The Healing Power of Massage: Listening to Your Body

What is your body saying to you?

Ever find yourself on a massage table, feeling like you have a lot to release, or emotions rolling though you?

Perhaps you notice tension you didn’t realize was a part of you?! When we jump on the table there can be the feeling of heaviness on the shoulders, or a deep sense of needing to let go.

Massage is seen by some as a luxury, simply a relaxing experience – but it’s more than this and can be on a whole different level. When we realize how powerful massage can be we are able to listen to what our body is saying to us.

The Body Remembers

We hold tension and pain, but ultimately our body also holds onto unprocessed emotions, stress, and sometimes even trauma. Not allowing our body the space to let go of this through feeling, crying, breathing – means that we cling or hold onto it.

Feeling energy through a massage – emotional release often comes in the form of tingles, warmth and pressure in areas.

Our body is speaking to us.

Getting our attention or simply allowing us to feel.

Common Messages Your Body Might Be Sending

Here are just a few things your body might be trying to tell you through tension or sensation:

Shoulders: “You’re holding the world on your shoulders’.

Hips: “You’re holding onto emotions that you need to move or release.”

Jaw: “You’re not speaking your truth, you are holding back or staying silent— often through clenching or grinding through stress.”

Back: “You’ve been in survival mode for too long.”

These are somatic signals suggesting that your body needs you to make changes in one way or another.

How to Listen to your body During a Massage

The next time you receive a massage try this:

• Breathe deeply. Focus on anchoring your breath. Ask yourself without any anger, worry or judgement: Where do I feel tight, tender, or numb?
• The body’s response and moving through emotions is important. Be ready and open. Allow emotions to flow if you need to. Tears, laughter, sighs — this is normal and a good sign of letting go.
• Create your own intentions such as ‘I allow my body to let go of what no longer supports me’.

How massage is a way to find the path back to yourself

As we learn to become more in tune with our own body’s energy and emotions we are able to access a deeper wiser part of ourselves. Massage is so much more than simply getting the elbows into the muscles and supporting pain or tension, it’s about the energetic, spiritual and emotional side of us.

Are you ready to listen to your body and the signals it’s imparting to you?

If your body has been whispering or perhaps shouting to get your attention maybe it’s time to give it a chance to speak and enable yourself to listen.

I’d love to support you with a session that’s not just about tension but about taking care of you as a whole, unique and amazing woman.

Book a session with Larissa if you would like to find out about how massage can support you physically, emotionally and energetically.