One of the debates that have accompanied
bodywork throughout its history has been about what specific things soft tissue manipulation can actually accomplish. Physicians
and practitioners have agreed on two fundamental points. One is that most of the body’s processed rely upon the
appropriate movement of fluids through our systems, and that bodywork can be an effective means of promoting these circulations.
Whether it is blood in the arteries, capillaries and veins, the contents of the digestive tract, lymph in its vessels,
secretions in their glands or the fluids that fill all of the spaces in between our cells, manipulation can move them around
much like pushing water back and forth in a rubber tube.
These flows, or the lack of them, can have far-reaching consequences upon many tissues and functions.
Nutrients, oxygen, hormones, antibodies and of course water, must be delivered to every single cell continually if it
is to survive and respond the way it should, and all kinds of toxic wastes must be borne away. There is no tissue in
the body that cannot be weakened and ultimately destroyed by chronic interruptions of these various circulations.
Another argument frequently made for the
efficiency of bodywork is that both our musculature and the connective tissues which hold us together often become stiffened,
shortened or thickened, distorting our posture and limiting our movements. These tissues can be especially troubling
after surgery or any other trauma, when the muscles are either tightening up in order to brace an injured area or are contracting
in a general withdrawal reflex, and when the connective tissues are scarring over a wound. The bracing and healing mechanisms
often overdo their functions and it is very common that individuals never recover their full range of motion or their normal
levels of comfort after an operation or serious injury. And these stiffenings, shortenings and thickenings can also
happen as a result of a wide array of overuse, disuse, spasm, injury illness, fatigue, aging, poor habits or the innumerable
physical strains that various occupations demand of us. Bodywork has been used for thousands of years to relax muscles,
eliminate spasms, diminish fatigue, and soften connective tissue to make it more supple and so free up the joints. These
kinds of effects upon our fluids and upon our solids have been rightfully cited as benefits of bodywork throughout its history.
Bodywork helps relieve
stress. We’ve all heard of the “flight or fight” response, our body’s response that quickly
prepares us for either physical conflict or rapid escape. This response causes an immediate arousal of the nervous system,
stimulation it to a state of increased alertness. This hyper-arousal sets the stage for other responses—one of
its immediate results is an increase in muscle tone and muscular contractions. The respiration deepens and accelerates,
the heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, the circulatory system adjusts to direct blood flow away from the stomach
and intestines, chemicals are added to the blood which increase its coagulation, hormones are released to cause water retention
by the kidneys. One can see that if the body operates in this state continually, nearly every tissue in the body is
probably affected. Massage and the relaxation id evokes, cause a release of endorphins, which help counteract the effects
of stress.
Bodywork
has an even greater impact on the mind. Bodywork seeks to shift the focus of the body as a source of pain to the body
as a source of pleasure and comfort. The physical relaxation diminishes emotional anxiety and restores the possibility
of control over situations. With self-awareness of the body comes learning to control self-perpetuating cycles of pain.
Pain is real and the reflex it cannot help but trigger is real. What is needed is another real sensation, as overwhelming
pleasant a sensation as possible, to divert the attention of the brain away from the anxiety-provoking discomfort and towards
a pleasant relaxed state.
Touch
has been called “The Mother of the Senses.” In a developing embryo, the skin and the brain develop from
exactly the same primitive cells. Depending upon how you look at it, the skin is the outer surface of the brain, or
the brain is the deepest layer of the skin. The skin is no more separated from the brain than the surface of a lake
is separated from its depths; the two are different locations in a continuous medium. So the skin offers an excellent
means of influencing internal processes. Touch is food for the body. Touch is valuable, even necessary, in maintaining
good health.
Bodywork
will not replace the resources of modern medicine, but it certainly should be a part of these resources. Try massage
therapy. If you are hesitant, remember this: if you try it once and you don’t like it, you don’t ever
have to do it again. But if you respond well, you’ve discovered a new resource for the rest of your life.
