June: Summer Spells
I recently took a Myofascial Release class and it blew my mind. This massage modality works the fascial system, this fascinating system envelopes every muscle, muscle fiber, nerve, tendon, bone, and organ in our body. Any restriction of the system affects the body deeply. Interestingly enough it’s deep work done softly and slowly (like glacier slow). It’s gentle but not superficial!
I have a lot of new info that I am dying to spew out, I always get really jazzed about any new massage class I take. But! Something that I was reminded of by one of my classmates is our abilities to cast spells on ourselves as self care.
Maybe it sounds odd, but follow me for a moment.
Words are powerful. We all have a story we tell ourselves or tell others or others have told us is true about ourselves.
“I’m the dumb one in my family, everyone else is so much smarter than me.” You start to believe it after a parent points it out and others reinforce it, you start to carry the story, limit yourself from being something different than that and in turn, it feels true. What’s also true is that you found math confusing but history and art more interesting. Your intelligence is different and useful in other ways. It’s a different story but also true.
“I’m so bad at cooking, of course I burned the meat.” Things start to become self fulfilling prophecies. What if the words were,“I’m a learning cook, at least I tried. Next time I’ll lower the heat.”
Even a simple switch of “have to” to “get to,” makes a difference in gratitude attitude.
How we feel about ourselves, others, and our stories manifests in our body physically. When you think of the unkind words you tell yourself, how does your body feel? Where are your shoulders, how’s your jaw, and what automatic conversation are you repeating in your head? How are you sitting or standing? Unkind words on repeat or the same painful story told over the span of years creates havoc in the body, our issues live in our tissues peeps!
Fascia specifically holds onto emotions and experiences, areas in our bodies get tight, and our posture reveals a physical manifestation of discomfort from the inside out. Sometimes an ache is just an acute injury, or repetition and overuse of the body. But our emotional reaction to the world plays a huge role in what our bodies feel like. If sadness didn’t affect the body, it wouldn’t produce water that streamed down our cheeks.
I’m looking at my upcoming calendar with some anxiety as June is bursting with projects, classes, plans, work, and new experiences. I’m casting spells about how capable I am, how smart I am, and reminding myself that I burn things much less these days. Words can be a medicine and an act of self care. In times of dis-ease, how do you speak?
What spells are you casting this June?
P.S. We spell words and we’re casting spells… get it? It's punny!
