Massage aims to uphold balance within muscle tissue, connective tissue (fascia), bones, energy, and lymph. Humans are up against gravity, aging, postural holding patterns, activities of daily living, emotional storage, chemical imbalances, environmental challenges, and who knows what else every day. Periodically tipping the health scales off balance is just part of life.

Lucky for us body workers, bodies are built with bi-lateral replicas almost nearly from head to toe, allowing for a gauge to measure against when we attempt to bring it all back to center. For example, pain and scar tissue felt in an injured left hamstring is easily understood in contrast to the health of the right one, for both client and massage therapist.

Our bodies crave balance. A sense of peace ensues when all systems are stable. This innate and deep-rooted mechanism is called homeostasis. Your body keeps its own self in check quite well as long as things are running smoothly.

So, how are you holding up? Literally, how is your head on your neck?

How is your neck positioned on your shoulders? Where are your shoulders in relation to your rib cage? How does your rib cage talk to your pelvis? Does your pelvis know about your knees? Do your knees dance with your ankles?

Does your big toe have distant memories of your skull or are the two close friends?

I’m nearing the end of my structural series with Pat O’Rourke. Last weekend we revisited some tried and true anterior neck massage techniques. The theory of tensegrity in the body came up again.

Tensegrity =  (ten)sion + inte(grity):

This was primarily an architecture term coined by Buckminster Fuller in the 60’s, but can also be applied to structural anatomy.

I appreciate the visual of our bodies structured like big top circus tents, with every corner and side flap equally pulled taut with anchored ropes. There will be no wrinkles in that canvas as long as each rope is doing its job, and it’s the same deal with our tissue.

If you’re feeling out of balance, consider a massage or other bodywork modalities to help find realignment and bring the pendulum back to center. The benefits are more than just physical; with balance in the body, we can more easily find balance in our minds.