Mindfulness; Unlocking Your Potential
We all understand that the body and the mind are deeply connected. With the integration of holistic health into your life's practices, (i.e. eating healthy, working out, meditating, self care and bodywork such as massage therapy) you begin to understand the power and importance of a holistic approach to your health. The Strive Holistic Massage therapists understand this and are here to support your healing. If you empower yourself through mindset shifting and cultivating the mental fortitude that allows you to handle anything life throws at you with a deep level of surrender, you are at an immense advantage in life. As a registered massage therapist and local business owner, I'm very passionate about mindfulness and the role it plays in the way my life is today. We all have our life's challenges, but mindfulness is the key to surrendering to life's process with a deep, stoic acceptance that will serve you time and time again. It's a not-so-secret superpower that will have people wondering how you are capable of handling, or achieving, so much.
Mindfulness is acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them as good or bad. We see our thoughts passing by in the third person, as an observer. It is with this bird's-eye perspective that we can often find the answers we seek—that is, when we are not frantically searching for one. Mindfulness is a powerful tool that can help us manage our stress levels and improve our overall well-being. One way that mindfulness can benefit us is by activating our parasympathetic nervous system. This system is responsible for the "rest and digest" response in our bodies, which helps us relax and calm down.
The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for regulating our body's resting and calm responses. When we activate this system, our heart rate slows down, our blood pressure drops, and our breathing becomes deeper and more regular. This helps us feel calm and relaxed, and it even offers powerful improvements to our digestion and immune function. Since our digestive track secretes about 95% of our seratonin (from our intestine), we can allow ourselves to surrender to this "rest and digest" state, stimulating the release of seratonin, a powerful neurotransmitter that mediates satisfaction, happiness, and optimism.
Mindfulness can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system by encouraging us to focus on the present moment and let go of worries about the past or future. So rarely are we actually in the present, fully engaged with our current mental state and body. When we practice mindfulness, we become more aware of our thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations, allowing us to respond to them in a calm and nonjudgmental way.
One way to practice mindfulness is through meditation. During meditation, we focus our attention on our breath or a specific object and gently redirect our thoughts back to that focal point whenever we get distracted. This helps us train our minds to stay present and avoid getting caught up in worries or distractions.
Another way to practice mindfulness is through everyday activities, such as mindful and slower eating or walking. When was the last time you sat down to eat and paid attention to the texture and flavour of your food in gratitude? By paying close attention to our senses and the physical sensations in our body, we can become more fully engaged in the present moment and cultivate a sense of calm and relaxation.
“Acknowleding the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
Overall, mindfulness is a powerful tool that can help us activate our parasympathetic nervous system and improve our overall well-being. By practising mindfulness regularly, we can learn to manage our stress levels and cultivate a greater sense of calm, peace, and happiness in our lives.
At Strive Holistic, we are therapeutic focused and science based in our approach. This includes the different facilitations we offer for diverse treatment options, like the Graston Technique and myofascial cupping, but we also offer a deeply relaxing and science backed approach to relaxation through other techniques, for example, Thai Massage. Learn more about our different offerings here, and talk to us today about how to enhance your mindfulness practice through techniques like Thai massage and therapeutic deep tissue massage, performed by some of the best massage therapists in Edmonton. Go for bodywork you know you've been craving, we welcome you to book a high quality massage session with us today!
Located in Downtown Edmonton out of Evolve Strength Downtown, just off the 124th street district.
**citation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5526216/
