Love Your Belly with Self Massage
I want to talk about your belly.
Did you just suck it in a little, or sit up straighter? It’s almost a reflex, isn’t it?
Being self-conscious of your stomach is practically a rite of passage for girls and young women. Think about it- how many of your friends, mothers, sisters are actually happy and comfortable with how their belly looks?
I can’t even imagine the amount of time and energy we waste on this. All over a stupid ass story we’ve been told for so long that we don’t bother to question it anymore. You know, the one that says there’s only one way to be beautiful (skinny). The one that says we can’t, don’t DARE to love ourselves unless/until we have flat abs or super toned thighs.
Our abdominal region is particularly charged. As I said above, hating your belly and wishing it looked different every damn day is the norm for so many people. We don’t even want anyone to SEE it, much less touch it. Have you ever crossed your arms over your stomach when you sit down, or hugged a pillow in front of you when you’re sitting on the couch (even in your own home)? Right. Me too.
It might make you feel uncomfortable just thinking about it.
Now, to go to a MUCH nicer place, imagine how you feel after a massage. Calm, relaxed, and whole. Happily aware of every part of your body. Positively humming with good vibrations as you float out the door.
Better now, right? As a massage therapist, my work is all about the power of touch. Not just the targeted application of techniques to this muscle or that one to help you turn your head again or get rid of your shoulder pain, but the benefits that come from ANY positive touch.
- Increase in oxytocin, seratonin, dopamine
- Increased circulation
- Relaxation
- Eases anxiety
- Endorphin release
- Helps you sleep
- Lower heart rate and blood pressure
- Decrease cortisol
Knowing how loving, healing touch can feed your soul, I often think about how necessary (yet underutilized) abdominal massage is. Unfortunately, many massage schools barely touch on abdominal work, and a large percentage of clients aren’t interested in having this vulnerable area touched.
Although I *absolutely* encourage you to ask for abdominal work at your next massage, working on yourself is a great option if you need to start slow.
So let’s bring this all together with some self-massage techniques you can use to connect with your core, feel centered, and show a little belly love!
Womb Massage
***Please note- This practice isn’t recommended if you’re pregnant or menstruating.***
I use my rose quartz massage tool to do this, but using your hands is totally fine too.
Ready to try it? All you need is some lotion or oil and a quiet space.
1️⃣ Lie on your back with knees bent. Place one hand on your womb and the other on your heart. Take a deep breath in, feeling the air come all the way down through your abdomen and down to your womb. Inhale love, exhale all the shit you don’t need. Let go of anything standing in the way of this connection.
2️⃣Apply oil or lotion all over your entire abdomen.
3️⃣Keeping your lower hand on your womb, begin the massage by moving in gentle upward strokes from your hand to your belly button.
Repeat this 15 times, moving from one side to the other.
4️⃣In the same area, repeat 15 strokes down (from belly button towards your hand).
5️⃣Next, move in small circles, clockwise, around your navel 15 times.
6️⃣Then do 15 half circles on the right (top to bottom), and repeat on the left.
7️⃣Finish by resting both hands on top of your womb and breathe into her again. Feel your timeless connection to the divine feminine and revel in it, my love!💕💕
When you are ready, slowly open your eyes and come back to Earth.
Skin Rolling
Skin rolling is really effective and feels amazing!! I use it all the time, on myself and on my clients. This massage technique targets tension and adhesions in connective tissue called fascia.
Not sure exactly what fascia is? Here you go:
Basically, this technique just consists of pinching skin and connective tissue between both thumbs and forefingers, and then rolling across the area you’re working.
The abdomen is an ideal spot to work with this technique- bad posture and poor breathing habits can really do a number on the muscles and fascia in this area. Plus, it’s ignored! Not only do we not touch our own bellies, but abdominal work is often left out of even “full body” massages.
Bonus-if you have diastasis recti, skin rolling could be really helpful! There is still not nearly enough information out there about this SUPER COMMON condition, hence me working a mention into any post that I can. 🙂
Looking for more info on diastasis? Check out these posts:
Diastasis Recti: What Can I Do?
One huge piece of the DR healing puzzle is posture. In fact, I’ve heard multiple experts say that your posture throughout the day is just as important as doing your exercises.
Tension in the fascia can pull your body out of alignment just like tight muscles do. Releasing that tension is crucial for maintaining correct posture throughout the day, which is a must for keeping excess pressure off a healing diastasis.
Ready to try it?
I prefer to do this standing, but you could lie on your back if that feels good for you.
1. Using your thumbs and index fingers, pinch some skin at the top of your stomach (right under the center of your ribs, as shown).
2. Keep your thumbs pinned as your index fingers roll the skin into them.
3. On either side of your belly button, roll down and back up. Repeat a few times- no rules here, you can start with 2-3 times in each area.
4. Now, start on the left side of your ribs, just below your breast, and work diagonally down toward your pubic bone. Repeat on the right side.
5. Return to your starting point from step 1. Instead of making a straight line down this time, you’ll be working diagonally towards the front of the hip (and back up). Repeat on the opposite side.
Remember to breathe through this. If you find a sensitive or tender spot, you can play around with holding in one spot and pulling the tissue in different directions while taking nice, big, expansive breaths.
Skin rolling can be used all over the body- so feel free to try this anywhere else you like! Just make sure you don’t roll over any tender or bruised areas, and never work on areas of skin with open sores, cuts or wounds.
Rest and Digest
My final self-massage technique for you is an incredibly simple one that you can use to help relax, support proper digestion, and activate the parasympathetic nervous system that allows both of those to happen.
Using flat hands and gentle pressure, move in a clockwise pattern. You’ll start just below your ribs on your right side, move across in a straight line to the left, and down (see the image below). This motion follows the path of your digestive tract.
You really don’t even need lotion or oil for this. A couple minutes and you’ll be feeling fantastic!
Use this one to ease an upset stomach, chill out before bed, or anytime you want to show some love to your beautiful belly.
Options, options…which one will you try first? Please leave me a message in the comments and let me know how it goes for you. I love hearing your feedback!
Touch your belly, move it, love it. Remember the power and potential you hold there. Let the positive light of self-love blast away years of nasty messages and impossible ideals.
Alternately, just let her be. Don’t judge her or try to change her. Just let her exist and breathe and digest as she’s made to do. Your physical appearance is such a small part of who you are!
I’ll leave you with these wise words to consider:
“ Pretty is not the rent you pay to exist in the world as a woman.”
Wishing you so much belly love,
Jacki