The Power of Massage in Dark Seasons
If you follow me on social media (click to follow on IG and FB if you don’t already), you’ve seen that over the past several weeks I’ve been highlighting seasonal changes and the way they affect our bodies and minds as we turn toward winter.
This is a time of a year when, for many of us, we are bombarded by difficult and draining forces. It is darker and colder. We slow down, our energy stores are lower, our bodies are craving warmth and comfort, we sleep more. Add to these seasonal changes the hustle and potential strain of the holiday season, and many people will find themselves emotionally burdened and stressed.
Depression and other affective disorders may also rear up during this season in destabilizing ways. Some of the tools we typically use to keep ourselves steady and motivated, such as getting exposure to daylight, exercise, or social gatherings, may be more difficult to access during these wintering months.
Of course, experiences of mental health problems don’t confine themselves to winter months. Anxiety - the most common mental illness in the US - affects at least 40 million adults, or over 19% of the population, each year. Depression afflicts over 17 million adults, and is the leading cause of disability in people ages 15-44.
For many, this is not just a matter of the “winter blues.” That said, this is indeed a time when many of us are thinking about this achingly isolating, frustratingly pervasive, sometimes deeply sad part of our cyclic lives. Beautifully addressing this cyclic nature and the ways winter can act as a facsimile of dark emotional times, Katherine May writes in her book, Wintering:
“When you start tuning in to winter, you realise that we live through a thousand winters in our lives — some big, some small… Some winters creep up on us so slowly that they have infiltrated every part of our lives before we truly feel them.”
Periods of depression and anxiety, as well as chronic pain - which is intimately linked to affective disorders - can manifest in the physical body. Muscular tension, heart rate and blood pressure changes, disorders such as TMJ, headaches, digestion changes, hormonal imbalances and more are associated with stress and mental illness.
The benefits of massage in treating some of these physiological symptoms are increasingly supported by research. Reducing perceptions of pain and some of the isolating effects of being in chronic, invisible pain are just some of the powerful ways that bodywork can offer a salve for those suffering.
Perhaps less obvious is the way massage can treat the social-emotional components of depression, anxiety, stress and pain. Receiving non-judgemental, soothing touch from a trusted professional therapist can help bring a person back into their body in a positive way. Massage that is attentive to a person’s needs and is centered around consent can be life-giving for those who feel ignored, silenced, or unable to express their needs in the wider world.
Recognizing the need to be deeply, patiently listened to, and to slow down is tragically underemphasized in our society. We ignore, suppress, and push through discomfort to remain productive and protected. Massage, and particularly craniosacral therapy, are practices that are steeped in honoring those underserved needs. For some, these therapeutic sessions are the only time when nothing is demanded of them except to simply be there, and when they can truly be listened to on a physiological level.
Bodywork is of course not the only way to address the effects of mental illness, stress, and the strains of the winter and holiday season. Treatment by mental health professionals is an essential part of this process, as is a routine of self-care (read my first blog post about this).
In traversing this landscape, I find guidance in the words of Maria Popova in her discussion of May’s book mentioned above:
“There are self-punishing ways to be sad, and self-salving ways to be sad. In skillful wintering, we learn the difference between the two.”
I feel this profound sentiment can be applied to more than sadness; the wider array of trials and harrowing experiences we face, the subtle but penetrating shifts of seasons, and the tumultuous seas of mental illness with which so many struggle. I offer these thoughts in hopes that they will remind you, wherever you may be in your cycle of “wintering,” that these experiences are real, serious, and worth giving space to. Moreover, there are resources to help you find relief, peace, and comfort.
Speaking of resources… a reminder that I offer affordable sliding scale options, discounts and special offerings, and that I accept MVA (motor vehicle accident) insurance claims. Resources for practitioners in Portland and Seattle are also available on my Resources page, here.
Works Cited
Alderton, Matt. “The Science of Stress.” American Massage Therapy Association, AMTA Massage Therapy Journal, 1 Aug. 2022, www.amtamassage.org/publications/massage-therapy-journal/science-of-stress-and-massage/.
ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. “Depression | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA.” Adaa.org, 2000, adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression.
Anxiety and Depression Association of America. “Facts & Statistics.” ADAA, 21 Apr. 2021, adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics.
Baumgart, Sabine B.-E., et al. “Effect of Psycho-Regulatory Massage Therapy on Pain and Depression in Women with Chronic And/or Somatoform Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Brain Sciences, vol. 10, no. 10, 12 Oct. 2020, p. 721, 10.3390/brainsci10100721. Accessed 26 Oct. 2020.
Meier, Maria, et al. “Standardized Massage Interventions as Protocols for the Induction of Psychophysiological Relaxation in the Laboratory: A Block Randomized, Controlled Trial.” Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no. 1, 8 Sept. 2020, p. 14774, www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71173-w, 10.1038/s41598-020-71173-w.
Popova, Maria. “Wintering: Resilience, the Wisdom of Sadness, and How the Science of Trees Illuminates the Art of Self-Renewal through Difficult Times.” The Marginalian, 6 Mar. 2021, www.themarginalian.org/2021/03/06/wintering-katherine-may/.
Thompson, Emma L., et al. “A Network Analysis of the Links between Chronic Pain Symptoms and Affective Disorder Symptoms.” International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 26, no. 1, 30 Oct. 2018, pp. 59–68, 10.1007/s12529-018-9754-8. Accessed 30 Mar. 2021.
Wunderlich, Shaila. “Massage for Mental Health.” American Massage Therapy Association, AMTA Massage Therapy Journal, 1 Aug. 2022, www.amtamassage.org/publications/massage-therapy-journal/massage-mental-health-benefits/?userToken=6cb0e322-c5ab-490c-b40f-01f5c7fa6472&Site=AMTA.