The Body As Enjoyable Homework

I love learning a new subject I’ve chosen. But that’s the key, when we choose the subject, something we’re excited about. It’s the difference between taking a required class versus an elective one. Care of the human form is both:  a necessary class, yet a super interesting one we can find new ways to be engaged by all along. In our lifetimes, we don’t graduate from this class; it’s ongoing learning. If we allow ourselves to get into a mindset that’s curious and open, this required class and subsequent homework can be a huge, creative world.

Because we’re living in the homework we’re constantly working on, a certain level of detachment helps to keep good perspective. A challenge, but not so different from all the topics in school we’ve managed. And with this homework, it’s completely personal. The results are felt and seen by us daily.  It’s more than well worth investing in this class, staying creative in the homework, and remaining alert to our results. Simple example, stretch just a few minutes daily, but do every day and be very in the feeling of it, rather than rote, repetitive action. Time in front of the TV is a great space for this. 5, 10, 15 minutes of stretching – whatever we can manage – is time put back into our class, our homework, our ongoing learning. Using the foam roller, full body, a couple minutes a day; while a meal is cooking, a movie is playing, family/friends are doing with us, or anywhere we can organizationally attach it to another aspect of daily living. Remember, we’re in school; projects and homework are normal. We just need to organize when and where to do them.

Being able to enjoy our ongoing learning about the body, the creative energy that goes into homework, and the positive results we achieve all feeds right back into supporting and promoting growth of more of the same. So for this lifelong class on living in and taking care of the human form, let’s keep finding ways to enjoy the homework.

Copyright © 2020 by Lara Stillo

Bodies Are Like Plants?

 

I often tell clients that bodies are like plants. Organic matter needing continued, consistent care:  water, food, fresh soil, sunlight, air. Plants poorly attended to, don’t thrive and will remain off-balance, usually resulting in steady decline. Bodies, too, need continued, consistent attention and support: hydration, good nutrition, movement, stretching, strengthening, aerobic exercise. All support us physically, while also affecting other aspects of our humanity (emotions, mind, and spirit).

A straightforward way of looking at self-care, part of why I use the example. Two other important reasons for the comparison. One, you can always buy a new plant, but the human body we’re motoring around in is not to be replaced, even if it may be repaired, retrained, and rebalanced. Two, most of us view things from an intellectual standpoint; we see ourselves as an ego, a personality, a set of emotions, a set of thoughts. The physical reality of needing to tend well, consistently, and in multiple ways to a human body – like caring for a plant – usually gets our attention only when we’re in discomfort or pain.

All bodies need a lot of care to thrive. And just like plants, each body is completely unique from any other of its kind. Caring for them as irreplaceable and totally individual is life changing and life enhancing.

 

Copyright © 2020 by Lara Stillo

The “Dumb” Animal Body?

Living in an animal body and having basic human ego creates clashes. Our minds want to be in control at all times; our bodies are wired to survive and thrive. The beliefs we hold in our mind versus what our bodies need often do not agree. If our body doesn’t allow us to do what our mind wants or believes to be right, we can feel anything from anger to depression to fear. Nature is definitely humbling, and not to be ignored.

I was very sick right after college, struggling with my health balance and body. The only exercise I could do was gentle movement in a pool; pulling and pushing my limbs through the resistance of water, feeling my heart beating hard within ribs, letting my lungs burn with labored breathing, fighting to pull myself out of the water with shaking muscles. I hated going to this olympic-sized pool where the master swimmers were performing, where I could barely get out on my own. But I went every day, moving my body in water, and ignoring all else because I knew it was what I had to do and I was grateful to move. Belief systems and viewpoints had to be tossed; body messages were the only thing to heed.

The more we can hear what our body prompts for, the better we can take care of our health, both present and future. Listen to what your body asks for, feel what it’s telling you, especially when it may feel opposite to what your mind wants. Go to bed earlier, drink more water, take in good nutrition, get out on more walks, use a foam roller, stretch daily – sometimes the simplest things are the most challenging. But they’re often the richest, deepest, and most rewarding.

Copyright ©2020 by Lara Stillo

Feeling Gratitude, Muscles to Bones to Mindset

Bodies can be tough. We can feel anything from great to terrible, and all that falls in between. Self-care through bodywork, exercise, eating well, and good sleep, can move us forward exponentially in how we’re feeling and thriving. But boosting our emotional and mental state also does wonders in changing how we feel in the physical body, along with how we experience our reality.

A powerful, simple tool I use daily for boosting my physical, emotional, mental feeling state is a gratitude list. I do mine in the morning or at night; sometimes both, and any time of day when stress is higher. The key to a positive effect is to feel the gratitude all the way into your body, to your very bones and muscles. As I focus on one gratitude at a time with sincere feeling, it sinks into my body, easing muscles and bones. If you focus with real intention and awareness on each gratitude, you can feel tense muscles opening, warmth flooding into them, blood moving more easily into the area, and anxious or depressed thoughts changing in intensity.

Done at night, it helps me sleep. Done in the morning, it helps me set my attitude for the day. A list of just a few gratitudes felt deeply, from the smallest, simplest thing to larger, more complex things in life, can do wonders for us. It’s not about false hope, guilt, platitudes, or denying the presence of stress in life. Done from that standpoint, gratitudes won’t be felt with any meaning or support in the body. Truly feeling the reality of just one gratitude lightens our spirit and our body. Falling into this habit, making it palpable by feeling it physically, only increases our awareness of more gratitudes in life. Often a challenge, but always worth the effort, for a life-changing, tangible result.

 

Copyright © 2020 by Lara Stillo

Body Presence

I won’t forget the first time working with a client who was terminal; cleared by his doctor to receive massage for easing pain his last few weeks of life. When I saw him approaching the office, I was shaken by how much I could “see” death in the body. Anyone who has been around death will understand this. It’s something your animal senses tell you, more than anything your brain can communicate. That feeling was one of the two things impacting me most from the experience. The other was how this man I’d just met, spent the whole session saying goodbye to things he valued in life, and how those things were the simple, solid basics we can often take for granted. 

Segue to a completely different experience; a recent power outage in my area. A county wide black out, we were out of power several days/nights, with no let-up and no promise of when it might come back on. We’re used to certain levels of ease in this country with daily living:  the grocery store, heat and lighting, gas stations a few blocks away, fresh food storage and refrigeration, and more. Taking these things away for multiple days forces you into more physical awareness, present moment necessity, and a consciousness of what is actually vital.

Two unconnected stories swimming around in my consciousness, with very different contexts. What they highlight to me is focusing on what’s of value:   human connection and support, physical well-being, sharing with others, basic animal necessities like food and warmth, and being physically present in the moment. All these things take us back into the body, out of our often over-processing minds. Staying grounded, aware, and in touch with our body keeps us in the moment, available for some of the most important things in life, all situations. Let the body be the guide more often, navigating the different waves of life, allowing us to feel and sense what is truly of value.

 

Copyright © Lara Stillo 2019

Soothing via the Senses

 

While everyone’s needs are uniquely individual, to be soothed, calmed, and thus supported, is something we feel both emotionally and physically. We stroke our children’s hair, lay our hand gently on someone’s shoulder, and pet cats or dogs; all gestures of caring and support for the recipient, usually felt by the giver as well. It always amazes me how much unspoken content is conveyed through this kind of touch, as well as how sensory oriented it is. How much volume and depth is communicated via the senses, one individual to another, no words used, and none often needed. 

If working as a massage therapist, this can be a continual exploration, good boundaries in place, for learning how to do soft tissue work while still conveying a sense of soothing, calming, and caring. Beyond the massage world, anyone can continue to grow in these depths with loved ones, including oneself. So often we direct impatience and irritation towards our bodies; overworking, judging, fearing, and rejecting them. During these times, consider doing the opposite: apply lotion with care, appreciating that skin needs this support; use rollers and sports balls on tight muscles with the focused intent to help ease the area; or a bigger challenge, simply apply the light touch of your own hands holding your face as you proffer compassion back to the self, back to the body, and back into life.

 

Copyright © 2019 by Lara Stillo

Focus and Presence in Physical Touch

Focused attention and being truly present can sometimes feel far-reaching in our fast-paced, distracted, contemporary life. Yoga, meditation, and spiritual practices often come up alongside these descriptions, but in this blog about the human body, health, and touch, I’m thinking of how these states work in massage; a physical communication from one body to another, where presence or the lack of it can make all the difference. 

When you focus in on a small area within a muscle needing support and relief, giving all your attention, intention, and presence to it, a “dialogue” without spoken language happens and a huge world seems to open. There is a feeling that time is suspended, and the physical, tangible, animal world of the human body seems deeper and more expansive than one could have ever imagined. Language is a beautiful art, but it does not always require actual words. In this example, touch and sensation are the language; no words in any created language are complex or broad enough to cover all they can convey. Whether you have a massage practice, work on family/friends, or do self-work, experiment even for just a few seconds with this level of presence and focus. Switching from the world of mind, thoughts, and words, and moving instead into physical body, feeling, and sensing. It can be a mysterious, beautiful journey where good growth and deeper healing can happen.

 

copyright © 2019 by Lara Stillo

Body Sensitivities? You’re Not Alone.

Everyone has physical imbalances, sensitivities, pains, and fears about the aforementioned. Many years experience has validated this to me over and again, doing bodywork full-time on pre teens to mature adults well into their 90s. Often the sensitivities and imbalances are very similar; we all slide off balance with muscle strength and weaknesses, on and off throughout life. This is a part of being organic. And our bodies are not suits we can take off at night for repair and reset, either. We’re in them 24/7, feeling the repairs in progress, or feeling the need for more rest so repairs can happen. I often tell clients, a spare “suit” would be great, but it’s not the reality. Another reminder, no one is alone in this.

Keeping in mind some have far more challenges than others and some can be life threatening, we all need to work on refraining from comparison, seeking instead to maintain empathy. Comparison is a pointless exercise, usually leaving us in misery. Empathy is crucial, for ourselves and for others. Recognizing bodies as organic, plant-like structures, unique to each individual yet with much overlap in how we experience them, helps foster empathy and further our understanding. Another challenge, seek to grow beyond concepts of ageism around the body. We all understand death exists for organic matter and have varying levels of fear around it. But all stages of human life are important, otherwise they wouldn’t exist. Extend this to yourself and others, and the body has room to re-bloom again in a different way.

 

Copyright © 2019 by Lara Stillo