Words cannot begin to describe what it’s like to live with physical pain in your life. Unless you’ve had this experience, it’s fair to say that you haven’t the slightest idea how emotionally, mentally and spiritually devastating living with pain really is. Can you remember having a toothache? Do you remember how the pain took over every aspect of your life- – how you couldn’t function with even the smallest of life’s tasks, the pain was so all-consuming? Well, imagine that happening 24 hrs. a day and you have some idea of what it’s like to live with pain.
Even though synthetic “pain killers” ruin our body’s bio chemistry, poison vital enzymes and damage our brain’s receptors, we are willing to accept this rather than live with pain. I don’t think anyone has the right to judge someone for choosing this route for managing pain — I would however, like to highlight some complimentary alternatives. These complimentary alternatives become more and more potent with use, as opposed to synthetic chemicals which become less and less effective with use and ultimately lead to using higher and higher doses. Higher doses can end up completely poisoning and destroying our body’s natural systems.
When it comes to pain, our body’s nervous system carries one signal at a time. Our nervous system is designed to decipher which signal is most important to our survival. Our nervous system registers pressure over pain, known as the ‘gate theory’; one gate or receptor, one signal at a time, and the pressure signal overrides the pain signal.
Massage has always been the number one holistic pain treatment. Massage provides the pressure signal to the nervous system, and causes the body to release endorphins (morphine naturally produced by the body) which are the body’s natural pain killers released during massage. Massage in America is mostly associated with pampering, while the medical benefits of massage are often completely overlooked.
I have been privileged to work with clients that manage pain in their daily lives. As everyone knows, real sleep is priceless, so when a client spends 95% of their time on the treatment table in deep unmedicated sleep, it really is an honor to be part of that healing process.
Guided meditation, progressive relaxation imagery or hypnosis has long been used to treat chronic pain. This form of therapy directly taps into the body’s natural self-healing potential. I personally subscribe to the philosophy that all healing comes from within, so for me, teaching clients progressive relaxation techniques and self-hypnosis is the most natural and obvious approach to any form of healing.
There is a philosophical viewpoint that states that all sickness is the physical reflection of conflict between our higher unconditional love-based authentic self, and our fear-based ego self. Whether you believe this or not, science has always known the amazing healing powers of the mind, and coaches that specialize in helping clients reach more of their full potential deal in what’s known as the ‘subconscious dialogue’. What this means is that our life is a reflection of our personal subconscious chatter. What we tell ourselves subconsciously is what we manifest and experience consciously. Progressive relaxation helps us to proactively enter the subconscious mind, and self-hypnosis techniques help us rewrite a positive subconscious script — a script that is more aligned with our authentic higher self. Our lives are reflections of our subconscious dialogue not vise-verse, that’s how powerful our mind is!
Using massage and self-hypnosis is a profound healing experience that becomes more and more potent with use. These techniques are easily learned, and once learned will become a tool that can be applied to every aspect of life, not just managing pain. For more information on self-hypnosis, and massage for pain management classes, call our office at The Balance Holistic & Clinical Massage Therapy. Classes are usually private and by request.
Good complementary and alternative approaches to life management put the power into your hands — they are self-empowering. Feeling good is our natural state, not a privilege for a select few — it’s how we were designed to thrive! It’s up to each individual to take the steps to become self-empowered and really enjoy a life of ‘feeling good routines’. Make massage one of your health bolstering routines in the new Aquarian age!
Aoghain Lakes McLocha
Massage Lifestyle Coach/ Therapist, Reiki Master Teacher ~ Contact him at: (248) 542-3073 or visit: thebalancemassage.com.
