Body Massage
There are numerous benefits to massage therapy. Three of the most significant are reducing stress, relaxing tense muscles, and increasing body awareness.
First, and most important, massage therapy is an excellent method to counter the effects of stress. Our lives are filled with stress and it is literally killing us. We have stress at work - deadlines, performance goals, difficult relationships, competition with others and constant changes in the workplace. We have stress in our homes - financial difficulties, health challenges, conflicts with family and friends and pressure to do more than is possible. We create stress for ourselves by trying to balance all of these things and still have some time for ourselves.
Stress builds up and interferes with the quality of our health physically, mentally and emotionally. Too much stress saps our energy, our creativity and our emotional stability. It decreases our ability to make sound judgements and keeps us from performing at our best. Stress is a major contributor to many diseases such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and asthma. Stress decreases the function of our immune system and thereby increases our susceptibility to all sorts of infections.
We can minimize the stress in our lives and we can help relieve it once it has occurred. While there are many ways to relieve stress, I believe that massage therapy is one of the best. Massage triggers the ‘relaxation response’ (the opposite of the fight-or-flight response triggered by stress) thereby positively affecting us physically, mentally, and emotionally. A one hour relaxing massage helps wash away all the tension and pressure created by stress. It is rejuvenating and healing. It helps clear the mind and refocus mental and physical energy. Incorporating a regular massage as part of a health maintenance program, treats the ongoing damaging effects of stress. Modification of lifestyle is also important to minimize the accumulation of stress.
