Massage and Retreat: The Journey to Inner Balance

Massage and Retreat

The Journey to Inner Balance

by Lucile McConnell, LMT

Today, many people include massage as an integral part of their retreat experience because massage augments retreat. Retreat and massage each yield the the 3 R's of Restoration: reconnection, release and renewal. And both massage and retreat require a safe space in order to be effective. A sacred container for the journey inward allows us to focus on the moment and let go of distracting outer demands, including our 50+ item to-do list. By stepping out of ordinary time and entering the refuge of sacred space in massage and retreat, we enter a peaceful solitude where the energy of transformation is released from within.

The 3 R's of Restoration

Reconnection with ourselves, our inner world, and our body, mind and spirit. Living in a multi-tasking world causes us to be fragmented, distracted and disconnected from our centers. Responding to the call to retreat, we turn inward, taking time to just be...experiencing the fabric of our lives. Responding to the need for re-balancing touch, we find a path inward that leads us to deep reconnection with our very own beings -- our Inner Healers.

Release old, limiting ways that no longer serve us or promote growth. In retreat, we dwell in the inner moment and have the quietude necessary to live the examined life and the inspiration to make life-affirming choices. In massage, we release customary bracing patterns, stress and toxins, and create space in the body-mind. We become aware of the repetitive choices that we make in our everyday lives that bind us and brace us. This awareness, in itself, empowers us to make new choices that are more aligned with our core values and promote release and growth.

Renew the spirit, renew the energy of commitment, renew clarity of mind, and renew self-honoring thoughts, words and actions. The myth of self-care is that it is selfish. The reality of self-care is that without it we cannot effectively care for others. Through the slowing of time found in retreat and massage, we rediscover our priorities and possibly, even reorder them. We emerge from time out of time after encountering our Inner Healer, refreshed and reinvigorated to face life anew, renewed in mind, body and spirit, with a re-energized resolution to engage in life honoring actions, and with a restored positive outlook.

The Call to Retreat/The Call to Massage

Our inner voice calls to us with songs of transformation, balance and refreshment. To the extent that we respond by entering into retreat, including the retreat into our own embodied beings that occurs during massage, we emerge reinvigorated to embrace our lives with more life and from a life-affirming perspective -- thanks to the restorative processes of reconnection, release and renewal.

Lucile McConnell is a licensed massage therapist in the State of Maryland since 2002 and an NCBTMB Approved Provider for CE Hours since 2008. She practices massage at Bon Secours Spiritual Center, in Marriottsville, MD, and recently held the First Annual Massage Retreat for other massage therapists at the Spiritual Center. Lucile is Your Massage Coach for more information on Massage Coaching and Lucile's massage practice, visit her website www.yourmassagecoach.com.