Reducing the Stress of Parenting – 2nd week.
This week’s stress reduction tips come out of my thirty years as a massage therapist. I often use them as warm up exercises when teaching mudras from my book, “Mudras: Ancient Gestures to Ease Modern Stress.”
As promised, you’ll learn to massage your own shoulders, arms and hands. The brushing strokes off the arms, hands and fingers are all a very light pressure. (Heavier pressure should always be towards the heart.) The brushing strokes feel like they help your body release tension, leaving you more relaxed.
1. We’ll start with the shoulders. Take your right hand and firmly grasp the top of your left shoulder right up by the neck. Move slightly to the right and grasp again. Continue until you’ve reached the far edge of your shoulder. Repeat three times.
2. Switch hands. Repeat exactly what you did on the right shoulder on the left shoulder.
3.We move on to the arms. Take your right hand and brush gently down from the top of your left arm all the way to the left hand and off the fingers. Repeat three times.
4. Brush gently off each finger, grasping each finger between the thumb and pointer finger of your right hand. Repeat three times
5. Run your right fingers between the bones on the back of your left hand. Repeat three times.
6. Switch hands. Repeat exactly what you did on the left arm on the right arm, etc.
7. Turn your left hand palm up. Make big circles in the palm of your left hand with the thumb of your right hand, about six times.
8. Switch hands. Repeat exactly what your did on the left palm on the right palm.
9.Take a moment to really feel your hands. Do you notice any difference in how they feel now, after being massaged?
Just minutes of self nurture like this a day can impact our parenting in a positive way. A more relaxed parent is a more resilient parent!
Parenting Reflections 