The word ‘remedial’ means ‘to apply remedy’. Therefore Remedial Massage is about supporting the body to heal from an injury, tension or pain. Our aim as Massage Therapists when working with the musculoskeletal system is to relax and release tightly held muscles that may have a build-up of toxins from an injury, from overuse of muscles, stress or from incorrect posture etc. When muscles are held in tension our aim is to release and relax these muscles, not cause further tightness or tension.

Therefore, what is important when performing a massage is for the client to be able to fully relax in order to support the muscles to release. If the client is tense and bracing (which often comes when they are feeling pain) then it is difficult for the muscles that you are working on to fully let go.

Pain is the body’s feedback mechanism to say stop what you are doing. When pain is felt the body responds by causing the muscles to harden up around the injured site for protection to avoid further injury. Which of course is the opposite to what we are looking to achieve in the first place.

What can also be useful here is to haveanunderstanding that the role the connective tissue plays within the body. Connective tissue is a system of tissues that runs throughout all the muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, nerves, blood vessels and organ overlapping and enveloping soft tissue structures like cling film.

The fluidity and moistness of the connective tissue allows for friction free movements and supports all our body’s systems from the inside out. Energy flows through our connective tissue and in its ideal state, the connective tissue supports our natural elongated posture and our organ systems to work together harmoniously. We can picture our connective tissue like a river that flows throughout our entire body.

 When pain is induced, the connective tissue (fascia) also hardens up to go into its protective state.

So we can see that force or pain inflicted causes not only the muscles to tighten up but also has an impact on the connective tissue and therefore an overall effect of creating more tension in the body. Again, this is the opposite to what we are looking to achieve which is to relax and release the body.

To make this practical to massage, I would like to use an example and discuss how this can be applied to Trigger Point therapy, a common technique used in Remedial Massage. A trigger point is an area in the muscle (usually in the belly of the muscle or at the origin or insertion of the muscles) that has a build-up of toxins. The client often feels a bit of pain when pressing on what is referred to as an active trigger point.

Rather than forcefully working into a trigger point where the body might tense up, it is possible to release the trigger points gently and access the deeper tissue and muscles in the body. We can do this through the use of lots of repetitive effleuragestrokes to first of all warm up the outer layer of muscle, this then allows you to naturally and easily access the next and deeper level of muscles (hence the name deep tissue). If you try to access the deeper muscles via force and without truly understanding the role of the connective tissue in the body, the outer muscles harden and go into protection going against what we are trying to achieve, which is to relax them.

Once the outer muscles have been warmed up, then we can access the deeper tissue in a gentle manner, with no force and without inflicting pain. The trigger point is able to release gently and the rest of the body hasn’t gone into protection. We have therefore released the point of tension as well as keeping the surrounding muscles and tissues relaxed. Goal achieved – with no pain inflicted.

Donna Nolan works as a Remedial Massage Therapist and teaches the Diploma of Remedial Massage at one of Australia’s largest and most reputable massage schools. She offer Remedial Massage at Balgowlah. 

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One of the reasons why we don’t address the root cause is because we do not want to feel the choices that we have been making or the pressure or strain we have been putting ourselves under. We become caught in our emotions, we react and feel hurt by what others say and do and often we don’t take responsibility for the part we play.

We then choose to bury what we are feeling and ‘get on with life’.

There are a myriad of ways in which we can bury our feelings and I could write a whole article on this alone. Food is a big one – alcohol, sport, staying caught in emotions, pushing our bodies and hardening them. In fact any activity or movement that we do in a way where we disconnect from our body and do not honour the true delicateness and tenderness that we are has the potential to bury what we are feeling.

When we bury our feelings we push those feelings that may be just on the surface, deeper into the physical body so that we don’t have to face the pain or hurt of what is actually there. As human beings, we get very good at doing this and find all sorts of ways to distract ourselves from feeling our bodies and we therefore stay caught in the mental activity of our minds.

So having understood what our hurts are and why it is not good to bury them, how then do we work with this?

Here is a simple guideline that can support you to reconnect to what is going on in your body and become more familiar with addressing your hurts.

1. Nominate the hurt when you feel it without blame. Let yourself acknowledge that the incident/person/event that has happened has actually deeply affected you and that you feel hurt by it. At this stage it is important to do this without blame. You are simply nominating what is there.
2. Feel where this hurt resides in your body. You may feel a tightness in your chest, in your lower back, in your jaw. In fact, it could be held anywhere in the body. Make this exercise physical so that you feel how the hurt affects your body rather than staying in the thought process in your mind of “he said, she said” etc.
3. Stay with what you feel, without judging or trying to fix it. Simply let yourself be with what it is that you are feeling. Practice self-acceptance and that this is a process that you are going through. Let yourself truly be with what is there without fighting the urge to not go there. Stay out of the mental dialogue that may be running in your mind and stay with the sensations that you are feeling in your body.
4. Notice if there are any patterns or behaviours that you go into to stop yourself from feeling the hurt. Try to avoid using those things as medications (chocolate, alcohol, coffee) and instead let yourself be with what you feel (as explored in point 3).
5. You may like to seek support from a friend or a practitioner so that you can see the situation more clearly. Be careful to seek assistance from a person who will not allow you to ‘wallow’ or go into blame, but who will reflect a steadiness and openness so that you can go deeper within and learn that this is a healing process for you and for you to see and own your part in it.

The way to heal our hurts is to not bury them but let them come to the surface so that they can come up and out of the body. If we over ride what we feel, pretend that they are not there and push them back down – we bury emotions deeper into the physical body and at some point this will show up via an injury or illness.

 We are all deeply sensitive human beings. Let yourself be and live in with your sensitivity. This is not weak, but in fact our true strength and power.

For further reading, here is a great article We are Not our Hurts by Jean Gamble, Psychotherapist.

Donna Nolan offers Esoteric Healing, Connective Tissue Therapy, Massage , Yoga/Meditation at the Balgowlah (Northern Beaches) and Cammeray clinics. She has a love of working with people to understand the root cause of their ill or injury and works with these modalities to support her clients to return to true health and wellbeing. For bookings contact Donna donna@yogaandhealing.com.au

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As human beings we are multidimensional. What constitutes our make up is the physical body; the energetic body; our mental state of being; and our essence. So we need to really understand both the “human” and the “being” aspects of who we are and how we are.

So if we recognise that we are so much more than just our physical body, does it not make sense that when we offer ourselves the support of bodywork therapies such as massage, that as the physical body is being treated we are also having an impact on our state of being physically, emotionally and mentally.

As an example, have you ever been feeling out of sorts with your mind racing, you have a massage and you come away feeling more relaxed both in your body but there is also a sense of stillness in your mind that you hadn’t previously felt.

Or perhaps you have been feeling off and then practiced some simple exercises such as stretching and breathing, or you have simply gone for a walk and all of a sudden the world seems like a different place.

So if we recognise that indeed the mind and body are inter related, what then is going on when we have an injury that doesn’t heal?

With a deeper understanding of the relationship between the body, the mind and emotions can we limit injuries to just the physical body? Could there be so much more going on?

Have you ever experienced an injury or pain and no matter how much treatment you have such as physio, massage or other bodywork therapies the pain continues to linger and doesn’t resolve?

Could it be that although you may have addressed the physical injury or ailment, what hasn’t been addressed is the underlying cause of the ill in the first place.

Is it possible there may be a held emotion stored in the body that hasn’t been addressed and it is this retention that is not allowing the body to fully recover and heal?

What is needed is a bodywork therapist who recognises and addresses not only the physical ailment, but who also has an understanding of how we hold mentally and emotionally and the affects that this has on body. This type of therapist can offer you the space to truly heal by addressing both the underlying cause of the ill in the first place and the resultant physical affect in the body. This is the primary focus of how we choose to work at Yoga & Healing.

The missing link that is so often overlooked when dealing with injuries is that we are not just a physical being we are multidimensional human beings.

Donna Nolan is a Massage Therapist (Remedial Massage and Esoteric Massage), Connective Tissue Therapist and Yoga Therapist who loves to explore with her clients the root cause of the ailment they present with.  Donna practises in Cammeray and Balgowlah.  For bookings Phone 0408 783187 or email donna@yoagandhealing.com.au

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Yet when we truly practice yoga, we learn to develop a relationship with our body, where we listen to what it is telling us and respond and move in a way that is deeply honouring. After all, yoga means union and how can we be in union if there is not a true respect for the body.

This means no pushing, no hardness, no pain.

With this, there is much to actually gain.

Pain is the body’s feedback mechanism to say stop what you are doing. Our mind can often override this signal, but at what cost to the body? When pain is felt the body responds by causing the muscles to harden up around the injured site for protection to avoid further injury.

So what happens when we actively go into a movement that stretches the body to an extent where there is pain? The connective tissue (or commonly known as fascia) also hardens up in order to protect the body.

Connective Tissue is a system of tissues that runs throughout all the muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, nerves, blood vessels and organ overlapping and enveloping soft tissue structures like cling film.

So if our aim is to loosen and open the body, to have more fluidity, then why would we induce pain and cause more tension? It just doesn’t make sense.

So if we apply this in the true practice of yoga, then it only makes sense to apply this across the board with all bodywork therapies including massage.

As a yoga teacher, connective tissue therapist and massage therapist, I have come to understand that the best way of releasing tension in the body is through the quality of connection – not force. A stronger stretch in yoga or a harder stroke in massage may offer temporary relief, but does it solve the underlying problem in the long term? I would beg to differ.

For long term healing, the approach that I take as a bodywork therapist is to respect and respond to the connective tissue by working with the body in a connected and gentle way.

As an example, in massage, rather than forcefully working into a trigger point (a point of tension held in the muscle) to access the deep tissue and muscles, the body requires lots of repetitive strokes to first of all warm up the outer layer of muscles allowing access to the next and deeper level of muscles (hence the name deep tissue).

If you try to access the deeper muscles via force and without truly understanding the role of the connective tissue in the body, the outer muscles harden and go into protection going against what we are trying to achieve, which is to relax the muscles. Once the outer muscles have been warmed up, then we can access the deeper tissue in a gentle manner, with no force and without inflicting pain.

With the modality of Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy we work with gentle hands-on healing techniques performed with slow rhythmic motion on various parts of the body. The therapy works directly with both the physical structures of the body (muscles, joints etc) and the energy that flows through the connective tissue system and in turn releases tension and tightness in the muscles.

By listening to the body and treating it with absolute care and gentleness it leads the body towards it own natural state of healing with no pain inflicted.

Donna Nolan offers Remedial Massage, Esoteric Massage, Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy, Esoteric Healing and Chakra Puncture. For bookings please call Donna 0408 7838187 or email donna@yogaandhealing.com.au

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It can be easy to let life slip away without ever fully committing or with keeping some pockets in our life that lack the ‘C’ word. This can leave us feeling a bit like we are in no man’s land, maybe waiting for a relief, something better to come along, or maybe for someone else to do “the job” for us. Interestingly we also use lack of commitment as an excuse or a means to keep us small – to not grow or evolve.

Could it be that when we leave things open ended, when we keep a foot in each camp and do not fully commit, this creates a “gap” that lies between us and the person or object. The effect of this “gap” on our health and wellbeing is considerable and worth looking at.

We have all probably experienced being in a relationship whether that be a partnership or friendship with the other person not being really fully with us, even if they say they are. How does that feel? Well… this leaves a void that can often be filled with negative thoughts, doubt and ultimately lead to a feeling of tension, distance or maybe even separation.

A lack of commitment is a drain on the body and contributes to leave us feeling tired, lethargic and/or unmotivated. With commitment comes a confirmation and a deepening of purpose which in itself gives us more energy, a bounce, a fresh lease and perspective on life.

With commitment there is no force, simply an energy that says a full hearted ‘yes’ to that which lay in front of you, no matter what, it is unwavering. True commitment actually comes from a choice to hold our quality of being, be who we truly are, no matter what, no matter when, no matter who.

Ultimately, true commitment is a commitment to love, a commitment to be love and to share this love in full everywhere with everyone.

So what stops us from committing?

Are we afraid that we could get locked into something that we could not get out of, that the word ‘commitment’ means forever? Are we afraid that we could fail, make a wrong choice or get hurt? Or could it be that we also don’t commit because we are afraid of our own power or of having an amazing life?

There are so many reasons why we can choose not to commit but ultimately lack of commitment keeps us in the same patterns, the same cycles of going around and around without anything changing.

To grow and to evolve as a person, commitment is a vital ingredient and one that should be taken with more than a pinch of salt.

Commitment is a key ingredient to a healthy life. It may not be a familiar taste for some of us, yet one that once tasted, you can’t imagine a meal without. Commitment feels great in the body, it feels solid, vital and true. It offers us the opportunity to open our arms to the grandness of what life has to offer.

How about taking stock this month on the things you fully commit to and observe how that commitment feels in your body. Then how about looking at those pockets of your life where there might be a lack of commitment and try applying the same level of enthusiasm applied to when you fully commit and see how this feels.

Could commitment be true medicine?

Have a go exploring committing deeper to various aspects of your life and see what transpires. As usual we would love to hear from you.

Alexandra Plane and Donna Nolan offer Yoga/Yoga Therapy, Meditation, Esoteric therapies and Massage at their clinic in Balmain , Cammeray and Balgowlah.  Contact them for enquiries or bookings.

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So what is our essence?

Our essence is found in that inner-most part of us which when we deeply connect to our body, offers us those beautiful innate qualities that we then naturally express in and from. These qualities as an example may be sweetness, purity, grace, playfulness, tenderness… and the list goes on.

At the core of all those qualities is a stillness, joy, harmony, truth and love – all there for us all to tap into and live from. Those qualities are always there despite the fact that we may have lost sight of them as we get bogged down or burdened with our issues, hurts or simply the intensity of life.

Living from our essence…

We can liken living from our essence to the feeling of what it was like to live as that innocent and buoyant child where the days seemed timeless, where the joy, bounce and love for life was in every step. An image that comes to mind is that little girl skipping along the footpath enjoying simply being herself without a care in the world, or that little boy staring in awe at a bee or caterpillar.

When we are in our essence, there isn’t a holding back, rather there is openness, expression, a joy that wants to shine through for all to see. When we live from our essence, there is an abundance of energy there to be shared with all.

So why is it that most of us are not living from our essence? Why is it that we do not fully shine? Could that be a choice?

Ultimately the key reason is that we have not yet dealt in full with our unresolved issues or hurts. We all hold the responsibility to look at why we are not living with that full honouring and connection with our body, the essence of who we are and the world around us. We can blame others for the way our life is and how we feel or take full responsibility for the fact that we carve out our future by the way we choose to live in the present moment.

One difficulty behind letting our essence out is that if we were to truly shine, then we will stand out from the crowd, people will notice us, we could no longer play it small and will have to step up our responsibility.

Could it be that for many of us it is easier and more comfortable to hide or stay hurt then to make the choice to live all the love that we actually are?

Living from our essence IS a choice, a choice that is there to be made – moment to moment. Connect with our body, our gentle breath, our inner-being and live and express from this place – no matter what.

When we live from our essence, we offer that reflection reminding another that they can choose to live from theirs too.  It is a lot more fun and joy-full to live from your essence than not to. Go on, try it, work with what’s in the way, see how you feel.

Alexandra Plane and Donna Nolan offer Yoga/Yoga Therapy, Meditation, Esoteric Healing, Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy and Massage at their clinics in Balmain ,Cammeray and Northern Beaches. Contact them for enquiries or bookings.

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