{"id":142090,"date":"2023-09-24T20:04:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T20:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/?p=142090"},"modified":"2023-09-24T20:04:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T20:04:47","slug":"is-it-really-possible-to-dissolve-stress-away-like-a-listers-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/lifestyle\/is-it-really-possible-to-dissolve-stress-away-like-a-listers-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it really possible to 'dissolve' stress away like A-listers claim?"},"content":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m in the serene spa at the Hotel Cafe Royal in London, being poked and prodded by a softly spoken Australian.<\/p>\n
\u2018Imagine a piece of chocolate cake,\u2019 he says, in an attempt to get me to \u2018soften my eyes\u2019 enough to reach full relaxation and focus only on the space below his fingertips.<\/p>\n
Andy Mack, 47, is the smooth-talking creator of dissolve therapy, the new \u2018it\u2019 treatment being lapped up by the A-list and certain members of the Royal Family \u2014 although, annoyingly, he\u2019s signed a non-disclosure agreement so can\u2019t say who.<\/p>\n
Described by Andy as \u2018contraction release therapy\u2019, it is a combination of meditation, ancient visualisation practice and so called \u2018internal massage\u2019 \u2014 alongside breathing and touch therapy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You lie on the floor with your head supported by a cushion and the practitioner kneels beside you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lucy Holden tried dissolve therapy with its creator Andy Mack at London’s\u00a0Hotel Cafe Royal. Andy locates the tension within Lucy by pressing into her body to reach the internal organs and then works to release it<\/p>\n
They locate the tension within you by pressing into your body to reach the internal organs \u2014 surprisingly painless \u2014 and then work to release it.<\/p>\n
While traditional massage concentrates largely on the muscles of the back and shoulders or legs, dissolve therapy \u2014 which takes its basic philosophy from Eastern teachings \u2014 does the same for the fascia (the band of thin, fibrous connective tissue that wraps around and supports every structure in your body), which tightens around the organs in times of stress.<\/p>\n
The chief aim is to create \u2018space\u2019 within the body by untangling old tension we might not realise we\u2019ve been carrying around for years.<\/p>\n
Yes, you read that correctly. That bad day at work five years ago? The break-up you thought you were over? Fans of dissolve therapy believe you could still be holding it in your body.<\/p>\n
\u2018One woman came to me with such solid tension beneath her chin she thought it was bone,\u2019 Andy tells me. \u2018She said it changed her life to have that tension removed.\u2019<\/p>\n
Most people carry tension around with them without even realising, Andy says, because all parts of the body contract in times of stress.<\/p>\n
\u2018We learn to think that it\u2019s just part of us \u2014 that knot in our abdomen, or wherever it is.<\/p>\n
\u2018A dissolve treatment is designed to find that point of tension via a meditative look inside the body and relieve it.\u2019<\/p>\n
What I want to know is: will it dissolve my flatmate-from-hell stress?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m in a nightmare living situation in a rental flat with a flatmate who hides the loo-roll and shouts at me for \u2018not plumping the sofa cushion correctly\u2019.<\/p>\n
Plagued with anxiety as a result, I\u2019m not sleeping properly and, in a bid to avoid the communal kitchen, not eating as healthily as normal.<\/p>\n
So while I\u2019ve yet to be persuaded of the benefits of chakras and crystals, I\u2019m happy to try almost anything.<\/p>\n
Andy starts on my abdomen and presses his fingers into my stomach, trying to locate tension within the space between my organs. Apparently, there\u2019s quite a lot because he can feel hard areas within me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Described by Andy as \u2018contraction release therapy\u2019, dissolve therapy is a combination of meditation, ancient visualisation practice and so called \u2018internal massage\u2019 \u2014 alongside breathing and touch therapy<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a strange gurgling sound when he finds a tense area \u2014 it feels almost like an unclicking, or sliding of something inside. He works his way up the sternum to below my collarbone.<\/p>\n
At each pressure point, I am instructed to focus only on the space below his fingers, which creates \u2018small waves of release\u2019 through the area of stress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sense that someone else can feel the physical manifestations of stress and sweep them away is extremely comforting.<\/p>\n
As someone who often finds the spiritual end of wellness rather nauseating, Andy\u2019s charisma and his lack of hippy-dippy sentiment are persuasive.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s just a normal guy, he says \u2014 a former bassist in a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll band that toured America.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He used to live on the Gold Coast, Australia, and his first taste of this sort of thing was as a teen when his mother took him to a spiritual workshop, which he says sparked something in him.<\/p>\n
\u2018All through my 20s, I was literally walking on fire and doing other mad things trying to reach a state of higher meditation,\u2019 he tells me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I saw a flier in a restaurant asking if I wanted \u201csupreme energetic health\u201d, and I thought: \u201cyeah I do!\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n
Adam Mitzer, the teacher of the class he attended, became something of a guru to Andy, training him in the art of what would become the dissolve therapy Andy has taken mainstream.<\/p>\n
At the end of the session, I can understand why it\u2019s called dissolve therapy. It might not have made my nightmare flatmate vanish, but there\u2019s something undeniably effective about any therapy that involves touch and positive affirmation.<\/p>\n
Whether it will have the same effect when I try it on myself remains to be seen, but if a bit of gentle prodding can help de-stress me, I\u2019ll give it a go.<\/p>\n
HOW TO DISSOLVE YOUR STRESS AT HOME<\/span><\/p>\n 1.<\/span>\u00a0When you wake up, place your hands on your stomach and try to move your hands with your breath. Make your breath soft and smile as you relax. Do this for two minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019re so stuck in our chest, this exercise will instil a sense of calm within the mind and body, ready to start your day.<\/p>\n 2.<\/span>\u00a0Open the body. It\u2019s doesn\u2019t matter what you stretch \u2014 just make sure you do it properly. The key so many of us are missing is, the \u2018how\u2019. How are you doing this? Are you holding your breath, breathing heavily, gritting your teeth?\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, soften your eyes, relax your breathing and move into the stretch willingly. Once you harness this and learn to recognise and release tension, everything will become better.<\/p>\n 3.<\/span>\u00a0Go for a walk. Not a walk where you call your friends and gossip. This time, feel your feet. Consciously think about how your heel, arch and toe feel as you place them on the floor. Soften your gaze and drop your shoulders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Try to find affection for your feet \u2014 sounds silly but give it a go.<\/p>\n\n