Body Rolling as Meditation
/Body Rolling is the evolution of yoga.
While I'd already been practicing yoga and meditation religiously for over a decade, my wellbeing took a quantum leap when I committed to a regular body rolling practice.
While the mind lives in the past and the future, the body is always present, making it a handy meditation shortcut.
The physical benefits are obvious- my body is more toned, my muscles are more responsive, efficient and flexible, my movement is more graceful. The vitality that comes from truly oxygenated tissues has replaced daily aches and pains in my neck, shoulders and low back.
But, with my devotion to the transformative power of meditation, I’ve discovered a whole other world of benefits that are rarely, if ever, discussed.
On a mental level, it's almost impossible for the mind to wander distractedly when you are combing through the sensitive tissues of your inner body. For optimal release and optimal pleasure, body rolling demands we maintain our focus on the direct experience in our body.
While the mind lives in the past and the future, the body is always present, making it a handy meditation shortcut.
During meditative body rolling, curious sensations drown out the daily hustle while we're kept busy learning about our body with more intimacy then a lover could ever aspire to.
At this point, its so natural for me to move into a meditative state within a couple minutes of jumping on my roller that it sometimes makes my seated meditation feel unnecessarily cumbersome.
Combing through stagnated tangles in muscle fibers can unblock not only the physical but the energetic channels of the body
Body rolling is a cleanse. It can…
Reduce pain and discomfort
Increase flexibility and circulation
Induce relaxation and relieve stress
Prevent and rehabilitate injury
Make our movement more graceful
Increase our self esteem and body awareness
But the real benefits lie below the surface….
If we accept body rolling not just as a pain relieving health boost and therapeutic stress relief but as an invitation into embodied mediation, combing through stagnated tangles in muscle fibers can unblock not only the physical but the energetic channels of the body.
The fastest way out of the head and into the heart is through the body
What is embodied meditation?
A meditation practice doesn’t have to involve sitting silently, there are many paths into presence.
Meditation isn’t an activity, it's a state that arises from within ourselves. It’s a state in which peace, acceptance and calm can live despite external circumstances.
Instead of trying to transcend our human experience, seeking ‘enlightenment’ as a disembodied state to attain, embodied meditation focuses our attention on the sensations we feel, letting them draw us into the simplicity of the present moment.
As we become more familiar with the inner stillness behind the agitation of our thinking mind, we begin to catch our mind and call it out more often for the stories it creates that cause us unnecessary stress, suffering and conflict. Overtime, we increase our capacity to choose our inner state, putting our highest self back in the driver’s seat, instead of being a victim of our past, our cultural conditioning and our well meaning, yet often a bit nutty, ego-mind.
We don’t meditate to become better meditators, we meditate to become kinder people. Caring for ourselves by releasing the physical tension that creates irritability, short temper, anxiety and impatience, is a meaningful journey to self love.
Rolling is the optimal meditation. It asks us to…
Use our breath as a tool for optimal relaxation
Scout our inner landscape for tension in the mind and the body
Get familiar with letting go
Repetitively practice the cycle of becoming aware of discomfort, steadily and patiently calling on release and finally, surrendering to pleasure.
Study the layered textures of our sensation- skin, muscle, fascia, organs
Say ‘Yes’ to our body and therefore, our life
Awaken every cell
Create more inner space
Everything is Connected
Teaching Body Rolling LIVE online as my sister eats breakfast
Through meditative body rolling we also come to understand our body as a metaphor. While low back discomfort seems so local, the veil of compartmentalizing is lifted when we comb through our thighs and feel our low back unwind or massage our side waist and feel our neck decompress. We notice a deeper breath signals our shoulders to soften, that a kind thought allows the booty to soften into the friendly pressure of the roller versus fighting against the release tooth and nail.
Not only is everything in our body connected, everything in our mind and heart is connected to everything in our body.
Pleasure as a Pathway to Awakening
While there is little room to “do it wrong,” there is one rule: body rolling through pain is a no go.
While it’s pretty much against my religion to use the word should, I’m willing to break that rule here.
I repeat: body rolling SHOULD NOT BE PAINFUL.
If it is, get your self a higher quality, more friendly roller or place a towel on top (see my roller recommendations here). If it hurts, you’re missing out on a majority of the body-mind benefits. “No pain, no gain” is part of a violent paradigm that’s now one with the dinosaurs.
In fact, body rolling should be pleasurable! While you might feel strong sensation it is possible to reimagine our relationship with strong sensation as activation, awakening to a deeper level of experience, cultivating our capacity to breath through intensity.
Self Knowledge = Superpowers
The most surprising effect of my body rolling practice lies on an energetic level.
As we slowly descend through layers of tissue to discover our personal demons (aka pain patterns), we draw deeper into intimacy with ourselves- from the outside-in.
I’m becoming more and more adept at listening closely inward and following my body's subtle signals to let go of control, in the form of muscle tension, to surrender to my experience in the moment.
I’m becoming more and more experienced at noticing subtle inner signals of where to travel next, which spots need more time, love and breath and which spots need a unique micro-movement or stillness in order to let go. The scientific name for this skill is interception, it refers to our capacity to feel inside of our body, to hear the body’s wisdom ancient speaking.
As I cultivate this inner superpowers of letting go of control, surrendering to life and noticing the body’s guidance, my intuition, which often speaks in the language of subtle intuitive sensation, grows stronger and stronger.
The more closely I follow my intuition, the more aligned I feel with the bigger picture purpose of why I'm here on Earth at this time and the more my choices, my actions and my reality reflect that back to me.
Yup, meditative body rolling is pretty badass.
Empower yourself to be your own bodyworker and allow your body to teach you about presence.
Join us for Body Rehab Ritual LIVE on May 31st (Memorial Day) at 9:30 am PDT