Brain Firing Massage

We are made of water, flesh and bone, but also fire. Our brain is alive with electrical energy and needs proper nutrients, and stimulation to remain healthy. I believe that by allowing our bodies to wither and atrophy over time, we smother the fire in the brain and nervous system, and age accordingly. Is it possible that we can keep our “youth” even as we grow older by not allowing our sensitivity and vitality to grow dim? I think we can.

How?

Primarily we have to deal with stress, and the tension it produces in the body. It is this tension/anxiety which causes us to try to dampen down the over excitement (stress) in the brain and nervous system in whatever way we can. We often rely on tools, and vices, to change the state of our nervous system. These things don’t get at the cause. They are temporary distractions at best. These stress /tension patterns are tenacious, and are the mechanism by which we become increasingly contracted and tight. We end up wasting energy holding tension which is counterproductive to efficiency and fluid movement of the body. This causes postural and functional rigidity, as well as functional decline in the brain and central nervous system, mostly through neglect.

This is where I hope that I may be of some help. It is my intention to go in and work out all the tension I can get to in the deep musculature of your core, and to do so in a manner which doesn’t violate your sense of what you can comfortably tolerate. It is challenging but should not be traumatic. It should also take you deeper than less challenging work, as it causes you to be actively passive, to work at letting go as opposed to just lying there.

What at first seems intense becomes less so as you learn to let go, to not resist. This is where I feel the real value of my work lies. It is a form of bio-feedback in which you let go at deeper and deeper levels, calming the brain and central nervous system. This mechanism has been called “the relaxation response”, and it is very profound in it’s healing effect on the body. It is an antidote to stress, and it’s physical manifestation, tension.

Under stress our instincts will always take us into sympathetic response, or fight or flight mode. Most of us live in a state of over stimulation, and over time this is very destructive. We can, with practice, reinforce the relaxation response (a.k.a. para-sympathetic response). This is characterized by relaxation and a sense of peace and well being, and an ability to trust and to let go of control. It’s a state we should fall into naturally when we’re not actively experiencing a stressor. This doesn’t happen if we’re stuck in a stress feedback loop as a result of constant stress. Being stressed out is a hard habit to break. Because of this feedback loop, the tension and anxiety builds, and our ability to relax deeply may be compromised as we age, causing us to become evermore rigid over time. Fortunately, with practice we can reverse the cycle, and create momentum for improvement. We simply have to pay attention and work at it.