Body Patterns

Currently, I am in the final week of my training in massage therapy. Yes, I am totally stoked! The culmination of the years work is extremely gratifying, and I am excited to embark on adventures and in projects I have had waiting to greet me upon my completion of the training.

One of the main pieces of knowledge I have taken away from the program, is how strongly emotions manifest as physical ailments within our bodies. Of course, there are the times when there is an actual physical accident that takes place, leaving someone damaged ~ However, even then, our bodies identify emotions to that pain and attach to it. What emotions surfaced during that accident? How did your life change and how did it make you feel? Those feelings saturate themselves into those tissues in pain and we become immune to the equilibrium that we once maintained in that area. What I am really talking about here, is the tension we carry ~ And we all have it. Life isn’t constantly flowing perfectly, and negative emotions do come up, at times. Not only that, but we all have our own stories. Of course, plenty of beautiful stories, but also stories of pain. Painful history can contribute to uncomfortable body patterns. Where do they manifest for you?

Where we feel tightness, tension, pain ~ An emotion is related to that area of sensitivity. Many carry stress in their shoulders, with the abundance of computer usage in society’s workplace, today. Perhaps, someone may have a broken heart, or feel emotionally vulnerable ~ So, their shoulders might hunch over in a subconscious attempt to protect their heart, leading to upper back and shoulder pain.

The stress we carry in our physical bodies is more obvious for some than for others. When someone is tuned into the function of their body, and know when it is most balanced ~ That person will notice when something is awry in their physicality at a more rapid pace, whereas someone who is not in touch with their being may easily slip into an uncomfortable pattern, identify with it, and allow it to encompass them without even really noticing it.

It is great to have a trained bodyworker facilitate the healing of tension in your body for you, but you can read into the area of aggravation to a certain extent on your own. Where is a place that you carry stress? Tension? Sensitivity? Massage the area that is in pain, or feels tight. How do you feel when that area is touched? What emotions come up for you? Anger, grief, vulnerability, sickness? What story or emotional pattern in your life can you correlate with that emotion? Maybe that story has something to do with the tension pattern that has generated within you.

Bodyworkers are intuitively trained to map out these areas of tension in a persons body, so we are excellent resources of support in this process of healing. We work to release the tension with our massage techniques, and hold the space for potential emotions to spill out and evaporate into the cosmos. Those emotions are not always negative, either. Sometimes, a whole roller coaster of emotions can be stored in one area ~ Happiness, laughter, tears, sadness, joy ~ All at once.

For me, a history of emotions have been stored in my wrist in the manifestation of a (ganglion) cyst. A cyst is a calcification filled with synovial fluid (joint fluid) on a joint, and looks like a little marble under your skin. I have had this for six years, and it wasn’t until recently that I began to uncover the emotions that are attached to the pain ~ And let me tell you, it is freaking loaded with emotion. The pain became debilitating at times this year, beginning to affect my work as a massage therapist, my practice of yoga, heavy lifting, and much more. The pain frustrates me. Thus, I have embarked on a journey of healing this area of tension, slowing peeling back the layers of emotion through tears, sickness, laughter, anger, sadness (yes all of those emotions have come up in my process of healing it) ~ With each layer, learning more of the story behind it and more about my personal story. I look forward to the day I am fully healed ~ I know there will be huge revelation when that day comes.

I share this not to imply negativity, but to bring awareness to what happens in our physical bodies in relation to our emotional bodies. They is much more interconnected within us than some are conscious of. I share this information to assist in your healing process. The ability to identify your emotions with a physical body pattern is worth millions. It gets you a step ahead in the healing process every time, knowing that the pain may be emotions that have been chronically unattended to. It is a process. We all have our own baggage to work with ~ Learning how to lighten our load each day, with each connection, realization, and manifestation. Use this information toward your personal being and tap into what is going on for you. Each healing experience takes us a step forward in life ~ Bringing greater health, happiness, success, and abundance.

You are your own greatest healer.