Did you know that in addition to treating structural imbalances, pains, and tension patterns in the muscles, ligaments, and soft tissue, that bodywork can also assist in dislodging, processing, and ultimately dissipating repressed emotions?
Allowing ourselves the experience of vulnerability in a therapeutic setting creates a safe opportunity to cease and release the repression of emotional traumas while the psyche is in a state of suggestive pliability. As ominous as that may sound to some, it simply means that if a person can enter into a state of relaxation or "rest & digest" as it is often referred to, they can feel supported, at ease, and nurtured enough to subconsciously disengage the guarding mechanisms their personal physiological make up has created to keep perceived threats at bay. Difficult emotions that are avoided can translate to our nervous system as a threat we are in need of escaping, placing us firmly in the well known realm of fight, flight, or freeze. In basic terms, we become reactive rather than responsive to external stimuli, making it extremely difficult to maintain a sense of wellbeing in our day to day lives. If left unchecked, it will manifest physically as sickness, pain, or even a visceral pathology. However, if we can feel good while allowing difficult thoughts and emotions to flow uninhibited through our body-mind, we can recode our nervous system's default programing. Recoding such conditioning can often require on going commitment in trusting the process as there is no quick fix when one confronts one's own self. It takes as long as it takes. Yet ceasing to run the program of armored guarding and reactive dissociation and choosing to change towards a practice of responsive integration and inquiry when confronted with difficult emotional experiences is transformative. Transformation via somatic and proprioceptive intervention has the potentiality to restore our sense of mental clarity and vitality in often rapid and profound ways.
Integrating previously unprocessed emotions absolves our will of the need to repress, thus enabling it to once again be of service to our present needs as well as our future hopes and dreams. When we choose to take care of our wellbeing through means of manual therapy such as bodywork and massage, we are essentially choosing to reclaim our strength. Often, we may not understand the tension and pain our body is utilizing as a means of communication, and even when we can, we may not be able to release it without assistance. To explore one's vulnerability while receiving healing touch is a powerful act. This act of empowerment is driven by the realization that self responsibility is the only way to mitigate division and propagate unity within our very being. When we choose self responsibility, we choose self care for our emotional and physical states of being, we choose to know ourselves deeper. We choose empathy and understanding by allowing ourselves to feel what we strive to ignore. We choose to be more than the sadness, fear, guilt, anger, or whatever emotion may be haunting our joyous expression of life.
We choose to know thyself and thus we choose to let go of defending ourselves against our selves.
In so doing, the fluids and energies of the body can once again flow unimpeded and restore our sense of wellbeing.
To experience the benefits of bodywork for wellbeing, visit www.soulfiresomatics.com
For some introductory comprehension around unprocessed emotion read this great article: https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/unprocessed-emotion/?fbclid=IwAR3rl86Cl2v_Uz8UvRCH-hFm2T2kLbWB_JSpJ7VUcCEcSH417rqn6wZga3A
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