Self-massage: a matter of instinct
No need to learn very complex gestures or do an internship to train. Just let instinct and intuition speak and listen to your body. Transform the ritual of removing make-up (or toileting) into a meditative parenthesis. Create your own routine by starting by choosing your treatments by becoming aware of their virtues and functions. For example, the makeup remover in cream or milk conducive to massage, the lotion in mist, the creamy night cream (preferably a balm, an oil or a generous cream to which you add a few drops of targeted serum). Imagine the most tactile gesture possible that would resemble the one an expert would choose in an institute or spa. Apply the cleansing milk with your fingertips, massaging the face and neck in long, wide, circular motions. Visualize the expected results: relaxed skin, smoothed features, a luminous complexion, fading stress and perform each gesture with the intention of these results. Refine the make-up removal with a care mist that you spray by inhaling deeply to soak up the scents and active ingredients scattered in the microdroplets.
Massage, breathe…
Then, massage yourself generously with a large dab of night cream or special facial massage balm. Add beforehand a few drops of serum or oil with soothing virtues or a drop of lavender essential oil. Combine this massage with a cycle of breaths. With your eyes closed, inhale three times deeply the scents of the treatment deposited in the palm of your hands and then stretch it on the face and neck. Insist on the eye area, gently run the tips of your fingers over your eyes (index finger, middle finger and ring finger) thinking that by this gesture you chase away all eye pressure and “sleep” your eyes. Massage your head, slowly and thoroughly. Descend along the neck and finish with a trapezius massage. Complete this routine with a self-massage of the belly, stretching a milk or cream clockwise, visualizing the slowing down of these hands and moving up to the solar plexus. Rub your hands together and place them on top of each other forming a shell on the plexus. Imagine both energy and appeasement. All while listening to relaxing music.
Get a massage
As we go to the osteopath or physiotherapist, there is no hesitation to have to offer a massage, especially when you suffer from tension or fatigue. However, massage in an institute, as a cure, can also aim to reconcile us with sleep. Once a week for one to two months, treat yourself to a relaxing massage, or even a ritual specifically created to prepare the body and mind for sleep. A bit like rehabilitation, this repetitive massage will create a kind of automatism. By teaching us to breathe, to position ourselves, to abandon ourselves to the expert hands of a practitioner, we convey as a message to the body as much as to the mind, that we can let go, surrender ourselves completely in order to rest, recharge our batteries and get out of this parenthesis, invigorated as after a good night’s sleep. By “impressing” this idea deep in our cells, we get used to regaining confidence in the lying position and in the idea of restful rest.
Slide to sleep with meditation
It’s easy to access meditation exercises on YouTube, Instagram, or apps. You have trouble falling asleep because ideas jostle at bedtime? On the contrary, you fall asleep very easily but untimely awakenings in the middle of the night end up ruining you at night? Meditation seems to be for you. Precisely because it shifts your attention to visualizations, using breaths and body “scanning”. Bet on a duration of about twenty minutes, no less, if you know real tensions with falling asleep. Choose a program specifically focused on sleep or preparation for end-of-day relaxation. Also try yoga nidra programs, a yoga that is practiced in a static position lying most of the time and includes body scanning, visualization and breathing. Whichever program you choose, sit in the most sleepable position and concentrateur the voice. Be careful with the volume, do not put it too hard because when you start to fall asleep the sounds are perceived more acutely. Beware of programs on YouTube, some follow with others and you may wake up with a start, in the middle of the night after two or three hours of listening, thanks to a louder ad than the chosen meditation program. Record your favorite program directly to your phone or computer. Another possible source: unconnected boxes that have the advantage of not encouraging you to have your phone at hand. A source of insomnia well known by those who are used to it. There are many boxes that offer meditation, visualization, sophrology programs.
