Massage the Tics and Twitches!

Key Takeaways:

• Tics knot muscle tissue; massage slowly untwinds decades of accumulated tension 
• Self-massage is embodiment; tending rejected areas fosters integration
• Loving touch transforms cries for attention into healing invitations 

As someone who struggled with constant full-body motor tics for over 20 years, I know firsthand how much pent-up trauma gets locked in the muscles and fascia where the spasms occur thousands of times daily. The areas around my tics have been knotted up for so long, they feel like concrete.

I’ve found regularly massaging and pressing into these tense spots helps break up that accumulated tension in a way nothing else can. It’s painful yet profoundly healing - like wringing toxicity out of my own body.

I recently had a massage where the therapist skillfully found each knotted muscle group associated with my various tics. Using fingers and elbows, he patiently worked out the layers of tightness with the perfect amount of pressure. I visualized the trauma dissolving.

Now when I feel urged to tic, I take a few minutes to slowly massage the area myself. Tuning into sensations mindfully, I breathe into tight areas. With compassion, I coax my own body into softening and releasing.

While professional massage offers tremendous relief, self-massage promotes everyday embodiment. By gently tending to areas I typically reject, I reintegrate split-off parts of myself. This alone time is nourishing medicine.

Have my tics permanently vanished through massage alone? No - but regularly “unknotting” myself in this way has brought much more ease and awareness. My tics now feel like cries for loving attention rather than something to fight against.

Simple touch, given often with presence, can work wonders. My hands help unwind what my habitual movements have wound up for decades. Healing happens in the sanctuary of awareness I create through mindful massage. The rock-hard places inside start melting, one loving stroke at a time.