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If you’re like me (and I think most of the planet), it’s difficult for you to turn off your mind. When you finally get yourself on the massage table and all you want to do is veg out, your brain has different plans. It wants to go over every detail of your day. It wants to remind you to make phones calls, pick up the laundry, get that email out, talk with your boss about that big job coming up, blah blah blah. It wants to do anything but rest. So you end up not getting the absolute best benefits of your bodywork session.
Well, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that I’d love to share with you.
This past Monday I went to see my massage therapist. We do myofascial release work and sometimes I’ll admit it takes me to another plane. I’m lucky I remember my own name for a few minutes let alone the massage. Sometimes I want to stay in my body and really feel the work but my mind doesn’t turn off and I feel like I ‘missed’ my entire session. This time I went prepared and used some techniques I’ve been taught over the years and I had the best session I’ve had in a long time.
First I used a few of my essential oils before I got there. Young Living has a few blends that really help me to stay in the moment. One blend is Present Time. I take a drop or two in my palm and rub my belly – the general area of the first three chakras. This keeps me rooted to my purpose and fully in the now. I can look at the past without much emotional attachment to it, but it also keeps me focused on what is happening at this moment.
Then I used Harmony blend. I applied this by my heart chakra as it creates a harmonious connection between my lower chakras and my upper chakras. Don’t worry too much if you don’t understand the concept of chakras. It’s not necessary to understand them for using essential oils and having them benefit you like I’m describing.
On this particular day I also used the White Angelica blend as well. I placed a drop in my palms and applied to my neck and shoulders so I felt a sense of protection surrounding me. Then I cupped my palms over my face and took in a few deep breathes. With each inhalation I smiled a small smile and imagined beautiful white light coming in. With each exhale through my mouth I was grateful to feel the negative energy leaving me and get recycled and repurposed into the air.
Then off I went to my appointment. When I got there, we off course chatted for a few moments and I told her what was bothering me. I took a few more deep breaths smelling the oils in my hands and laid down. We got right to work and for the first 10 minutes or so I was focused on her hands and where they were. But then that darn brain of mine took over and I started to think of work and prospects and care calls and taking more classes and on and on and on….oh brother!
I snapped myself out of it and focused again on my therapists hands. I tried to imagine the position they were in and where exactly she was on my body. I did my best to focus my breath. As I inhaled I imagined clean white light going through my body and finding her hands like they were a magnet for my breath. If she was in a tender area – I had a few – and if breathing deep was difficult, I would take shorter shallow breaths and focus on the tightness of the tissue. I’d envision new life (energy – fluid – light) squeezing its way through the area, breaking the restrictions and letting the tissue melt under her pressure. Within 5 to 10 minutes of this sustained pressure there was a drastic difference in the tissue. Much more pliability and much less pain. If I didn’t do my part, there may not have been as much of a release and for sure I would have not been able to tolerate that much time spent on such a sensitive area.
Every time my mind would wander, I would bring it back to my breath. I would go back to my body and focus on her hands. On how I felt. On how with each push, pull, or twist of my skin, muscle, and fibers, my body would feel important, cared for, and worthy. By the time my hour was up I felt like a mush pot. My body was energized and yet relaxed all at the same time. My mind wasn’t going a million miles a minute and I was able to just enjoy being me. My body, mind, and spirit very much needed that and I am ever so grateful for her, for Young Living, and for my life.
So while my mind wasn’t silent, it was focused on something that assisted me. Give your mind something else to focus on. You control your thoughts. The good, the bad, and the useless. While you’re on that table, honoring your body, do the same with your mind. Let it help you to recharge and refuel you while your therapist (me perhaps) works on some of the physical stuff going on. Together we can empower you to be the best version of your self. Even if it’s just for an hour.