Mindful Self-massage
Mindful Self-Massage
Hello, my name is Helen
I’m a HCPC registered psychologist. I work in the community with children, young people and their
families, I also work at a university where I teach people to do my job. I am also a yoga and
mindfulness practitioner and I have a qualification in holistic massage. I have lived for a long time
with periods of chronic pain due to an arthritic condition. I use yoga, mindfulness and massage to
support my well-being as they help me to tune into myself and what my body and mind need at that
time, the self-awareness I get from these practices helps me to manage my pain, this helps me keep
well so that I can connect and support others.
We are living through a time of great uncertainty, we have all had to make significant changes to our
routine, including changing the way we connect with daily life and to each other. We will all
experience a wide range of feelings, some helpful other less helpful, we may feel unsettled, worried,
anxious, stressed, this is normal at times of great change and uncertainty. Worry, anxiety and stress
can impact both the mind and the body, the body can become a place where worry and anxiety
become stored and this can be experienced as muscle tension, aches and pains.
One of the things that self-distancing has meant for me is that I am not as active as I usually am, and
I can feel tension and tightness creeping into my body. Paying attention to this is important.
In this audio I offer you a guided self-massage in which we use the breath and simple massage
movements to move attention from the busyness of ‘doing’ mode to ‘being’ with our self in body,
breath and mind in the moment. Tuning into the body, which often gets forgotten about as we
engage in the competing demands of daily life. We focus our mind on the movement and the
sensations that arise and what our body is communicating to us right then and there.
Kindness and compassion are much needed at the moment, often this is directed towards others,
especially at times of difficulty, but to show kindness and compassion to others we also need to
make small times and spaces in the day to show these to ourselves, if we are to keep well.
When faced with difficulty keeping well and living well is the best revenge!! It also means that we
can be there for others long term.
Thank you for taking the time to join in this mindful self-massage with me
Go well today and everyday
Helen