Deep Massage

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

 

I'm going to try and relay the information I've gained over the past

year (at least) about easing some of the body's tension. It seems to

me that at least some of our tension is held in a purely physical

manner as muscular tension and corresponding tension of ligaments and

joints. By releasing this tension consciously perhaps we can avoid

some of worst physical manifestations of pain (believe you me, the

muscular tensions can easily be pushed to the point of extreme pain...)

 

I've found the main key to releasing this tension is stretching of

muscles (takes practice to find what weird posture stretches what!)

and deep massage.

 

DISCLAIMER FIRST! During stretching you can often put your body into

a precarious position. This is a balancing act where you balance your

body's tensions against each other. No sudden movements! If you need

to move, slowly return to normal posture first and then move slowly to

test your joints and muscles. Also, if you are having Kundalini

energies moving around then tread carefully! Messing with tensions

might bring up emotional issues that are connected... Chrism, any

thoughts?

 

For stretching: First identify an area where you believe you have

excess tension. Next you need to find the position in which to

stretch this area. I've had success in moving around until I can feel

the muscles pulled somewhat painfully tight. Once you find this area

you must hold it, though never should it be more than a passing

discomfort. No awards to those with willpower to overcome damaging

pain... only broken bodies

Making slight movements and slightly flexing the tense muscles when in

these positions is incredibly beneficial and will usually lead you

into new positions. You must hold positions for at LEAST 5 minutes to

get any beneficial effect. This is similar to yoga, but your bodily

position is dictated by your personal bodily tension.

 

The most common (and easiest to begin with IMHO) tension seems to be

around the shoulders and neck. My posture for this is to sit cross

legged or in butterfly position, then I hang my head forward till I

can feel the muscles pulling tight down my spine and around my

shoulders. I relax as best I can, breathe steadily, and let my head

hang for at least 5 minutes. Once I can no longer feel the slight

muscular pain of the tension I begin slowly swaying from side to side

so my spine gently curves to the left or right. This triggers new

tension groups so I hold them and go back and forth. After 20-30

minutes of this I guarantee your shoulders will feel better than they

have in a while!! Unless you are already a yoga buff

 

Also, when stretching you may sometimes experience cracking/popping

similar to " popping your knuckles " . As long as it doesn't hurt there

is no real danger. Read up on medical literature about popping if you

are concerned.

 

That's enough about stretching, its a basic technique that must be

applied to each individuals own tension map.

 

Deep Massage: So here we delve into the more difficult aspect of

releasing tension. Some tensions will be so great that the muscles

are quite simply locked. It would take days of stretching to even

begin to unlock these, and sometimes the tension is so great that the

threshold between feeling nothing and extreme pain is too small to

comfortably work within. If you find a spot like this you must learn

how to give yourself massage!! I'm sure a qualified masseuse could

work wonders, but they are hard to find and expensive. If any of you

could afford that type of treatment you'd probably be off this list

and in your own private Ashram lol (no insult to the list honest!!).

Anyway, at this point you find the muscle that is tense and you begin

to push away with your thumb. Usually this will feel like nothing and

like you are pushing on ligaments or even bone! Persevere as long as

it is not " bad " hurting.

 

Once again an example. I have carried (still do) tension in my

forearms since I was a young kid and never quite realized it.

Recently I have found out how to stretch appropriately and oh MAN do I

have a lot of tension ... ow... I haven't had much luck just

stretching it out so I've started clamping my opposite hand on my

forearm and putting as much pressure as I can comfortably hold on to

the top muscles. Wiggling my fingers in this position will flex the

muscles and contribute to the deep massage. After quite a few hours

(over many days) I have finally noticed the muscles loosening.

 

----

 

The first time I went into a deep meditation while stretching my neck

as described I popped so many times that I scared myself. I thought

my spine must have done something bad... However, upon looking in the

mirror my neck had straightened and gotten taller (vertebrae in

alignment). For weeks I felt great, and was easily able to release

the tension again with just 10 minutes of stretching.

 

To see a real world example of low muscular tension it is best to look

at the world's natural yoga masters: CATS! This was an idea I read

in a book and tried in real life... If you squeeze some of your

muscles real hard you'll eventually find a muscle that really hurts

after not that much pressure... This is not normal. To see how our

bodies should normally be go find a nice happy looking kitty and try

squeezing their thigh muscles. If the cat is agreeable then you'll

find that you can squeeze way harder than you'd imagine possible

before that cat gets annoyed and swats you away. I don't recommend

this as cats are not agreeable to being guinea pigs and often can

result in a " band-aid moment " .

 

 

Well, that was long-winded! Thanks for listening and I hope you find

it helpful.

 

-Gabriel

[Guest guest]

This is an excellent post Gabriel. For those experiencing Kriyas do

not try to stretch in any other way than what the Kriya is directing

you to do.

 

For those of you with some of that arthiritis type pain in the joints

do Gabriels stretches they can help. - chrism

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Since I have been cutting down on my painkillers I have naturally

done the stretches that Gabriel mentions. My body moves itself into

those stretching positions in order to relieve the pain. I don't

consciously think " Oh, let me stretch this or that way " , it just

happens.

 

Thank you Gabriel and Chrism.

 

Skydancer x

 

 

, " chrism "

<> wrote:

>

> This is an excellent post Gabriel. For those experiencing Kriyas do

> not try to stretch in any other way than what the Kriya is

directing

> you to do.

>

> For those of you with some of that arthiritis type pain in the

joints

> do Gabriels stretches they can help. - chrism

>

>

>

>

> ---

>