How Massage Boosts Body Positivity

We all carry a disdain for an area of our skin, hair etc. The list goes on but it is misplaced. To label and judge something as disfigured is like picking up a ugly twisted vegetable from the ground that doesn’t fit the mold of “supermarket worthy” and is tossed by growers. Wasted and yet with great value. Despite its supposed disfigurement the truth lies in the very core of its being. It most certainly can do what its more esthetically approved counterparts can do, feed a family. For that is the purpose for which is was born to do, to feed and provide nutrients to a hungry being.

The way this disproportioned produce is discarded, reminds me of how humans mentally discard their bodies. However, I see a societal change and my heart feels encouraged by a movement that stands against body shaming. Young people appear free and joyous as they embrace the healing power of dance on social media and it is a boldness I have never seen before and it is reassuring.

Today, the young are wading through the newness of adult life and defining what physical beauty is in this world. They defiantly say, I am large, my skin has blotches or any assortment of physical attributes that once kept people feeling ashamed.

However, despite the courage these young souls have I can see one more discipline that they can weave into their lives. The receiving of massage as a powerful declaration for loving the body they’re in.

In my career, I’ve had people apologizing for their bodies as they make their way onto the massage therapy table. As if touching them will be a grotesque thing. Their amputed limb or scar filled skin will repulse me as I begin to knead the tension from their overworked muscles. No.

I do not see that. What I am working with is a human being that acknowledges “I am worthy of healing touch” and they have backed that claim by investing in their time and finances into routine wellness.

Is there a way to transmit confidence into those that lie down to receive massage? I believe there is. Massage therapists around the world should celebrate that a person has entrusted their bodies to us for a sacred moment in time.

When a massage therapist hears words of self defeat from the lips of any person, young or old they can gently pause and say, “No, your body is important, it is more than ok that this looks like this or that looks like that. I am so glad you’re here”. You are opening a doorwarway, massage therapist, to a lifetime of healing for that person.

Receiver of massage, could I encourage you to believe the words of the person touching you for that sacred time? I say sacred because the connection between two people especially through healing touch is very special indeed. Open yourself to receiving respect and dignity on the end of a practitioner. Believe that you are not the ugly vegetable that didn’t make the “supermarket” cut. You shine, your body as different as it may be, shines. Your hair, skin, eyes and limbs should shine in the atmosphere of this world. When you are very young, insecurities may engulf you. But as you strut your stuff in front of the camera lens of your smart phone do so also in a simpler way, a quieter way. In the treatment room of a massage practitioner , where, without saying a word, you can say, I am here, my body is worthy is being cared for.