Feeling Stressed? Massage Your Ear!

Stress is a part of everyday life. It is a good emotion to have… sometimes. It propels us forward to reach goals and ambitions, as well as take on new challenges.

There are times when stress can quickly turn from a driving force to a drain on energy. OnSite Plus, as a company offering office-based massages to corporate customers, understand the adverse effect that stress has on productivity, as well as the human soul.

Not many people realise, however, that when stress strikes – the sweaty palms, the anxiety, the stomach churning – that the ear may hold the solution to dissipating stress.

The ear as a microsystem

Energy flows through the body through a variety of channels but, not many consider the ear lobe as being part of this system. After all, we tend to associate the ear with hearing, and only that sense.

The lobe, in its scoping nature, captures the sounds and noises all around us, with microscopic hairs vibrating to help us identify not only what the sound is, but where it is coming from. Very few of us automatically reach for our ear lobe when we feel uncomfortable, anxious or stressed.

But we should.

The earlobe has been known to offer access to a micro system within the body, a fact known for many years by acupuncturists. Take a look at your earlobe in a whole new light when you realise that it is in fact, in the shape of an inverted foetus. As a result, many therapists believe that be applying gentle pressure at certain points of the earlobe, pressure and stress can be released from the corresponding part of the body.

And this is not a new approach but one steeped in history and culture, with the ear lobe being understood by ancient cultures as holding the key to healing the body.

Taking on modern-day stress

Modern life is busy, almost to the point we are not disconnected from it at any point of night or day. This leads to us being overloaded, both in a physical sense and in an emotional one too. But massaging your ear lobe could bring you a little light relief.

The Chinese have long used reflexology of the ear and acupuncture as a way of stimulating ‘happy hormones’ in the body, as a means of defence against stress and other negative forces.

The next you feel the tension rising, why not use one of the following ear lobe massaging techniques:

Cup and sooth the earlobe

The simplest of techniques is to cup your left ear with your left hand, the right ear lobe with the right hand and massage the outer edges of the ear lobe with the palm of your hand in soothing circular motions. Continue this in one direction for a minute, and then reverse the circular motion for another minute. A great exercise to disconnect from the madness of modern life for a few minutes.

Dissipate ‘over-thinking’

Stress can cause the bran to go in to over-drive, where we overthink everything from why someone we know did not wave at us, to thinking that there is something wrong in every aspect of our lives.

Massaging the edge of the ear is one way of calming this over-drive state of mind. With your thumb and index finger, start to massage the earlobe in small, circular motion. Don’t apply too much pressure and make sure that your circles are slow and deliberate.

When you have done this for a few minutes, advance your way to the middle of the ear and then around the top of the ear. Acupuncturists believe that the right ear stimulates one set of emotions linked with one half of the brain, and the left ear the other. By massaging both ears, the brain works in harmony with the various channels of energy within the body.

Deep relaxation

Like the rest of the body, to allow for complete relaxation the use of warm oils makes for a soothing massage with the earlobe being no different.

Gently warm some coconut oil and add a few drops to the index fingers and gently massage around the ear lobe. Again, use soothing and slow circular motions. By massaging near to the ear canal, you will feel your jaw and neck begin to uncoil and relax, the tension slipping away.

De-stress between one task and another

A common source of stress is when we move from one thing to another, and not allowing ourselves time to rejoice in a deadline being met or a task accomplished. Introduce this in to your working day by de-stressing between jobs with a quick, but amazingly effective ear massage.

Known as the Pomodoro method, linked to the time management technique. Take each earlobe between the thumb and index finger and very gently pull down; as you do so, breathe out. Repeat six times.

As you learn to truly relax and enjoy the technique, you will find that your eyes become fresher and your hearing clearer, simply because you have removed the ‘white noise’ that is stress.

Don’t let stress become negative and take over your life; look to your ears for the answers!

James Trotter of OnSite Plus vast experience in not only understanding how stress can impact on people, but how to dissipate the negativity of it and use stress as a positive emotion. Touch, pressure and massage are three things that can empower the physical and emotional energy channels of the body to withstand stress.