CHARLOTTE – One lovely thing about massage is that it really can help you get into a place where the world is a little brighter and your life a little more fulfilled. Sound crazy? There’s so much being looked at by doctors and scientists regarding the mind-body connection. I ran across an article through the University of Minnesota that had a great explanation. According to Dr. James Gordon, founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine,  “the brain and peripheral nervous system, the endocrine and immune systems, and indeed, all the organs of our body and all the emotional responses we have, share a common chemical language and are constantly communicating with one another.”

This is a possible explanation for those times during massage that clients have an emotional release (ER). What is that exactly? According to an article in ABMP (massage industry magazine), this could be a sense of joy or enlightenment that you, the massage recipient, comes to realize during the massage. It might be an overwhelmingly happy feeling that causes you to tear up. Maybe a sense of euphoria.

Another type of ER could be trauma related. Perhaps the massage invokes a vulnerability that you haven’t ever dealt with. Normally our body deals with trauma in a protective way so you can make it through the experience with the least amount of hurt. This trauma will probably never go away unless it’s dealt with and brought back to the surface. When this happens during a massage, YOU ARE SAFE.

-Lisa Lane (#13098) is a licensed massage therapist in Mint Hill and runs Massage Sanctuary. For more information, please check out www.ncmassagesanctuary.massagetherapy.com.