Tag - relaxation massage

Improve Your Wellbeing: How Massage Affects The Endocrine System

Your body is a brilliant, finely tuned mechanism that comes highly equipped to respond to whatever your life activities and experiences can throw at it. For example, if there is a signal of danger from the brain, the adrenals will secrete cortisol into the body to activate the fight or flight response so you can stay safe. Or if you need fuel, the body knows how to call up certain hormones to convert the calories you ingest into energy [...]

Got Anxiety? Depressed? The Mind-Body Connection and How Massage Therapy Can Help

  The Cartesian concepts of duality don’t work anymore. The mind-body connection is irrefutable ~ Dr. Kelly Brogan When you feel sadness, your body reacts with tears. When you feel shame, your face flushes with embarrassment. The reverse is also true. How your physical behavior affects your mood. What you eat, your levels of exercise, how much sleep you get and even how you sit changes your mood and attitude. (Consider how being asked to ‘sit up straight’ is about improving [...]

Rules of the Road After A Massage – Keeping that Healing Feeling

You just had a wonderful massage and are feeling relaxed, clear-headed and energized in a good way!  So how do you stretch out the benefits of the massage you just had. Massage is known to have that effect – it Improves circulation, reduces high blood pressure, releases toxins, improves joint flexibility, helps calm aches and pains and can give you a boost of pure bliss and energy. So, now what?  Is this just a fleeting ‘feel good’ moment or can you [...]

Why Healthy Workouts Include Massage

Whether you are an athlete in training for an event, you are dedicated to a daily fitness regimen, or you are just starting to embrace the health benefits of regular exercise, the after-effects of a strenuous workout can be painful and sometimes debilitating. Who hasn’t hobbled through the day after a particularly challenging physical routine at the gym or after a long run outdoors? What happens to your body when you exercise?  Overall, when you exercise intensely, the muscles, tendons, and [...]

Is Chronic Pain Taking Away Your Enjoyment in Life? Try Deep Tissue Massage

  Have you been putting up with chronic muscular pain? Are you simply adapting to what hurts in your body rather than doing something about it? As you move through life, your body finds ways to deal with physical dysfunction. Sitting at a desk for extended periods of time? You may begin to experience swelling or discomfort in your legs or aching in your shoulders.  Typing at a computer all day?  Maybe your neck is stiff or your wrists and hands [...]

Health and Vitality through Massage

Invest in your health today or your sickness tomorrow ~ unknown   It used to be that massage was perceived as a pampered indulgence – something you did when you were on vacation or a treat you allowed yourself occasionally.  But today, massage therapy has evolved. Its popularity has revealed just how vital regular visits to a massage therapist are for your physical well-being as well as your mental and emotional resilience.   How Important is Relaxation? One of the prime benefits of [...]

How Therapeutic Massage Can Help Sciatica

The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body. It runs from the lumbar spine at the lower back, moves through the buttocks and branches out to extend down both legs to the feet.  It is responsible for sensations experienced in the lower back, hips, legs, outside of the knee, upper foot as well as the heels and soles of the feet.  When the sciatic nerve is inflamed or becomes irritated (sciatica), it can cause throbbing, burning pain, [...]

Iliotibial Band Syndrome and the Role of Massage In Healing It

Iliotibial band syndrome is the name given to an injury that causes pain and tenderness along the outside of the thigh and knee or just above the knee joint. If you engage in activities such as running, cycling, hiking or long distance walking that involve repeated flexion and extension of the knee, you could be at risk. What exactly is the Iliotibial (IT) Band? Your IT band is a thick band of connective tissues that sources from the fascia in the [...]

MyoFascial Release with Massage – Why It’s Important

  Fascia is our biggest sensory organ, our organ of awareness– our internal ocean. ~ Tom Myers   What is Fascia? Fascia is the system of slippery, white-colored connective tissue that exists throughout the body and surrounds every muscle, organ, and nerve. Its purpose is to provide protection to the inner physical body from external trauma. It is also a structural support for muscles and bones to help them function through a wide range of motion including sitting, running, jumping and changing positions (from [...]

Chronic Constipation – Can Massage Provide Relief?

Abdominal massage has been referred to as the “key to unlocking stubborn pain”, and many unrecognizable restrictions that cause and help constipation are often held in this area. ~  massage-education.com Whether it is abdomen distension, tenderness and achiness or simply a feeling of discomfort, the effects of constipation can intrude on your ability to fully participate in activities. It is one of the most common medical issues and it can be supported with massage. The medical profession defines constipation as having [...]