Bodywork is body-centered therapies performed by a qualified practitioner to help improve health and well-being. It includes therapies such as massage, acupuncture, chiropractic-osteopathic care, craniosacral therapy, and such. 

Bodyworkers are licensed professionals who understand the structure and functions of the human body and can employ therapeutic techniques intended to benefit the receiver. Bodyworkers are trained to access the posture (or feel pulses), formulate treatment plans, and apply their specialized knowledge to address physical symptoms based on the principles of their modality.

Bodywork has helped many people restore the quality of their lives, so they can continue to do daily activities, avoid any unnecessary medical interventions, manage physical pain, and lower tension and stress. The techniques and their effects are truly vast but in essence, they all help:

  • Form – re-structure misalignments and mend injuries
  • Flow – increase circulation of the fluids contained in our body
  • Function – enhance your ability to move 

Used for rehabilitation, somatic (body) therapies help speed up the recovery time of an injury and contribute to more efficient healing. Better yet, it even prevents injury and lessens the blow when physical traumas do occur. I believe it helps prevents certain types of deterioration – like osteoporosis, arthritis, and disc degeneration – or at least the pain they cause.

Aligning our musculoskeletal systems to better withstand gravity, therapeutic bodywork effectively lessens pain and discomfort, eliminates unnecessary demands being placed on your body, and enhances physical performance.

All types of bodywork help discharge tension placed on the nervous, muscular, and circulatory systems. Lowering stress-levels, it restores our energy-vitality. It unravels and decompresses our coiled up nervous systems, lengthening our fuse so that we can manage life with greater capacity  Heightening bodily awareness and re-connecting us to ourselves, it facilitates integration for emotional balancing and spiritual healing work.

Often seen as a luxury, bodywork is really a necessity. It’s true. It can make one feel pampered. But bodywork is a pillar in self-care. Having a personal mechanic that specializes in the human body and can help iron your body out and fine-tune you once in a while – is certainly a good thing! We all injure ourselves, experience stress, and have wear and tear from living an interesting life in one human body.

In its highest form, it is a great way to tell your most loyal companion that you honor it and that you appreciate all that it does for you. Bodywork is not the end all, be all, in natural medicine. But it is one of the absolute best ways you can maintain a healthy ever-healing body.

@ Embodiwork, we devise customized treatment plans that address each client’s specific therapeutic needs. With our trained hands, we sculpt the soft tissues, weaving together a variety of techniques with precision, patience, breath, body mechanics, and presence. We help usher our clients towards a state of relaxation and restoration. 

How does one go about benefitting from bodywork’s application? If you’re curious, stay tuned for further blogs on the topic. In the next blog…Shalene will be exploring why people get bodywork?

Shalene Zarate, LMT, NMT, CST
Beyond being a massage therapist, Shalene’s calling is to help deepen the relationship people have with their own nature, by helping them re-establish a close relationship with their bodies, and with the foods and lifestyles that nourish them.