Massages as Instruments for Mindfulness
Nick Webb, Flickr
I remembered this morning a piece of writing I started a while back that felt timely to complete and share. With the winter season still upon us and going through a cold snap here in Seattle, one practice I hear many people pursue at this time of year is getting a massage. There's some aspects that I would like to share about this particular wellness activity to evoke an even fuller experience of a massage and garner greater ongoing joy and satisfaction with this modality for you all going forward.
First of all to get some grounding before entering into this topic, absolutely every aspect of our lives can be lived mindfully. And yet, it's fascinating how all of us (myself included) can have a propensity towards attuning to mindfulness only at specific times or in certain places (or other types of conditions depending on each person). In my Change Agent Development school session this past weekend, we talked about the importance of prompting ourselves when we find we are not present in a situation to simply say "STOP!", or my mantra of "HERE!", to check in with ourselves and propel ourselves into our bodies more fully and back to our internal control centers that activate mindfulness when we remember to make this declaration.
Mindfulness according to Dictionary.com is defined as "a technique in which one focuses full attention only on the present, experiencing thoughts, feelings, and sensations, but not judging them." This ability to withhold judgement; to almost be looking at oneself as a separate entity who can notice what's happening, yet embodied in the moment and allowing the experience to wash over is definitely an ongoing skill to practice and cultivate and yet it can sharpen and be developed within the simplest of activities.
However, it can be challenging to even feel like one has a choice in the moment to shift how we are going through an experience. There's certainly the day-to-day realities that we get so busy and our society that sells us the bill of goods of life being more stressful and fearful than calm or exactly how it needs to be in order or us to grow and evolve. We must remember that we can always "STOP!" ourselves from getting swayed by the external conditions and thoughts in our brain that may not be grounded in the here and now and refocus our attention to what is actually happening and what could happen when connected to one's deeper self.
I find from practicing mindfulness that we can not only enjoy our experience in the moment that much more presently, but we also can align with our purpose and live much more meaningful lives the more we enliven and sink into our whole selves that internally can be at different levels of asleep or misalignment. Being able to check in with ourselves on multiple levels from a relaxed and calm state to experience the moment in a much more deep, awake and experiential way (rather than being in thinking mode during the moment, as is true for a lot of us) has the potential to unleash much greater enjoyment, satisfaction, awareness of others and our environment and connection to our spiritual selves, which is at the seat of our potential and individualized essence. Furthermore, this way of being has the ability to evoke greater empathy and caring as well as gratitude for the moment, the people around, the place you are at and all the other attributes to that particular experience.
With all this said, I found myself in the last massage I received experiencing it in a different way more so than ever before and speaks to mindfully living an activity, which any of us can do, from a more delightfully held and cherished stance. The process for which I experienced and the lessons I gleaned are as follows:
Taking the time to fully experience touch: We use our eyesight so prominently I've noticed in society and there's something supremely amazing about really taking the time and space to relish in touch. From a visceral sense, I feel we are all longing for connection - to be seen, felt, and a part of something. Touch is a very tangible means through which we can connect with another and take the moment if we can "STOP!" to really feel what it feels like to feel another being and to feel connected.
Recognizing the dynamicness of our bodies: We are not just flesh and bone. There are a lot of structures, systems, processes, types of tissues and energetic qualities happening within our body and field at all times. Getting this massage, reminded me of the complexity of the body as well as the aliveness of all the different systems within me that appreciated the hello they seemed to be experiencing during the massage. It's easy for us to get busy in our lives and distracted by external stimuli and we must also remember to not take for granted our bodies as well as our health and recognize that our bodies are being affected by and are affecting our wellbeing all the time and having greater dialogue and communication with the body can be powerful and serve as a gateway to mindfulness.
Seeing my body as different land masses making up the world of Marisa: As the masseuse was focusing on different areas with strokes in varying directions, I was struck by how some parts of my body were soft, some hard, others tight, loose, dry and supple and this entire gamete of qualities made me metaphorically see my body as containing different types of geographical zones with distinct characteristics. I also very much experienced how none of this is static - but it is constantly changing and how my body was responding both to the masseuse's touch, but also to my invitations and how I've noticed my body can shift and change when around certain people or environments and the miraculousness of this phenomenon. These different geographical zones are also complex with their own bone and tissue structure that are interconnected to the larger world of my body as a whole.
Having greater appreciation for the different qualities of touch: This made me think about why I enjoy some of my favorite songs. It's not only that there are different instruments playing within a song, but at times the song can be fast or slow, certain instruments featured above the others, the pace can quicken or slow, and the intensity of play can be more or less impactful. Similarly, during my massage I noticed how she would begin in a geographic region by saying hello based on a gentle and soft touch. It did not contain much pressure. She also did not to my recollection ever stop having some kind of touch on my body during the entire massage - which I think may be commonplace for massages in general. She began kneading or other types of massage movements along certain channels. Each different movement felt like a new instrument being added to the song. At times she was faster, slower, more or less firm, deep or on the periphery. It also felt that there was a rhythm to the entire experience as well as an appreciation of each geographical zone serving as songs in and of themselves, making up a musical masterpiece. I also acknowledged how each masseuse has a particular style and individuality with such aspects as their hand shape and type of favored touch or movement that contributed to my overall experience. This to me would be like considering the musical artist themselves and the expression of their essence within the music.
Awareness of the larger container of the massage experience: I also took time to consider the effect that the environment was having on the massage as a whole. Paying attention to whether there is music playing, some kind of aromatherapy in the room and the physical objects that make up the space itself all factor into my experience. This to me is like what the packaging of the music would look like - the artwork displayed, the materials chosen for the packaging, the format of the music and how the customer would interact with the music. This also made me think how it's wonderful that we can access music now electronically and never see or hold a cd or vinyl record, but how that can take away from a beautiful aspect of how the artist themselves is desiring us to connect with that music. The larger environment for whatever form of art is an important component for an artist to cultivate and have mindfulness around (and for the person experiencing it as well) as it's part of the overall curation of the experience.
What I invite for everyone is to take experiences and encourage or inspire yourself to go through them in a mindful manner. Just considering all of your senses during the experience can serve as one easy and memorable means to evoke mindfulness. Also taking in the larger environment beyond yourself and caring more about all the actors or the scene playing out in that moment can be other strategies for being more present in the situation. In addition, allowing and prompting yourself to focus on certain aspects of the experience in a much richer way is another such approach. All in all, a lot of us surf through life (myself included at different times) or we can live at the mercy of fears, stresses, depressions, other emotions or forces that steal us away from connecting with ourselves and the moment that awaits our presence. I believe we all hold the power within ourselves to develop the capability to "STOP!" and take in the beauty, potential, learning and joy that is available to us whenever and in whatever activity we experience.