A Holistic View of Massage

Massage has always been more than just a way to address physical discomfort and ease muscle tension. At its core, it’s a practice that supports the whole person - the body, the mind and the emotional, all of which are deeply connected. 

Put another way, what shows up in the body physically can be a reflection of something that's going on emotionally, or energetically. This isn’t just a philosophical idea, it’s something I see time and again when working with clients.  Physical issues very rarely exist in isolation: they’re shaped by what’s happening in our lives: work life, family life, relational life, life transitions and much more.  So no, it's not about being woo-woo.  It’s about being responsive to the complexities of being human.

It's why I see massage as truly holistic. Every massage is an opportunity to support not just the physical person, but their emotional and mental landscape as well.  The body remembers.  It holds onto stress, grief, overwhelm, even when we think we’ve mentally moved past something.  Often, physical pain is the body’s way of drawing our attention to what needs to be processed or released.

From a Western medical perspective, we know that chronic stress affects: the nervous system, hormonal balance, inflammation and immune function.  The body quite literally holds the impact of our mental and emotional state.  Eastern traditions, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, have long recognised this interconnection, understanding the body as a reflection of the whole system, where physical symptoms are more often than not linked to imbalances in Qi/Chi (energy), emotions or lifestyle.

When I work with someone, I’m not just thinking about anatomy, I’m also considering how their current life context, emotional wellbeing and stress levels might also be showing up in their body.  Often, clients come in for what they believe is a purely physical issue: a sore back from gardening, tight shoulders from working at a desk, a tendinopathy, but as we work together, patterns emerge.  One example that comes up frequently is frozen shoulder, particularly in women going through menopause. On the surface, it seems like a musculoskeletal problem, and of course, there are physical components including joint stiffness and inflammation.  But when we look closer, we often see a broader picture: hormonal shifts, disrupted sleep, emotional changes and the stress of navigating big life transitions.  The physical symptoms are real of course, but they’re often just the tip of the iceberg.  The shoulder starts to tell the story the rest of the body hasn’t had the chance to speak. 

Approaching massage holistically doesn’t mean assuming there’s always an emotional cause behind physical pain, but it does mean staying open to the possibility that the body is communicating on multiple levels.  Whether looking through the Western lens of stress physiology or adopting an Eastern view of mind-body flow, the message is the same: the body and mind are deeply connected.  And when we work with that connection, rather than separating it, we open the door to more effective, meaningful healing.

Massage may start with the body, but it rarely ends there.  It often supports far more than just physical relief, and it can offer a doorway to something deeper, helping people to feel more grounded, more aware and more at home in themselves.  When we honour that, the results can be profound.