Last Updated on June 13, 2024 by MASSAGE Magazine
Guided visualization can turn a massage session into a vibrant, colorful experience. It gives our clients thoughts they can take with them between sessions, and images they remember for the rest of their lives.
Nature-based therapies are becoming popular ways for people to find balance and a sense of well-being. As people are discovering how beneficial time in nature can be to their health, they are looking for healing ways to add nature therapies into their lives.
Wouldn’t it be nice to bring the healing effects of nature into your massage practice? Most of us do not work outdoors, however, so how do we bring nature into our massage studios? We do this by using an important and powerful tool: our clients’ minds.
Nature-Based Therapies
Nature is our original home. We thrive in nature: body, mind and spirit. Spending time in nature has many healing benefits. It improves our sleep1, lowers our blood pressure2, and decreases depression and anxiety3. Time in nature can also strengthen our immune system4 and produce feel-good hormones5that give us an enhanced sense of well-being.
When we immerse in nature, we find a sense of belonging in a world so much greater than ourselves. In vast and magnificent settings, such as under the night sky, or on a coastal walk by the ocean, we are likely to be blessed by a sense of awe: a feeling that takes us out of ourselves and into a larger valence of being … a feeling that humbles us and makes us more grateful for our existence.6 We humans are biophilic, meaning we are drawn to commune with nature.
Nature-based therapies are also becoming popular with healing professionals. Psychologists are offering ecopsychology7 to help people gain mental balance through their connection to the natural world. Personal trainers are offering primal movement and outdoor workouts. Forest bathing8 is a fairly new form of healing that brings people on mindfulness retreats in the forest to gain solace and healing. Human rewilding9 uses activities like foraging and wilderness survival to helps us sync our own biology with the natural world.
People all over the world are excited by the potentials of healing in nature. Ecotourism and wellness tourism are both booming in popularity. With the rising demand for nature therapies, you can enhance your practice by adding the healing effects of nature to your work.
Turning your practice into your own wellness retreat can help you can serve your clients in unique and memorable ways.
The Brain and Visualization
Visualization is a mindfulness meditation where we use mental imagery to relax more deeply and achieve our goals. With visualization, we can mentally rehearse actions in an effort to learn new skills or increase performance. Our brains are hard-wired for visualization.
The motor cortex. Our brain does not distinguish between actual and imagined movements. The same areas of our motor cortex activates when we think about moving as when we actually move. Our brain rehearses movements so we are able to perform better and more efficiently.
Athletes use this to their advantage when preparing for an event by visualizing the entire experience. They mentally bring their body through all the motions to rehearse and refine their movements. This makes them better at their sport, helping them move faster and more efficiently when the event comes.
For example, research was done on the effects of visualization on weightlifters. The control group took a normal break between weightlifting sets. The test group, on the other hand, continued to visualize themselves lifting the weights during their break. Their muscles gained an average of 30% more muscle mass than the control group.10
If our bodies can become faster and stronger through visualization, imagine what visualization can do for our clients on the massage table, as they picture their muscles relaxing and lengthening!
The reticular activating system. Our brain is also wired to help us realize our dreams and goals. The reticular activating system (RAS) is a two-inch long, pencil-thin bundle of nerves at the top of our spine that connects our brainstem with our cerebral cortex. Its job is to regulate what information gets communicated between our conscious and unconscious mind.
The RAS filters unimportant sensations and prioritizes important thoughts.11 By prioritizing our thoughts, it helps us achieve our goals. When we think of something, such as buying a new car, our RAS focuses on this thought. All of a sudden, we see that same car everywhere. This is the RAS in action. Whether our thoughts are positive aspirations or self-defeating, our RAS will seek ways to make those thoughts true. It is always looking for connections between our thoughts and the world around us.
This is why positive affirmations have been so helpful for people. They were looking for a positive outcome, and the RAS helped them find it.
Our Bodies in Nature
Our bodies are perfectly designed to thrive in nature, in many ways. Bacteria in forest soil and phytoncides in forest air have been shown to boost our immune system.4,5 Walking barefoot strengthens the muscles of our feet. Walking on the natural uneven ground makes us pick up our legs higher, which strengthens our legs and hips.
When we exercise our bodies help us by producing endorphins, nature’s natural pain reliever. Walking balances our pelvis and legs and strengthens our spine. The coordinated movements of cross-lateral activities, like walking and running, activate both hemispheres of our brain simultaneously. This stimulates the corpus callosum and strengthens the bridge between the left and right hemispheres.
Our nervous systems are also attuned to nature. Cold water stimulates our vagus nerve and calms our whole bodies.12 The ambient sounds in nature relax and soothe our nervous systems.13
Even the colors of nature are healing and balancing. Green is uplifting and relaxing. Blue inspires our creativity and calms us.
When we register blue-green light in the morning, retinal ganglion cells in our eyes send signals to our brain to increase our cortisol levels, giving us the energy to wake up. As the green and blue light darken into evening, those same sensors signal the brain to begin producing melatonin for sleep.
Studies show that being in nature could help a person recover more quickly from a stressful event. The interesting thing about these studies is that they found that even looking at a photograph of nature helped those people recover from stress more quickly.14
Our Bodies in the Modern World
Our modern world has changed so quickly our bodies have not had a chance to catch up. Our nervous system is still designed for quick, explosive stressors (like being chased by a saber toothed tiger) and long periods of calm (where we go back to gathering, fishing and tending the fire with our family). We are not adapted to the constant stressors of modern-day life (deadlines and traffic).
Our bodies end up bathed in adrenaline and cortisol, again and again throughout the day, unable to absorb the last bout of adrenaline before the next surge begins.
Which brings us to our clients. They are more stressed, anxious and overwhelmed than ever before. We live in a world of constant distractions and long to-do lists, coupled with the demand to multitask so we can “get ahead.”
We do not have time to daydream and be present. It is difficult to find time for the parasympathetic mode. We wait for another moment to relax. “After I get this done, then I’ll be able to rest.” Instead, that time keeps getting pushed back to another day. More to do lists, more responsibilities, more goals. Our adrenal glands are overtaxed and yet we resist relaxation.
Many of our clients wrestle with these thoughts on the massage table. They come to us to relax and take a break from the world’s stresses, and yet they end up thinking about the traffic on the way to the appointment or their to-do list after they leave the massage.
They find it difficult to be mindful and present with us, to focus on their bodies and the sensations of the massage. For many people, when they finally relax, they check out and fall asleep on the table.
Our clients can have a more deeply satisfying and informative experience if they are able to be more present with us and mindful with their bodies at the massage session.
This is where visualization comes in.
We have so many more tools at our disposal than just our knowledgeable touch. We can guide our clients through a beautiful, transformative experience on the massage table. We can give them an experience that is so much more serene than a clinical rebalancing of their muscles, and so much more memorable than an hour-long relaxation session.
By giving our clients wonderful healing thoughts they can carry with them, we can keep them thinking about (and talking about!) their time with us.
Read “This is How to Add Guided Visualization to Massage,” posting to massagemag.com on March 3, for complete instructions on adding guided visualization to massage.
About the Authors
Erik Krippner, LMT, and Faye Krippner, LMT, have been practicing massage together, side-by-side, for nearly 20 years. They are the creatures of NatureBody™ massage stories, helping people relax and heal through guided visualization and self-care. Find out how you can use guided visualization in your practice, and listen to a free NatureBody™ meditation here.
Footnotes
1. Morita, Emi et al. “A before and after comparison of the effects of forest walking on the sleep of a community-based sample of people with sleep complaints.” BioPsychoSocial medicine vol. 5 13. 14 Oct. 2011, doi:10.1186/1751-0759-5-13.
2. “Forest bathing: What it is and why you should try it.” Kaiser Permanente, 8 April 2022.
3. Li, Qing et al. “Effects of forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) on serotonin in serum, depressive symptoms and subjective sleep quality in middle-aged males.” Environmental health and preventive medicine vol. 27 (2022): 44. doi:10.1265/ehpm.22-00136.
4. Livini, Ephrat. “The Japanese practice of ‘forest bathing’ is scientifically proven to be good for you.” World Economic Forum, 23 May 2017.
5. Schlanger, Zoe. “Dirt has a microbiome, and it may double as an antidepressant.” Quartz, 30 May 2017.
6. Allen, Summer. “Eight Reasons Why Awe Makes Your Life Better.” Greater Good Science Center, 26 September 2018.
7. Peterson, Tanya. “Ecotherapy (Nature Therapy): How It Works, Activities, & What to Expect.” Choosing Therapy, 7 May 2021, updated 30 January 2023.
8. Fitzgerald, Sunny. “The secret to mindful travel? A walk in the woods.” National Geographic, 18 October 2019.
9. Smith, Ellie. “What is Human Rewilding?” Country & Town House, July 2022.
10. Richter, Jeremy MA, CSCS; Gilbert, Jenelle N. PhD; Baldis, Mark PhD, CSCS, “Maximizing Strength Training Performance Using Mental Imagery,” Strength and Conditioning Journal, Volume 34, Issue 5 (October 2012) 65-69 .
11. Von Schneider, Tobias. “If you want it, you might get it. The Reticular Activating System explained.” Medium, 22 June 2017.
12. “5 Ways To Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve.” Cleveland Clinic, 10 March 2022.
13. MacMillen, Amanda. “Why Nature Sounds are Great for Relaxation.” Health, 13 June 2022.
14. Dockrill, Peter. “Just Looking at Photos of Nature Could Be Enough to Lower Your Work Stress Levels.” ScienceAlert, 23 March 2016.