EmBody Bliss: At Home Remedies

Body Work, Columns, EmBody Bliss, The Sacral Chakra

Most of us don’t have the means to receive bodywork as much as we’d like or need to. Whether it be more sound sleep, decreased anxiety, increased blood flow, flush of toxins, more agility through lengthened muscles, or touch healing – the benefits are endless! Setting aside some time in the week for your own personal pampering is an act of self love. We can experience much greater heights in our lives when we feed of this art.

However, I feel the greatest benefit to bodywork is pushing through energetic blockages in the body, which then allows energy to flow through us more swiftly, enabling us to be a circuit of constantly renewed energy and an inviting channel for The Higher Self.

This week, I’m going to share a few cheap and simple goodies with you so you can experience some yummy pampering at home. Most of us aren’t fully aware of how much tension we have built up in our bodies, but once someone or something touches the area of tension…we cringe with awareness.

Becoming aware of your body is yet another way to become aware of your inner landscape (I look at it as a more “physical” type of shadow work).

With these crafty remedies, you can discover your tensions first person and be present with yourself in the release of your trigger points (knots) – giving yourself credit for all of it. It is empowering and a perfect way to embody bliss.

1. Exercise and stretching

Trigger points have been known to show up through overuse or underuse of muscles, but there is always a weakness within the system which made it possible for the imbalance to appear in the first place. Whatever the weakness may be, exercise such as walking or running is a fantastic way to get the bodies energy moving and changing. It raises the body’s vibration. It aids in excreting blockages and toxins that are built up and harbored in muscles.

Stretching is heaven. It calms, prepares, awakens, elongates, and rejuvenates muscles. Stretching IS release. Both exercise and stretching are healing art forms in and of themselves. Feed of them!

2. Tennis or Reflexology balls

Tennis or reflexology balls are wonderful tools for massage or trigger point release. Tennis balls are easier to access, but reflexology balls are usually made of a better material for our goal and have little protuberances for better grip. You can start by rolling around on them, using the weight of your own body. When you’ve found a tender spot – stay on it – breathe deep into the muscle and give it permission to let go. Once the pain has mostly subside, you can let it be and move on. Don’t overwork a trigger point, it can fester and become worse.

I especially love to roll around on a single tennis ball on my back, hip, and gluteal muscles. Some also like to put two tennis balls inside of a tube sock and tie a knot at the end, like so:

You can then lay yourself down on the sock, with the tennis balls sufficiently spaced on each side of your spine (DO NOT press anything directing on your spine, ever) and make gentle rocking movements.

Shaded: Occipital ridge

A lot of people love sitting a while with the paired tennis balls wedged at the base of their occipital ridge, it’s a huge release for mental and emotional stress.

3. Bouncy balls

When was that last time you thought of these? Perhaps the last time you visited an arcade vending machine…in the early 90’s. Bouncy balls can be used just like the tennis balls, if you desire – but it seems that most people use them for their feet. However, remember that no matter which method you are using; the smaller the ball, the more fine and acute pressure you will experience on any given point. Pin the ball to the ground with your foot and roll it around. Find the spots that hurt-so-good!

If you haven’t heard of reflexology; it is an alternative healing modality that claims the feet to be a map of the entire body and you can press certain points that correspond with that part of the body for healing purposes.

Here is a simple chart for you:

Some charts vary drastically and some are much more detailed than others. Find a reflexology book or search online for the chart that your body says “yes” to.

4. Rolling pins or foam rollers

Dig through your cupboards for the old fashioned rolling pin and strip your tight muscles into a supple dough! This works best for the IT band, quadriceps and hamstrings.

You can also buy a foam roller that is designed for this type of thing, like you see in this picture below. The only difference between this and a rolling pin is you are using your whole body to maneuver the weight distribution, not just your arm strength.

5. Scalp massagers

Scalp massage is by far my favorite to receive. It’s so relaxing and pampering. I’m convinced that if we all got a daily scalp massage, we’d be an immensely less stressed species. There are some extremely cheap scalp massagers on the market that all look similar to this:

This tool gives you just as much of a tickle as it does a massage. It stimulates the scalp, relaxes the mind, and rejuvenates your senses. And if you don’t feel like doing it on yourself, it’s as simple as pie for someone else to assist you. I love this lil’ guy!

6. Body Back Buddy

Although I don’t have one, I’ve played with one, and know that it’s a seriously good tool to invest in. This isn’t the only version of this tool, so find the one for you. I’ll let you do the watching.

7. Self massage

Self massage can be a very meditative experience. I enjoy self massage on my scalp and abdomen the very most. If all of these make-shift methods fail, remember the greatest healer of all – you. Everyone has been given the sense and gift of touch. The touch of your hands can be very healing if done with a relaxed, tender, and loving intent.

Disclaimer: These are simply feel-good, at-home ideas for pampering and alternative healing, for those who want some extra attention. They should not be used as a substitute for any severe medical conditions and should always be performed carefully, with common sense and caution.

EmBody Bliss is a bi-weekly column written by intuitive massage therapist, Kierstie Leavitt.

EmBody Bliss: Imagine Your Heaven

Body Work, EmBody Bliss

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein

A time of shift and change is directly upon us. The power to manifest upon your intention and focus is becoming increasingly responsive. As humans, sitting in a dimension that provides the greatest contrast and expansion, we must take advantage of this opportunity for creation—for we are expanding the Universe in the biggest way.

Those who really make a dent in this shift are the those who realize the power of their position and focus on this Earth, those who can be simultaneously touched and moved by pain in the same breath, and those who ask themselves, “As the epicenter of my reality, which way will I direct this Universal energy flowing through me? What will I stop feeding by my focus? What am I telling Source to become?”

Source is always becoming your deepest desire; it is not fooled by the surface, the sweet sugar coating. This is why it is important for us to be honest with ourselves and attune to our deepest desires so that we may accurately shift our focus to the real task at hand—to that which Source is also focused—and meet in victory and alignment together.

For example, I once knew a girl who had an insatiable urge to go travel and explore a foreign country because she thought she would find greater purpose in her life by doing so—so she set out on an escapade. But Source responded to what she was really asking for (a peek inside herself) and set up nearly every event in her travels to achieve this tender and somewhat painful introversion.

After all was said and done, she realized that her reality followed her (as thoughts tend to do) and that her world was where ever she was, no matter what. Source didn’t necessarily provide her with perfect travels; it provided her with the truth she was seeking about herself and the Universe.

Source is always responding to thought. This is good news because it means that you will inevitably meet the answers you’ve asked for through opportunity. However, if we want to reduce the “lag time” of realization between your desires and manifestation, we must be clear with ourselves about our core desires and live in an open state of awareness to the epiphanies lining you up with them.

One of the mind’s greatest capabilities is the imagination. Throughout history, the imagination has been altered in some minds to be something naïve, fantasy, idealistic, or an escape from reality. Most of us have been discouraged to keep the imagination alive that we came in with as a child, because it holds no weight in such a logical world. But I am here to tell you that the imagination is inspired. It can and will be moved by God, if you let it.

Anything that appears static within your world has begun as a thought form and been offered enough energy to then vibrate at a certain frequency to appear in your reality. In other words, you are the food to your thoughts. Your brain doesn’t see a difference between the things in your imagination and the things in front of your eyes. They are both merely pictures. It is your consciousness interpreting what is real or not real to you.

We must not lose our sense of imagination that we’ve all been gifted. Let’s no longer discount this limitless, friendly part of creation. The playful landscape of your mind is the richest soil you could ask for—it is where all seeds and potentials are planted.

Holding a vibration and vision of your idea of heaven benefits all of us on this Earth. However, it does not benefit either of us to then open our eyes in an attitude of comparison and fixate on what is missing here. Take account of all that is already here and things will transform in front of your eyes.

Source is a force that has extended itself far enough from itself—so that it may discover itself—and you are the thought form manifesting at the “end” of that extension. You are the magnitude. Your thoughts, and subsequently, your vibration, are literally at the leading edge of time space reality.

As an expression of Source, Source knows nothing that you are not and knows nothing that you can’t become. In fact, it has no judgment to what you will become. It is rolling out the red carpet for itself (you). Source sees all as beautiful, and surrenders to you as the artist, painting its masterpiece through your eyes. Through focus, visualization, and the imagination, we can embody bliss.

Embody bliss in our own bodies; embody bliss in this Universal body.

What will you tell Source to become?

EmBody Bliss: Grounding

Body Work, EmBody Bliss, The Sacral Chakra

Grounding, there is much talk going around about it. Most people think of grounding as a strengthening and opening of the root chakra. To do this, a lot of people send an energetic chord or anchor into the center of the earth; some carry grounding crystals around with them; some simply walk bare foot on the ground. These are all wonderful things. With huge energetic shifts happening in the world right now, most of us could benefit from grounding, but I’d like to dig a bit deeper into the ground with you today.

With higher vibrational changes come inevitable purging of old, stale, and stagnant energies, providing room for new energy. In this time of purging, we often experience downward spirals, instability, lethargy—you name it! These things are coming to the surface in hopes for our attention to move into new life. It is important to embrace and take care of these lower vibrational states, as they are a time of internal creation. It is also important to give credit to divine order, change, and flow, and to not settle on the idea that we are just emotional basket cases.

We are one with a collective vibration and all of its changes. Although you may not visibly see energy moving around you – it is there – and you are no doubt affected by it all of the time. It is not something to run from, it’s something to flow with. Divine order holds you.

Grounding can be a bit consciously or even subconsciously nerve wracking, and therefore, unpracticed. As stated above, most consider grounding an activation of the lowest chakra, but it is my belief that grounding is the activation and balance of all chakras. It is often said,

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

As we contemplate these words, we remember that our inherent nature is that of a spiritual connection to All That Is. We did not come here to dispose of that foundation; we came here to integrate heaven and earth—the spiritual and the physical. Finding peace between the two is the deeper essence of the human experience.

Part of the human experience that we chose into is ego. As all things are, the ego in and of itself is a creation of Source, we don’t want to make an enemy of it. The ego creates perceptions of separateness, and it’s only in knowing separateness that we know Oneness. Ideally, we want to integrate with the ego—not crucify it.

The choice to experience ego in the first place was a part of your purpose, and running from your purpose is only bearable for so long. Finding the balance between our more spiritual and physical energy centers (chakras) is much like a term we use in the holistic health industry—homeostasis. Homeostasis is a state in which the body operates in healthy levels of internal regulation, experiencing stability and balance.

For light workers or more spiritual types, they may feel a hint of fear around the idea of grounding because playing in their ethereal upper chakra worlds is just too darn fun. Or perhaps, leaving them seems unsafe because your physical world feels like a harsh and painful reality.

For those who aren’t as in touch with their spiritual nature, they likely will experience the opposite and cower in fear or doubt to a boundless, mystical world. They may feel more safe, stable, and familiar within the activation of lower chakras. Whichever behaviors you fall under, both are experiencing pain.

As we feel pain, we shift into fear; fear of survival, rejection, compromised foundation, instinct, and will to live. Some also experience fear of their shadow, perceived identity, mind-scapes, all possibility, no boundary, or detachment to absolute truth.

When we feel the gravity of pain, we tend to withdraw into our “safety chakras” in a protective manner of escape—which is what has caused an imbalance in the first place. This is a perfectly normal escape route but I’m here to tell you that you’re brave, powerful, and chose to be present here in your spiritual body.

Although we live in a society that doesn’t foster balance or grounding extremely well, it is my hope that we find the balance in ourselves between heaven and earth that we intended. Once we taste of the integration, we will find more joy in our experience. When we experience that joy, we become happily committed to being here. In my experience, I’ve found that the most “ungrounded” people are those that have not quite committed to life here yet. It is my hope that we find the safety in our decision to be here as a spiritual being having a human experience.

In the midst of heaven and earth, with clear and balanced chakras, Source knows nothing but to envelope you. Grounding is about loving yourself exactly as you are, where you are, because it’s where you chose to be. If you wish to be anywhere else, your joy will never know where to meet you.

EmBody Bliss: Release

Body Work, EmBody Bliss, The Solar Plexus Chakra

Right now is a time of climax; for every moment is, as it offers its fullness. Release comes when you’re willing to be taken in by that very fullness. As we commit to release, we may pass pain, but as we surface out the other side we recognize that release was the climax of alignment. Our Source stream is no longer being blocked or finely funneled and energy rushes in fully. Finally.

By Neville Dsouza (nevs28 on deviantART)

A few weeks ago, I learned a valuable lesson as I boarded a bus. I sat down across the isle from a young girl and opened up a book to read on my travels. On the next stop, an unkempt man boarded. As the bus continued, I noticed that I could not focus on what I was reading and started to feel nauseous. I typically do feel dizzy when I read and ride in a vehicle simultaneously, however, once I had decided to put away my book, I still felt an intense energy adding to my nausea. It was intense enough to make me question my surroundings.

Becoming very empathic, I picked up on the chaotic vibrations around me. The energy swirled until I became a bit worried about vomiting. I then noticed that I was trying to block out the energy around me, which was intensifying my condition. Knowing that anything I resist will persist, I decided to face the situation with acceptance. Better yet, approve of it. I let myself inhale and understand the energy that I was sharing with these people and then let it flow out my feet.

I envisioned myself as a circuit where energy goes to renew, rather than a stubborn brick wall separate from the situation, where energy goes to die. I surrendered fully to what was happening, with trust that health was still mine. Nearly three minutes after, the Universe orchestrated with detail, everything I needed to no longer share the space with those energies that were adding to my nausea.

With this, came an acute understanding that endless energy flows in and out of us always, and to remain in resistance is to block the flow of renewed energy that is available to us. As one big organism, we’d all ideally know any energy as something we’ve created and approve of it—no matter the lack or mask in which it’s disguised. Release is experienced upon that fearless foundation of allowing.

Just as one aspect of alignment within us cannot leave another unchanged, it is important to take notice of the simple forms of release we have such as; a sneeze, a yawn, a cough, deep breath, a burp, an orgasm, etc. These little blessings enable your body to rid itself of old energies and open to the new, giving your muscles and the entirety of your body new life.

Let’s address what we’ve discovered in our last “Muscle Listening Meditation” more closely…

Like channels always being pulled towards Source but sometimes slightly off-kilter, we walk a thin, wobbly platform above the sea of Source, extremely susceptible to falling into its ecstasy. What does the water underneath you convey? How easily do you see yourself falling into its nourishment? Do you even recognize its nourishment? What would tear you from your seemingly safe platform? What would you like to release? What were the answers you received from your eager body in our last visit?

Once you have received the answers and recognize the root of your physical tension, come up with a statement that reflects its essence (i.e. I am not loved). Then take a look at it with utmost care and ask yourself how this belief may have been conceived of in the first place and if you truly believe it. Spend some time exploring it.

At that point, find the antithesis of it. This is when embracing the severity of your issue becomes beautiful because the greater your pain, the greater your antithesis.

Is your antithesis to feel completely carefree and trusting? Is it to experience greater abundance in your life? Is it to follow your deepest heart and dreams? Is it to be as easy and flexible as nature? Is it to know of unconditional love?

Whatever it is, we want to start working our way into alignment with it, that is to say, match our frequency to it. When any desire in you is born, a pathway is paved. This pathway delightfully waits for you to step foot into its vortex. Put your first foot forward by writing down every way in which you already feel, know, or live this antithesis. Do this every day. The more you focus on the ways that you already have your antithesis, you will be gifted more evidence of it. Soon enough, your issue will no longer be fed by your thoughts and you will both be stepping off of the platform into Universal nourishment, in a state of blissful release.

Happy trusting your body, mind, and heart!

EmBody Bliss: Listening to your body

Body Work, EmBody Bliss

When we speak of spirituality, we seek alignment with the higher self. When we speak of the bones, muscles, and systems in the body, we also seek alignment within the physical structure.

Alignment is the byproduct of non-resistance to your nature or Source perspective. When your deepest nature is well being—and it is—your body cannot escape the innate pull towards it. We may all find alignment towards certain things easier than others and some areas of alignment may feel less important to us. But since our spirits sit in a physical body, I would be hard pressed to find anyone who didn’t want to experience physical bliss.

As we incrementally inch our way towards alignment, everything else must match it (just as the Law of Attraction has taught us). The most exciting news about alignment is that one aspect of it within us cannot leave another unchanged.

Every fiber of you is living out an experience of it’s own. As you shape your Universe and body structure via thought, you are simultaneously shaping the Universe your cells live in. Once you realize that you and your body are creating together, it’s hard not to start treating your cells like little friends.

When we see ourselves as indivisible from our smallest particle, we can feel ourselves as indivisible from even the subatomic level of all particles.

Just as our emotions are the compass expressing to us where we stand relative to health, happiness, and the higher self, the body is also a teacher that expresses to us the same thing — just in a more physical manner.

The source of all weakness, pain, or disease in the body starts with emotional, mental, and spiritual misalignment. When we realize that those densities are dying to speak and will tell us everything we need to know, our goal shifts into tuning into it’s awareness.

As the body shifts out of suppression and into its awareness it can really set us free. When we offer attention to the body, it responds just like a friend would, for it is seeking alignment in every moment. When we believe that our bodies are on our side, the potential to heal becomes much more powerful.

With that being said, the first step towards a blissful body starts with listening. Listening not with the ear but with the intangible, gentle, and trusting part of yourself that you are deeply connected to—the Soul. This part of you exists beyond space and time in the field of pure consciousness, together with and as the Universe, breathing and creating. This part of yourself understands well being as your nature.

By actively listening to our bodies without judgment and the illusion of illness, we offer our bodies an ample amount of energy. That pure, present, and positively focused energy is energy intended to heal. Let’s start listening!

Muscle Listening Meditation:

1. Lay down in the most comfortable, easy position you can put yourself in. Meditations are great to do in nature but I feel that this mediation should be done in a place that feels very safe and second nature to you. So where ever that is, go there.

2. Start by taking a few deep breaths and keep breathing until you’ve found that you’ve caught on to a natural rhythm; breathing effortlessly and calmly. Find a pace of breath that you feel confident in keeping for the remainder of the meditation.

3. Once you’ve found this cozy breathing pattern, take your focus off of your breath and direct your focus deep into your body. Let your intuition take you to whichever body part needs attention. You can do this to the full body or just wherever is needed. You can start in whichever pattern you want such as; feet to head, vice versa, or completely random.

4. Unlike other meditations, directing your focus to each body part and relaxing each space after another is not necessarily what we are initially going for here. What I want you to do is greet each body part exactly as it is (the release will come later). You’re body has it’s own consciousness. Take a moment and actually meet that body part…greet it, enter it, entrain with it, and direct your consciousness off of your whole body and feel what it’s like to be that part only.

5. If you decide to greet your whole body and find spots that feel great, thank them kindly, but I want you to get really intimate with the spots of tension. What do they look, sound, and feel like? The more you entrain with these dense body parts you will feel a certain emotion radiating from them. The emotion, feeling, or vibe you get from them is a good indicator of what is causing the tension. (For example, my neck and shoulder pain feel the need to control or worry and my back tension reflects to me self-doubt).

6. After you’ve pinned the issues in your body, I want you to talk with them and ease their pain like a worried child, in whichever way that may look for you (as we all have different ways of being calmed, coping, or feeling loved).

7. I also want you to do some energy work on these areas. Imagine pulling in Universal energy straight into your “issue tissues”. You can gather this energy through your crown, your feet, or simply from the air surrounding you. In my experience, energy works more affectively when you’re channeling it through your body and also gathering it from outside yourself. Imagine the energy lacing every cell and muscle fiber with an emotion, visual, or color that feels good to you. Let it cleanse the area. The most important thing about this step is to not look at this area as if it is broken; focus on it with all the positivity and love that you can. Do not be surprised if you feel jolts, tingling, increased pain, referred pain somewhere else in the body, or anything else interesting!

8. Once you’ve given your problematic areas ample amount of energy, fade into whole body awareness and start imagining your whole body as if it a safe haven of paradise. Imagine the inside of you as the most gorgeous landscape you can imagine. Revel in the beautiful sounds, feelings, and colors. Let it take you away!

9. Feel the appreciation that your body has for giving it attention. Take the messages that the density showed you and integrate it in your life. Continuing to think the same thoughts will reveal the same issues over and over. Improving those hang-ups will improve your body bliss!

If this meditation doesn’t work for you, this is also a fantastic way for body-mind release.

Kierstie Leavitt is a passionate indigo, determined dreamer, curious cat, intuitive massage therapist, and energy worker. She heads-up Chakra Center’s bi-weekly EmBody Bliss column. Check-out our exclusive interview with Kierstie for more information about her journey of Awakening and unique/healing style of massage.