I find that the average person who does not work in bodywork associates massage with a range of things from treating oneself for a special occasion, to working on a chronic pain problem to achieve results, to providing therapeutic maintenance to the muscles we use daily for years and years.
Many of you have probably experienced massage in one or more of these capacities, but not all of you might know the benefits of massage during grief. This can be a change of jobs, change of residence, shifting relationships as people grow and change, move, or have children and become less available.
Grief can arise from losing the hope of something you had thought was going to be part of your life. We humans do get attached. And of course, the most painful of all forms of grief is losing a loved one due to death. All of us experience grief as a natural process of life; it is vitally important that we acknowledge and feel our grief, in all its painful and shameless glory, to fully let go, heal, and move forward. Pent up grief manifests itself in many ways in the body, mind and spirit, and often gets expressed with anger when bottled up for too long.
Grief demands that we let it have its say one way or another; best to let it have its due as you are experiencing your loss. This will not be easy, it will definitely not be linear, nor will it be pleasant, but it is necessary for your overall health and well being. Now that we are experiencing grief, what next? Many people have trouble balancing life responsibilities while allowing grief to take its course. Allowing the tears to flow during a grou9p fitness class like Jazzercise when everyone is looking at the instructor is also a very cathartic experience.
Allowing yourself these expressions of emotions whenever you can will help you fully feel, experience, and ultimately move through your grief. Massage is one of those outlets too, particularly when grief or trauma is fresh. Massage teams are often in place as part of emergency response after a tragedy such as a plane crash. That is amazing. How can that be? The need for touch is powerful, and it is often the most immediate need that we have after tragedy or loss.
