Joy in the Body
plus how to make every massage you ever receive a GREAT one
Joy, as it’s felt in the body
This time of year can be filled with mixed emotions for many, and one of those emotions may be joy. Joy at getting to reconnect with loved ones we don’t see often, at watching our kids open up their presents, or at getting to dive into a long-awaited project we finally have some space to pursue. Whatever brings you joy in this season, a question to hold for yourself is: Am I alive to it? Do I allow myself to experience the joy that’s there? And to what extent? How present can I be to however much joy is available in this or that situation?
Becoming present to any emotion and deepening our experience of it can happen when we engage the body in the experience of it. “What would it look like to engage the body in the experience of joy?”—you may ask. Well, before giving a particular “how-to” in response to that question, I’d first invite you to notice the “felt sense” of the emotion. What does it feel like in your body? For people new to this kind of work, it can be tricky to come up with anything. But with time, practice, and guidance, just like a muscle that gets stronger with use, this “muscle” of tuning into your felt sense can grow, and one’s felt sense can get stronger and clearer. (Sometimes it can be helpful to ask: “How do you know it’s joy you’re feeling?”) The next question I would pose is: “What does the joy move you to do?” The answer may be something like “cherish it”, “hold it”, “hang onto it” (or it maybe something entirely different for you), and from there we can get creative about what that might look like. But let’s not get caught up in conceptualizing the process, lest we miss out on the organic, spontaneous simplicity of feeling and being alive to the joy that is there for us, or whatever other emotion is present. Simply being aware of what emotions you’re experiencing in any given moment and what that feels like in the body is the foundation of healing any divide that exists within the self and moving towards mind-body-heart integrity and authenticity.
Many of you have experienced the warm, inviting space that Callie, our trauma-informed massage therapist on staff here, provides. (If you haven’t, I invite you to! She’s a delight to work with and to receive bodywork from.) Here is what joy moved her to do this week (see tiny video below and read what she wrote):
This week my sister stayed with me for 5 days after her college finals before going the rest of the way home for Christmas break. It was so fun to share meals together, play games, make cookies, watch Christmas movies, and hunt for the best Christmas lights in Brownsburg.
On Thursday night, we made hot chocolate in to-go mugs, blasted Christmas music in the car, and drove around Brownsburg looking at all the Christmas lights. We found some well decorated neighborhoods, drove through Arbuckle Acres Park, sat in the Town Hall parking lot, and ended with a synchronized house in the woods.
Christmas lights have always brought me joy, and it was fun to enjoy some with my sister this year. Because I didn’t put lights up at my own house, I am soaking up everyone else’s. ☺️
It is my hope that when you see Christmas lights, you would be filled with a little bit of joy. Even if this is a dark season for you, may they spark a little glimmer of hope.
"Christmas lights remind us that there is always light in the darkness."
Feel to Heal begins Jan. 15
If you are in a place of life where you would like more support around knowing how to be present to your emotions (including joy), and specifically how to be with the “hard ones” and move through them in a way that does not tax your body or lead to tension, pain, or “stuckness”, consider joining us for our next round of the Feel to Heal Program. Now in its 4th year, this twice-yearly program gets rave reviews and is a very cost-effective way to engage in somatic work and to build new neural pathways related to how to process emotions. Check it out here, and feel free to reach out if you would like to participate but need a discount in order to afford it, as we have a few Sliding Scale spots/scholarships available.
Stress + Sugar = Inflammation
With all the extra sweets you may be indulging in during this season, plus all the extra stress that the holidays can potentially bring, make sure you take intentional steps to nourish your body as well, to offset the inflammation that sugar and stress both produce in the body. Doing things that are anti-inflammatory, to help balance out the effects of the inflammatory processes, can help you come out of this holiday season feeling less beat up, strung out, worn thin, or sluggish. Sauna, gentle exercise, stretching, extra rest, homemade chicken broth, lots of veggies, time off of screens, and massage are all great examples of tending to and nourishing the body amidst excessive amounts of stress and sugar. Make sure to build them into your holiday schedule!
(And, by the way, experiences of JOY—as we were discussing before—also offset inflammation-producing experiences. Yet another reason to fully feel whatever joy is available to you this season.)
If you wish to schedule a massage at Studio A as a way to help offset stress and its effects, we welcome you into our space here.
Disappointing Massages
Have you ever gone to get a massage and been disappointed by the experience? At Studio A, we take seriously the money and time clients are investing in their massage session and want it to be totally awesome. Inspired by my (Allie’s) sister, who expressed her disappointment at a recent massage in Colorado and asked what she can do to ensure her future massages are better, Callie and I came up with a short guide called “How to Make Every Massage a Great One”. Obviously there is a lot that goes into a massage session (skill level of the therapist, sounds and ambient noise, lighting, temperature, conversation with the therapist versus silence, pain levels from the bodywork, effectiveness of the work, flow of the session, positioning, etc.), and some of those elements are outside of your control as a client. But many are not! Many of them could be inquired about and potentially changed, if there was the courage—and the skill—to know how to bring it up in a non-threatening way. Massage clients should feel empowered to use their voice and to advocate for what they want and need within a session, to get maximum benefit from it. So, check out our guide that helps with that!
When you go to download the guide, it will ask for your email address. If you are receiving this email, then you’re already subscribed to our newsletters, so nothing will change; you won’t be signed up for anything additional. We hope you enjoy the guide and that it’s helpful!
If you could ask us anything…
…then what would you ask? What questions do you hold about the body and its responses to stress and trauma? I (Allie) am starting a YouTube channel (official announcement and link forthcoming) and would love to hear what questions or ponderings you all may have about somatic work so that I can address those specifically in the videos. Anything related to how the body holds trauma, how emotions affect the body, what somatic work entails, who is a good fit for body-centric trauma work, how bodywork helps heal trauma, etc. So if any questions or curiosities pop into your head, reply and let me know, and it may very well become a video!
Still time to get those gift certificates ordered!
Whether you want to surprise your spouse, your best friend, or your in-laws, you can finish up your Christmas shopping with the purchase of a Studio A gift certificate. These certificates can be used toward a massage, a Release and Refresh class, or the Feel to Heal program. They are delivered immediately upon purchase to your inbox, for you to print out and place in a card or to forward to the recipient. Get yours today!
In case we don’t see you before Christmas or New Year’s, we wish you a peaceful holiday season, filled with joy that you can feel. ❤️
Warmly,
Allie & Callie
(don’t our names make such a cute rhyme lol 😍)