way to complementary therapies after they haven’t found a long-term improvement from talk (counseling or psychotherapy) or pharmaceutical-based therapies or treatments. Each person is their own best expert and will need to find out how a certain therapy works for them at any given time. Maybe one therapy was helpful for some time, or in some areas, but only to a certain point.
A therapist’s empathy, compassion, acceptance, presence, kindness, understanding and attunement will help cultivate a sense of safety for the client, their ability to trust.
For deep healing to occur, a safe container will need to be established.
From my own massage and Kahuna or other bodywork practice, I always find that the state of my own system effects the client’s healing and experience in so many ways. Being grounded, regulated and open for the client’s body to show me the path to take during any of my bodywork sessions will enhance and energise the treatment process in a sustainable and lasting way.
Some clients report of being lifted or floating in waves upon receiving Kahuna Bodywork or Lomi Lomi Heartworks. Other people may arrive in an anxious or stressed-out state and walk out with the biggest smile and as if their faces have been lit up from inside.
More research is coming out about the importance of being able to regulate our own nervous system and the subsequent effects on all kinds of physical and mental processes. Recently, I came across Stephen Porges and his book “Polyvagal Theory”.
Porges has helped cracked the facial code and deepened our understanding as to the relationships between our nervous system, our facial expressions and bodily sensations. There has been brilliant work on the relationship between facial expressions and the emotions by other scientists. Porges extends these discoveries inward, relating them to the nervous system.
All of my my bodywork and massage offerings (Kahuna bodywork, Lomi Lomi Heartworks, Remedial Massage, Cranio-Sacral-Therapy and Tantric healing sessions) will include treating the face and the head. There are many different nerves, lymphatic vessels, muscles, bones and ligaments in the face. Important cranial nerves move through the facial structures and influence our senses and our wellbeing. By gently holding, stretching and massaging the face and around the facial structures a deep shift in the nervous system can occur and clients love it as they immediately feel the uplift.
So, why do we get massages? Before clients book online for one of my massage treatments, they fill in a little questionnaire. One of the questions is: What is your reason for booking with Blysse Massage. And the answers are mostly relaxation, indulgence or treating a particular painful or tense body part. Of course, no one would ever say I need a shift in my autonomic nervous system…yet that is exactly what is happening in our body and will make clients feel sooooo good.
Being a therapist, I get a Kahuna bodywork session about every two months not only to deeply relax, but to experience what my clients feel and to expand my sensory awareness. And then, I have a monthly session with a Thai-style remedial therapist who almost breaks my body apart but a day later, I feel seriously leveled up and a lot lighter. My sleep is better and my mind seems to be clearer. Regular massages will help flushing out toxins (hence sometimes a nauseous feeling comes up), relax your nervous and your muscle system, correct imbalances in the connective tissue and membranes of the body. Kahuna bodywork and Lomi Lomi Heartworks will circulate the energy around your body in the most sacred way.
Allowing some rest time after the massage and keeping hydration up are recommend for keeping everything in a joyful flow.
Blysse Massage
Bondi Junction NSW 2022
Balmain NSW 2041
Mob: +61 (0) 414 396 537
www.blysse.com.au
Kahuna Bodywork, Lomi Lomi Heartworks, Remedial Massage, Pregnancy Massage, Tantric Teaching, Cranio-Sacral-Therapy
