The Top 3 Reasons to Get Body Work Today are going to be different for each person. I’ve outlined a few reasons that I see are some of the most beneficial reasons to begin getting bodywork today no matter what your age is. Knowing that health is the most precious asset we have, and learning how to use bodywork as a tool to get the most out of our mental, physical and emotional health, leads to a higher quality of life in many ways…
What is bodywork? Do you work on cars?!
What is bodywork? When I first started telling friends I was studying an osteopathically based style of bodywork in the late 90’s, the immediate question they asked me what, “Do you work on cars?” That led to some awkward conversations that begin with, “No, I work on necks, shoulders, backs, and knees.” Then they would respond with, “Oh so you’re a Chiropractor!”
Bodywork can fall into a pretty broad category lumped together with physical therapists, massage therapists, and chiropractors. Just remember not all bodywork is created equal!
There are many different areas of study that fall into mainly 2 styles: Direct vs: Indirect (I’ll write about this later) For now
Direct vs: Indirect Bodywork
Direct – Think Chiropractic (pushing a bone into place that’s out of place) or deep tissue massage (rubbing on a painful muscle until it lets go) This style of bodywork tends to be more painful.
Indirect – Think Ortho-Bionomy or Cranial Sacral (exaggerating the pattern the body is already displaying and allowing the nervous system to self-correct the issue on its own. This style of bodywork tends to be more subtle and gentle which can be more beneficial when you’re in acute pain.
Bodywork is defined in the medical dictionary as follows:
A generic term for the use of touch (e.g., massage, deep tissue manipulation, movement awareness, energy balancing, exercise, and others) is either improve bodily structure and function (e.g., circulation and relaxation), or as a therapeutic modality to reduce pain and heal damaged musculoskeletal units. Central to all forms of bodywork is the belief that there are blocks in the flow of energy and fields that indirectly cause disease, and which, when unblocked, result in a return to the state of health.
https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/bodywork
Regardless of the style or modality of bodywork, you choose to begin with, here are…
The Top 3 Reasons to Get Bodywork Today:
1.) Physical body is limiting day-to-day activities
It doesn’t happen all at once many times. It’s a gradual process that starts when you’re a teenager. The “crick” in the neck, the lower back pain, the ankle, knee, or hip gives challenges when getting up from a chair. You don’t pay attention to it much because you “can handle it.” What you may not realize is all of these little aches and pains add up over time and build up in the neurology of your body. Think of a vice being cranked one turn at a time each day of your life. Before you know it that vice gets pretty tight and your body no longer has the “room” to “get away” from the pain anymore. Bodywork is a preventative measure to begin releasing the tension that builds up from the little aches and pains in your body. Now think of bodywork un-winding that vice one crank at a time.
2.) Increased understanding and awareness of what is causing physical pain and discomfort
With this stress and tension building up in our bodies each day, many times we don’t have an accurate sense of exactly how much stress and tension we currently have or are dealing with. Getting bodywork on a regular basis gives us a barometer of the amount of tension we have and where exactly this tension is being held in the body. It could be your neck/shoulders, hips/lower back, or in your knees, ankles, and feet. Where your body “hurts” is NOT always a good indication of awareness! For example, Many people suffer from knee pain, but it’s NOT actually their knees that are the problem. Much of the issue with knee pain can be coming from tight hamstrings or tension in the hips and lower back. Getting bodywork on a regular basis can increase your awareness of tension held in other places of your body which need to be addressed so the area that “hurts” never becomes an issue.
3.) Preventative Maintenance
The majority of society that doesn’t have regular bodywork sessions tends to wait until they can no longer handle the pain anymore and then heads to the emergency room or to see their doctor for pain medication. This can turn out to be very costly and end up leading to unintended outcomes by the conventional medical model. Regular bodywork sessions by a competent and knowledgeable bodyworker can help you identify “trouble spots” in your physical body, giving you some simple “homework” to do allowing you to avoid that crisis late on a Friday night looking for a ride to the emergency room!
“An ouch of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
~ English Proverb
I’ve just shared the top 3 reasons to get bodywork today. You may discover an infinite number of reasons to get bodywork for yourself.
IF YOU HAVE A REASON NOT MENTIONED ABOVE, PLEASE SHARE IT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW…
If you’re located in the Western North Carolina area and you’re looking for more bodywork support, you can check out the services I have to offer HERE.
