Happy Friday everyone!
I wanted to talk a little bit about abdominal massage and its many benefits.
The first, pretty obvious, benefit is an increase in digestion and a reduction in constipation and bloating. However, abdominal massage is so much more than that. Personally, for me, I had to relearn how to love that part of my body. I've always had a bad relationship with my mid-section, and because of that I've developed some unhealthy habits that have impacted my life through the years. I think many of us can relate to NOT being head-over-heels in love with our belly's, and because of this we hold a lot of stress, trauma, bad feelings and tension in our tummy.
As a massage therapist, I am constantly looking at my posture, the alignment of my body and am hyper aware of how I feel in my body. Some of the things I've come to notice is that I hold my breath when someone touches my stomach. I just stop breathing and suck in! This is pretty much programmed into women before they even become women; from childhood we are told to hide our stomachs. That our stomachs are unattractive, and we need to keep it as slender as possible: whether that be from not eating, anorexia/malnutrition, diet pills or sinching it with a corset or some kind of waistbelt. When I was just in middle school I started using belts around my waist, cinching them as tight as I could and wear them for hours sometimes. I would also run a lot and not eat. This messed up my hormones through high school and into early adulthood. And I'm one of the easy cases, I think because my personality allows me to find, among all the insecurity and overthinking, some sense of equilibrium that keeps me from deep diving over the edge of a cliff.
That's just one of the reasons I have to say that this is the best I've felt in my life so far. I'm able to accept and love myself for where I'm at and who I've become. I've learned to let go of the things that weigh me down. That's one of the great things about getting older, if you can't manage to do everything perfectly you give yourself grace and start fresh tomorrow. It's ok to not get it right the first time or the tenth time, just keep trying and keep pushing forward; it's ok.
So, what does all this rambling have to do with abdominal massage? Well, if you've ever had an abdominal massage you know :)
The first thing I notice when I give a client an abdominal massage is how quickly they relax. This always surprises me because I do the opposite and pull back. But one thing I've learned while receiving an abdominal massage and the first thing I direct my clients to do is breathe! Americans are lacking a great deal in deep belly breathing, which, if you do it right, instantly relaxes you. Deep belly breathing helps relax your diaphragm, your intercostal muscles between the ribs, and gives an overall calming effect to your nervous system. Like I said in the beginning it helps with digestion; and for those of us experiencing more chronic issues like Crohn's disease, IBS and other debilitating issues, it's a lifesaver! Abdominal massage is also great for our immune system, by stimulating the lymphatic and circulatory system. This helps boost our natural defense system by cleansing and creating stronger white blood cells and removing toxins and waste from the body. It can also help women experiencing PMS by reducing pain and discomfort, while eliminating water retention in the body. It can also help improve our posture because if we feel more secure with that area of our body, we will stop trying to hide it by hunching over. If you work deep into the abdominals and into the psoas and iliacus, you can actually loosen up those muscles and be able to stretch and stand tall! Even more importantly, when we take little steps toward touching our stomachs and embracing its beauty, we build confidence in ourselves and can begin to heal the trauma that may have stemmed from a very early age; we allow ourselves to love that part of ourselves by caring and embracing it without judgement. This in itself releases stress hormones, calms our nervous system and gives us an emotional release.
One of the things I like to do before every Lymphatic massage I give, is to spend some time giving an abdominal massage. Depending on how long the session is, i'll spend a good twenty minutes on the mid-section alone.
What are your thoughts about abdominal massage?
Do you hold any trauma or stress in your belly?
Share your story!
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