If Your Body Could Talk..
If your body could talk, what would it say?
Most of us are used to pushing through tension, working through pain, and ignoring our body’s natural signals. From a young age, many of us are taught to stop fidgeting, wait to use the restroom, finish our plates, etc. This teaches us to disregard our body’s innate wisdom. That tension in your shoulders? The way your jaw clenches? The fatigue that doesn’t go away no matter what? Those aren’t random, and they’re not failures. They are communication.
What would happen if we quit fighting our body? What would happen if we stopped and listened to what it has to say?
That tension in your shoulders becomes a signal that you’re carrying the weight of the world. The jaw clench clues you in to anxiety. The chronic fatigue lets you know that you cannot do everything on your own. And when you can acknowledge what your body is telling you, then you can start to respond differently. You can recognize what is making you anxious and try to minimize that in your life. You can simplify what you can and delegate some tasks, off-loading some of the weight you are carrying. You do not have to be everything.
This is something I’ve been learning in my own life, too. I used to get this overwhelming urge to just go—like I needed to leave or escape, even if there wasn’t anything specific I was trying to get away from. Instead of ignoring it, I started listening. Sometimes that meant getting up and moving, stepping outside, or letting myself pause instead of pushing through. I’ve also noticed that sometimes my body doesn’t want to relax—it wants to fight. And giving that energy a safe outlet, like pushing against a wall or using a punching bag, has made a bigger difference than trying to force myself to be calm.
Little things like that have helped me start to trust my body more—and helped my body start to trust me.
There’s a reason many of us feel this way. Our bodies are not wired to handle this much stress. Stress signals danger to the body, and we evolved to handle only short bursts of stress as a survival tactic.
When our nervous system lives in fight-or-flight, we may experience:
Increased levels of the stress hormone, cortisol
Chronic pain and discomfort from increased muscle tension
Digestive issues
Insomnia
Weakened immune function
Cardiovascular strain
This is where massage can make a big difference for people. More and more research suggests that one of the major ways massage helps people is by activating their parasympathetic nervous system, or rest-and-digest. In this state, you may experience improved gut motility, improved circulation, actually relaxed muscles, better sleep, and higher levels of oxytocin, serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins.
When people ask me about my approach to massage, I often tell them that I prefer to work with the body, rather than against it. I tune in to the natural rhythms of the body and follow its lead. I never force change, just invite it to happen in a safe way. I ask your body, “What do I need to know? What do you need to heal?” and it consistently guides the session in the right direction. This difference is often felt on my table, and is what makes Healing Rhythms Massage different.
So, if you stop and listen to your body, what is it saying? What is it asking for?
Remember, your body isn’t the problem - it’s the messenger.