a little healing

In a Trauma Healing workshop with Nadine Hoover not too long ago, I learned a lovely technique for reducing stress by massaging the facial muscles where we hold so much of it. She said it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which is the body's internal Rx for stress. I'll combine it with a little of the centering practice from Integral Yoga.

Begin by sitting comfortably and start to deepen your breath, letting your belly relax with each inhale. Close your eyes and just let those deep relaxed belly breaths happen.

Then bring your palms together in front of your heart and say a little prayer for yourself.

Now rub your palms together until you have generated some heat in your hands. Gently cup your hands over the eye sockets, with your fingers on your forehead.

Let the heat sink into the eyes, and the prayer be absorbed into your mind.

When the heat has dissipated, bring your fingertips to the browbone between your eyes, and draw them along the browbone to the far corners of the bone. Repeat this massage a few times, nicely, slowly.

Now place the fingertips on the lower eye sockets near the nose, and again, in a slow movement draw the fingers along the lower bone to the outside edge of the eyes. Repeat this a few times.

Bring the fingers to the place on your jaw where the jaw joins the skull. With circular motion massage that joint.

Bring the fingertips back to the middle of the brow bone and this time massage upwards along the middle of the forehead to the scalp and following the center line of your skull with the fingers of both hands, massage over the crown of the head to the base of the skull.

Spend some time massaging the base of the skull, first in the center of the neck and then giving attention to the muscles that connect the back of the head to the neck.

A nice place to continue might be along the shoulders, or maybe bringing your palms back together in front of your heart with thanks to the healing power within.

Seemed like a nice thing to share. If your lower back is where you carry stress, I'd highly recommend Alexander Technique. Its not the first thing people think of for spine issues, but 2 or 3 lessons to learn how to elongate your spine - mostly by carrying the head at a natural location - are incredibly beneficial longterm. xo