Have you ever wondered just how and why massage has the effect that it has on the muscles?
Muscles feel better when a massage partner squeezes out some lactic acid and metabolic waste, manually stretching out the muscle tissue by kneading it like dough… but that is not what this article is about. This article is about another effect of massage on the muscles: the transfer of electricity.
Robert Becker, a professor of Medicine from New England, and Gary Selden, and excellent writer, created a book called The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life, and this book explains a subject within the realm of biology that has long been neglected by western science. Bioelectricity is a factor that plays an enormous role in determining one’s state of mind, healing injuries, and the process of aging. Apparently, western science has rarely given much consideration to the notion of bioelectricity, and this book by Becker and Seldon tells an incredible story of perseverance and controversy that took place as they tried to solve the associated mysteries.
With this notion in mind, consider the seemingly miraculous effects that acupuncture has been shown to have for anesthesia and treatment of illness. Suddenly, the reason western science had difficulty understanding acupuncture becomes obvious; it is because the function of acupuncture is to manipulate bioelectricity, that area of biology that the west has largely overlooked. Imagine that!
With bioelectricity in mind, it is easy to understand why muscles relax when someone massages them. The first law of thermodynamics teaches us that energy cannot be increased or decreased, but that it can change forms. That means you are adding energy to the body when you apply, for example, heat – a form of energy. Likewise, when you massage someone, you are applying energy; energy follows the attention, so when your attention is on someone else, the energy you are emitting is being transferred to them!
But what has this got to do with the question of why muscles relax when someone massages them? Muscle tension is a way of conserving energy. For example, when it is cold outside you might tense your muscles to conserve your energy. When you go inside and sit by the fire, receiving its energy, the muscles can relax. If you add energy by laying on a hand or two, you make it unnecessary for the muscles to stay tense. From this discussion, you can see that massage eliminates the need for muscle tension by adding energy.
For more information about working with bioelectricity, you can visit "Chi Kung to Stay Young"
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