May I talk dirty to you?

Let's start with a little journey down a happy memory lane.

Bring to mind one experience that felt blissfully amazing in your body.

Allow that snapshot of you in time and space to simmer.

Do you recall on a sensual level how you felt in that moment? What did you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch that evoked good feels?

When we slip into these sweet spaces of body-mind peace, flow, or trance-like calm, something really "dirty" is happening.

We are experiencing relaxation.

Somewhere along the way, in part due to how Americans define success--as working 80+ hour weeks, of having the biggest house, of status, of hustling--we've lost sight of our birthright and need to slow the heck down.

If you choose rest, you're often deemed a wuss.

As a massage therapist, I know that in order for a body to heal it must first slow down.

Still, I sometimes talk to clients who want me to "dig in" and "use a lot of pressure" to unwind the hypertonicity and discomfort in their bodies.

As much as I like Miley Cyrus, my body is not a wrecking ball designed to smash your pain points to bits.

And, in some (but not all) professional circles, massage therapists who focus on relaxation as a therapeutic tool are deemed "less than" those who advertise specific protocols to free up all the restrictions in a client's body.

Tell me: when did relaxation become such a dirty word?

When we move throughout the busyness of our days, our nervous system is constantly activated. Even the "little things" like driving, sitting in meetings, typing at the computer, or preparing dinner activate the sympathetic nervous system.

Add to the everyday the BIG activators like a global pandemic, politics, and intra-and interpersonal traumas and you're in fight-flight-freeze mode 24/7.

Chronic stress and up regulation of the nervous system create a host of ails, including anxiety, armored muscles, those knot-like sensations in your neck, or the chronic burning pain around your shoulder blades.

Bodywork modalities and other practices like deep diaphragmatic breathing, yoga, or mindfulness meditation down regulate our precious nervous systems.

When we flick the switch from go go go to rest and digest, all number of good things happen: our blood pressure decreases, our heart rate slows, digestion is more effective and complete, our body is better equipped to assimilate and absorb nutrients, and our muscles and connective tissues soften.

The next time someone poo-poos you for taking time to rest (and that someone might be YOU!), remember this:

Relaxation is not a dirty word. Relaxation is not a luxury.

Relaxation is a necessity.

---> How do you unwind, chillax, let go, decompress, or relax? Drop me a quick note to share your favorite way to "get dirty!"

Jennifer (she/her)

P.S.:

Relaxation is just a click away! Book your next massage or yoga class right here. Ahhhhh.

P.P.S:

Would you take 60 seconds to review my practice on Google please?