The Body Holds Memories The Brain Has Forgotten

So many of us carry stress tension within multiple areas of our bodies, without even knowing it. In fact, we can go for years, even decades, completely oblivious to the energy our muscles are holding on to. No matter how much you try to ignore, intellectualize, or suppress how you feel, your body knows the truth.

This repressed energy is responsible for countless physical ailments, unhealthy emotional/mental patterns, and chronic health conditions that cause us great suffering and effect our ability to live fully embodied lives.

It always fascinates and inspires me how people just "let go", "release", "come down", and "relax" as soon as I lay my hands on a person’s body in the first moment of a massage session. It's like we don’t realize we are HOLDING, until it's brought to our awareness. Touch is a powerful way to bring attention to where we're holding.

Have you ever had a hug that just made you relax a little more during the embrace?

So, what's the CAUSE of this (most times unconscious) tension? Here are a few reasons:

SOCIAL CONDITIONING:

Social conditioning starts in early childhood and is reinforced throughout the rest of our lives by our parents, friends, teachers, family members, and society at large.

For example, many of us were taught that “only babies cry,” so as children, we learned to suck it up. Another example of this social conditioning I always give is within in the public school system and how you have to "raise your hand" to use the bathroom. This encourages children to NOT listen to their bodies and supress the natural signals it gives us. Same as not being able to eat until during your "lunch break" in many corporate settings.

TRAUMA:

“Trauma is not rare because we live in a society that perpetuates trauma”, this is also reflected in our family units where many of us have had traumatic experiences.

PLEASE keep in mind that traumatic experiences can range from being spanked or yelled at as a child... all the way to extreme violence or a life altering death of a loved one.

When these traumatic experiences aren’t consciously dealt with, they can result in chronic fear, stress, and even occurrences of PTSD. This chronic anxiety, anger, and grief tend to get stored within the body resulting in muscle tension. Many dont realize that unresolved stress/trauma contributes to numerous common illnesses such as autoimmune disease, digestive disorders, mental illnesses, and even cancer.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TENSION:

This is any form of anxiety, frustration, sadness, anger, etc. that we develop as a result of our perceptions of others and the world around us. For example, we may develop psychological tension as a result of our thoughts regarding a co-worker (e.g. they’re lazy) or of thoughts regarding the world ( "this is not a safe place" ) These are inner agreements / narratives we create that reflect in our body.

ENVIRONMENTAL::

The current life style of MOST people is not optimal for wellness. For example, our sedentary lifestyles (working at a desk all day) tend to exacerbate our physical pain because we aren’t giving our muscles a chance to expel the tension; energy just accumulates because we arent moving it. Other habits such as poor posture, lack of sleep, drug use, unhealthy eating, and environmental pollution tend to increase the likelihood of us developing chronic muscle tension.

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There are many ways to tend to our bodied and the imprints stored within. The key point is to be AWARE that we do HOLD, and from there we can seek and apply practices that support the letting go.

One great tool is massage therapy, it is a powerful way to take care of Self on this level. Check out my Massage Therapy and Restorative Services HERE.