massage therapy journal

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Relaxing Made Easy

Your schedule can get busy, and sometimes it feels easier to ignore the signals your body is providing you instead of taking some time to yourself. But that ache in your forearm or the dull pain in your neck, when ignored, can lead to big problems for you and your career.

Even when you feel like you can’t get to an hour-long yoga class or take a nice walk outside, you can still relax and rejuvenate right in your massage studio and in only three minutes.

The “Three Minute Mini Meditation” is a lifelong, re-energizing tool if you’re tired, out of sorts or need to increase well-being throughout the day. The goal is always to counteract negativity with love, the best medicine of all.

Settle down in a peaceful place with no interruptions. Get very quiet. Relax your body. Slowly inhale and exhale. Your breath will bring you back to center.

Then, gently rest your palm over your heart chakra. Concentrate on a person, place, song or memory you cherish. You may want to start with nature. Visualize a sublime dawn. Or picture your puppy napping in your lap. If you prefer, focus on your higher power, whatever your definition. The purpose is to feel love in a general sense, then specifically as a localized energy in the middle of your chest.

Finally, observe the sensations in your heart center, dramatic or subtle. Heat. Coolness. Tingling. Vibration. Expansion. Bliss. Pressure releasing. Compassion. Let it happen. Don’t hold back. With time, you’ll feel a vortex of positive energy growing in your heart, which spontaneously flows out into your body.

Adapted from Positive Energy by Judith Orloff, MD, used by permission by author