Today we’re rolling up our sleeves and getting hands-on with the ultimate self-care practice: Self-massage.

Now before you start thinking, ‘Oh, I can just pay someone else to give me a massage’ or ask my partner, we don’t want to get in the habit of outsourcing our self-love. While I certainly do enjoy receiving a massage from a professional or my husband occasionally, there is so much healing we can experience, through the touch of our very own hands.

Because here’s the thing… Our body isn’t just a vessel getting us from A to B. Our body is our best friend. Our home.

And what better way to say ‘thank you’ to all that our body does for us day-in day-out, than to show it some tender, loving care with a DIY massage! Not only does it feel AMAZING, but it’s a powerful way to connect with our inner self, instigate deep healing within our cells, and help repair our fragmented relationship with our body.

So without further ado, I invite you to join me on I Love Me The Podcast, so you learn how to offer yourself the loving touch you so very much deserve.

 

Simple, inspiring lessons in self-love. Hello gorgeous, it’s Tamra here.

I first started getting massages when I was in my teens, due to growing pains and little injuries.

By the time I was in my 20’s, and earning my own money, they became a regular part of looking after myself.

By 30, and earning more money, my massages became a fortnightly occurrence.

And I LOVED it!

I loved being able to live a full life – where I was able to pack so much into my day – and then go to my masseuse and have her work her magic on me, easing tension, and helping bring things back into alignment.

The only problem was, that I was using someone else, to guide my body back into balance.

As opposed to taking the time to connect into my own inner wisdom, so that I could learn how to live my life in a way that didn’t create so much tension in the first place.

What I’m saying is, outsourcing this part of my self-care, meant that I wasn’t as in touch, with what my body was trying to tell me.

Which for a long time, was ‘Slow down!’

Slow down enough to move through life with more ease and grace, so you don’t keep stretching yourself to your limit, and hurting your body in the process.

Stop treating your body like it’s replaceable!

It was my first Yoga Teacher Training, where they talked about the value of ‘foot’ massage, that I realised that I could give myself loving touch.

And so I gave it a go.

I got out some oil and spent some time massaging my feet.

I learnt that there are thousands of nerve endings in our feet, reflexology points, and six meridians that run through our feet.

In this way, the feet serve like a microcosm of the whole body, and by massaging our feet we can relieve issues throughout our entire body.

In all honesty, my first DIY foot massage wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for.

I felt quite disconnected from the whole self-massage thing, and thought to myself, ‘Oh it’s much nicer getting a massage from someone else.’

It was some time after this, that I would realise, this experience was showing me just how disconnected I was from my body.

Just how out of touch I was, with what was going on, inside my very own temple!

When I finally returned to self-massage, deciding to give myself a full-body massage, it wasn’t all sunflowers and cream!

I really struggled to stay present with myself, long enough to sink into the touch I was giving myself.

I felt like it was ‘Hard work’.

And there were parts of my body that I regarded with disdain.

There were body parts that weren’t the size or shape or texture that I wanted them to be.

It became blatantly clear, the exact areas of my body that I was rejecting.

That I was unable to feel love for.

This, was eye-opening.

When it came to getting naked, and showing myself love, through self-massage, I avoided it.

I put it at the end of the list of things I thought I ‘should’ do for myself.

And I witnessed the resistance I had to connecting with my very own body.

The body that I lived in.

And I wondered…

Why was I avoiding my body so strongly?

Over coming weeks I decided to commit fully to a weekly full body self-massage.

And it was during this time, that I was able to melt away the shame and self-loathing, release tension and holding patterns, and stop disassociating from my body.

Instead, I started to feel more engaged with my body, better able to feel myself massaging myself.

I started to feel internally guided to the areas of my body that needed my loving touch the most.

And as a result of this I started to fall in love with my body.

I started to be grateful for all it did for me.

I started to feel more confident in my ability to come into communication with my body, and be able to listen to the subtle whispers that were letting me know what needed my attention.

Then one day, realising that it was my butt that I felt the most dislike towards, I did a little experiment.

Each day, I would spend at least 5 minutes massaging my bottom.

But as I did this, I imagined I was massaging love into my bottom.

Over the course of two weeks, I started to feel myself coming into a healthier, more appreciative relationship with my bottom.

A relationship where I no longer disliked how it looked.

Now, my husband had been away for work during the two weeks of my little experiment and I hadn’t told him what I was doing.

Yet, when he returned, one of the first things he said to me was:

‘You’re butt’s looking really good!’

Now, this was not how he usually spoke to me – as he was not someone to comment on how I looked – so this confirmed to me that I’d changed my relationship with my bottom.

It was holding a new energy, because I’d taken the time to offer a part of myself that I had rejected…

I had taken the time to offer that part of me love.

And as a result of this, I’d come to accept and appreciate this part of myself.

So this is one of the reasons why I love self-massage.

It helps gently draw our attention to the areas of our body that we dislike the most, so we can offer those areas the love they so desperately need from us.

In doing so, we release the tension that’s built up due to years of rejection and dislike, and help invite these areas into better functionality.

We begin to connect with our body in a completely new way.

A way where we can better understand our body when it’s trying to tell us something, by way of symptoms.

For when our body starts to experience some kind of ‘symptom’, this is simply the body’s way of trying to communicate with us.

Offering us feedback, on what we need to shift or change, in order to come into greater balance and harmony in all that we do in life.

I’ll go into more depth on this in a later episode.

So through self-massage we’re offering ourself physical healing, as well as emotional healing.

For when we give ourself loving touch, we’re showing our body love and respect, and telling ourself that we are worthy of receiving that kind of touch.

And for me, that is the greatest gift of self-massage…

For it invites us into a higher level of body love and acceptance.

So we can love our whole self.

Now starting a self-massage practice needn’t be difficult.

All you need to do, is source some oil.

Oil that has been the least processed is the best.

Ones I love are organic coconut oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, sesame oil… even olive oil will do just fine, if that’s all you have in the house.

Just make sure you only put on your skin what you’d be willing to eat, because what we put on our skin absorbs straight into our body.

Once you have your oil, find a place where you won’t be disturbed.

Turn your phone off.

Take off your clothes if it feels warm enough, sit down on a towel so you don’t get oil everywhere.

Coat your hands in the oil, rub them together to generate some heat, then start to offer your body that loving touch.

You don’t need to start in one place and end in another.

Simply let your hands be internally guided on where they feel drawn to go, and trust that your body is being given the exact touch it needs.

There is no right or wrong, only what feels nourishing for you in that moment.

Now there can be a tendency to tune out when we’re touching our body.

To disassociate.

So as you notice your mind start to become filled with thoughts or maybe judgement, take a moment to pause, then focus on your breath, and allow your breath to reconnect you with your body.

The quickest way to get out of our head and back into our body, is through the breath.

So breathe into the area you’re massaging.

Or simply hold the area you’ve been massaging and take a moment to breathe into that area, feeling that area, bringing awareness and healing presence to that area.

For a more luxurious experience, if you want to make the self-massage a little more decadent, warm the oil before using it, light some scented candles, and maybe play some soft music in the background, if it doesn’t distract you from yourself.

Or if a full body massage feels too much to begin with, start with one area of the body.

Maybe it’s a foot massage or a hand massage.

Once you get a feel for self-massage, you may like to seek out the tension patterns in your body, to offer your body a deeper healing experience.

While there are nerve endings, meridian points, lymphatic areas, muscles, tissues and organs throughout the body, you don’t need to learn all of those systems to benefit from self-massage.

If you’re willing to be present with your body and explore your body with curious wonder, you’ll naturally be guided to the areas of tension.

The areas that need your loving touch, and will create the most healing.

If you feel stuck, simply ask yourself:

Where am I holding tension right now?

Where am I struggling to let go?

Where do I feel stuck or blocked right now?

And allow your hands to go there.

When we start asking those kinds of questions, we allow ourselves to discover tender parts of ourself, that we weren’t even aware of, and give them the healing touch they most need.

In this way, self-massage can act like preventative medicine, in offering ourselves healing, before any symptoms arise.

As you come across those tender areas, that feel tense or even painful, you can simply hold them, tap on them, or gently massage them.

Always from a place of love.

We don’t need to force the tension away, or get an elbow into a stiff muscle, we’re not doing that…

We simply want to invite in our presence, and let our ‘loving presence’ do the healing.

As you stay present to the sensations that arise, allow yourself to feel any emotions that rise to the surface, or any insights that come into your consciousness.

If you’re willing to take this loving approach, being present to all that comes up for you, breathe into it, feel it, be with it fully…

Hold yourself in the moment…

And if you do, the tension will start to ease and dissolve.

When our body is holding tension, it’s often because we’re holding onto something that is no longer serving us, such as suppressed emotions, or ways of being or beliefs and ideas that guide us away from our loving selves.

You may hear people refer to this as:

Issues in our tissues.

Our emotions get stored in our body by way of tension, and that tension then creates habitual movement patterns that can make the tension worse.

This is where self-massage can be a beautiful way of getting in touch with what we’re unconsciously holding onto.

And if you want to go deeper into the purpose of our emotions, have a listen to Episodes 6 and Episode 39 where we explore the emotions anger and fear.

Sometimes memories or stuff from our childhood can come up for healing, which is a good thing, because…

Once we’re ready to feel our hurts and traumas, we can heal them.

So if you suddenly have an urge to cry or get angry as you’re holding a place on your body, be with that emotion, feel it as fully as you feel safe to do so, and then notice how the tension releases.

This is how we start to see how the mind and body are simply a mirror of each other.

One effects and creates the other, and vice versa.

As we bring presence and awareness to one, we access the other.

That’s how through self-massage, we can not only heal our past, release our suppressed emotions and beliefs, let go of physical tension and restore structural integrity and balance…

But we get to come into a loving relationship with our whole self; our physical body as much as our emotional and spiritual self.

So if you don’t have any other tools on how to work with your emotions and build your self love, try entering through self-massage.

While you may start out with a lack of enthusiasm or connection, with a committed practice you’ll find that your self-massage ritual will grow into one that feels nourishing, luxurious, and healing on all levels, creating profound shifts in your physical health and your love for yourself.

So start where feels comfortable for you.

Maybe that’s a foot massage.

Or a hand massage.

Or maybe you explore through a whole body massage.

Just give it a go.

Give your body the nourishing, healing touch it’s most craving right now.

Reconnect with your body through your very own love-rich hands.

Next week, is one for the ladies.

We’ll be exploring a very intimate type of massage, a type of massage I believe ALL women should do.

So make sure you tune in for that one.

Until then, if you’re loving what I’m sharing on I Love Me the Podcast and want to dive deeper into self-love, take a peek at my online school gettingnaked.com.au where I teach you how to strip off the layers of conditioning, keeping you from loving and accepting yourself.

Sign up for your free self-love starter’s kit there, and if you do enrol in any of the programs, know that a percentage of profits go to planting trees, so together we can re-robe Mother Earth.