Waking up our Tissues

A common response after receiving a massage sometimes is:  "Wow I didn’t know some of those spots were tight or sore"!


Reflecting on this response as practitioners we are almost always thinking that we have assisted our clients in becoming more aware of their muscle tissue.  It is as if certain parts of their body have woken up from some sort of deep sleep or hibernation.  


Is it bad or good that certain parts of our bodies have been sleeping per se? Have they been numb to physical and energetic stimuli for a long time?  


Its not a bad or good thing.  Our bodies being numb to sensation can happen.  This is an opportunity to uncover why that part of your body is not "awake."  Most importantly what is happening in that moment is an awareness is being acquired mostly by the person receiving massage but also by the practitioner. 


As the receiver being able to feel physical sensations in specific areas on the body is enlightening and can bring a greater want and understanding of their own body.  When this want to understand our bodies and be in tune with them begins, true healing commences.  


The act of acknowledging as a receiver that you have felt areas of your body that you don’t really feel often or are not aware of is important.  It is easy to just want to get off the table and be on your merry way.  Engaging with your therapist and telling them what you felt during the massage can be so beneficial to ongoing treatments as well as how to address one’s own health moving forward.


As a receiver when coming across a sensation during a massage that is fairly foreign to you but feels safe and is not a cause of concern that is where usually a tissue is awakening and coming to life.  This is exciting because of the opportunity that is now there to keep improving upon the health of the tissue and the body as a whole.


Feeling looser and more able to express certain parts of your body through a more fuller range of motion can feel like the best thing in the world especially if your body has been constricted in a specific area for a long time.  This feeling of less constriction and a release in a way also improves our mental state.  


Massage is a great way to immediately become more aware of our own bodies, to engage with tissue that we haven’t interacted with in a long time and to overall improve our health greatly. 

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