Self Care & Self Massage
THE LANGUAGE OF TOUCH
“Our body is like a vessel filled and surrounded by space. When we touch our substance, we stimulate ourselves and the universe simultaneously. Our whole body exercises in space.’
Massage means interaction. When you massage yourself, your whole body participates in the massage: a reciprocal relationship develops between your hand and the muscle or point massaged, generating feelings that stimulate interactions throughout the body. Interaction also occurs between physical and non-physical levels of existence and this interaction stimulates certain energies, which, not restricted to the body’s boundaries, spread to the surrounding world.
The massage of feeling
When you begin Kum Nye massage, let go of any preconceptions or associations you may have about the practice, and move beyond the level of thoughts and concepts to the level of experience. Explore each feeling that arises in full, expanding it through your senses and thoughts. As you do so you will discover different feeling-tones, which can be explored further. Once you move inside a feeling, it will expand itself in an inner massage. Initially a feeling will hring to mind various images. At a deeper level, the feeling will be deeply nurturing, without images. Finally, you become the feeling, and there is no longer any experiencer or”I”, only a sense of openness and completion.
To achieve this sense of oneness during your massage, you need to stretch the bonds of your ordinary conceptions, viewing yourself not as a individual entity comprised of separate systems, but as an integral being intimately connected to the cosmos. From this perspective, when you press a point on your body, no part of your body, and in fact no part of the universe, need be excluded. Everything becomes part of the massage.
Starting self-massage
Begin by massaging yourself for forty-five minutes or more every evening for at least six weeks. After six weeks you may want to continue with the evening massage, or alternatively vou may want self-massage to be a part of your daily Kum Nye practice (in addition to the sitting, breathing and movement exercises). Although it is best done in the evening, massage can also be done at other times.
Try taking a hot shower or bath beforehand to relax your muscles and open your body to feeling. At the start of the mas¬sage, energize your hands (see opposite), then oil and rub your body in a random way. Allow your feelings to guide you to the areas that need particular attention and let them tell you when to increase or decrease pressure. Where you feel pain, rub with particular sensitivity and thoroughness, allowing the feelings and the massage to move together in rhythm. In this way, mas¬sage as much of your body as you can reach — do not neglect your arms, legs or feet.
Gradually deepen your experience of the massage, unifying breath, body, senses and mind. Breathe very slowly and lightly through both nose and mouth. This helps the breath to merge with sensation, developing a vital penetrative quality that spreads throughout the body, releasing the congested energies that inhibit the free flow of feeling. Expand feeling and sensation to encompass thoughts, so that as you rub and press, your hand becomes the eye of your mind, and your mind enters your body. At the end of the massage, sit still for five or ten minutes and feel the subtle ripples of sensation spreading outward from vour body. Afterwards apply a natural perfume or, alternatively, burn some incense to prolong the process of relaxation. If you are doing the massage right before going to bed, try drinking a cup of hot milk with some honey to help you sleep.
The guided massages
After two or three evenings of “random” massage, introduce some of the specific massages detailed in this chapter, exploring two or three new techniques at a time. Initially, emphasize your upper body — your face, head, neck, shoulders and chest — but feel free to experiment. Locate points of stress and blockage and loosen them, freeing the body from its tight inner and outer harness.
A number of the massages, such as the those for the legs, the hips and the feet, specify the position that you should adopt during the massage. Where no position is indicated verbally, simply assume the position that feels most comfortahle and natural to you; this may be standing, sitting on a chair, or sitting in the sitting posture (see p. 28) on the floor (or on a mat or cushion if preferred).
Each time you begin a Kum Nye massage session, awaken the sensitive energies of your hands using the exercise on p. 39. During the massage, bear in mind tbat your hand is capable of touching your whole body when it appears to touch only a part. Develop the feelings in your palms, fingers and thumbs. Whenever possible, use your whole hand to massage your body; develop reciprocity between your hand and the part that you are massaging, and be aware of subtle linkages to other parts of your body.
Throughout all of the massages, remember to breathe gently and evenly through both nose and mouth. This centres the mind within the body, sharpening awareness of the feelings and sensations stimulated during the massages. Once we have made contact with these feelings, we can begin to develop the inter¬nal energy massage of Kum Nye (see p. 18).
The pressure points
Kum Nye massage is oriented toward a number of sensitive and powerful pressure points, which stimulate energy interactions throughout the body. You may find that pressure on some places has an immediate effect and on others has no noticeable effect at first.Touching certain spots may restore memories or past negativities, while others may stimulate joyful leelings. As you work to release the tension in your body, you may also release mental and emotional blockages. Once this tension melts away, onlv feeling or experience is left. Do not lahel or identify the nature of the feeling. Simply allow it to continue melting until it fills each cell with pure energy and experience.
When you are directed to work with specific acupressure points during the course of the massages, be aware of the effects that are produced by different degrees of pressure. At first press very lightly; gradually develop a medium pressure; then, when appropriate, press strongly. When you want to diminish the pressure, do so very gradually: subtlv lighten the strong pressure to medium pressure, and then slowly to light pressure. In this way you will develop awareness of six distinct stages of the massage and, with more practice, you will develop additional subtleties of pressure. Above all, be careful not to release the pressure suddenly tor this will shock the system, resulting in the loss of the subtle qualities of feeling. Instead, experience fully the gradual lifting up and putting down of your hand and fingers.
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This massage will animate your hands. Do it at the beginning of each massage session.
Sit comfortably with your back straight, breathe gently through both nose and mouth, and relax. Oil your hands lightly. Bend your arms at the elbows and hold your hands open, with the palms up, at the level of your heart. Cup your hands a little, as if holding energy in them. Feel the sens¬ations – perhaps tingling or warmth – in your hands and fingers. Hold the energy in your fingers; then let it pass into your hands like a flame reaching and spreading. From your hands let the energy pass into your arms, and through your arms into your heart. Allow your whole body to feel nourished by these sensa¬tions of energy. 0 Once you feel these sensations, bring your hands together and rapidly rub the back of your left hand with the palm of your right. You can do this movement quite hard and fast. Follow the sensations – you may feel energy going into your heart and neck, and into the middle of your back. Reverse the position of your hands and rub briefly. 0 Now rub your palms together rapidly until they feel hot. Once again hold your hands open, palms up, at the level of your heart, cupping them a little. Take a minute to feel the sensations flowing in your hands and body, then slowly begin your chosen massage.