Emotional Well-Being by Hazel McCartney Holistic Massage Therapy
When it comes to taking care of my own emotional well-being, at times, it can feel challenging. I don’t always recognise the arrival of uncomfortable sensations or emotions until they have taken hold of me physically. In retrospect, I may notice an event that has triggered a reaction (re-enactment of the past) but it’s tough to disentangle from the feeling in the moment it is activated in my system. Are you familiar with some of the signs and symptoms I’m referring to, such as: the churning belly of anxiety, the racing heart of worry, the clenched jaw of anger? I have learned there is often a limiting belief or thought pattern driving the uncomfortable sensation and emotion. Catching hold of that with simple mindful breath and awareness can be enough to dissolve some of the discomfort in my body.
But what is it I do when that doesn’t work, amplify the feeling or not seem as straightforward as catching the belief? I tend to conclude that my mind chatter may be interrupting my body’s attempt to release some emotional backlog. The body has mode of genius that the conscious mind has very limited access to. I find if I don’t judge the feeling, sensation or emotion as wrong, bad or something to escape from, I can turn towards it in a whole new way. It usually starts by recognising the need to request my mind to step aside and allow the natural balancing nature of the body take centre stage.
This is what I have learned to do: I place my hand on my chest, smile, breathe in and as I exhale, I make the sound of a kind “awh” whilst stroking gently the area above my heart (around the collar bone and pectoral muscles). Making this sound and gesture seems to communicate an energy of compassion towards my suffering. This energy of kindness and patience seems to break the storyline, “there is something wrong with me.” Instead, sending a soothing message to the central nervous system that, “all is well, I am safe in this moment” and my body responds dutifully by excreting a portion of emotional constipation that has been trapped in my cells. (I was once taught by a fellow body worker, “our issues are in our tissues” because the what the mind forgets, the body remembers. The body is in fact, our unconscious mind) Try it, see if this really simple gesture can be as effective as I claim.
If, however, you feel the need for some additional emotional support through the body, why not contact me for a session of Therapeutic Massage, Reiki, or Reflexology on a Tuesday here at Studio 70? Ongoing offer of 20% OFF 1 st TREATMENT to all Studio 70 Yoga Members with a 10% DISCOUNT from any future treatments.