How does Massage Help With Stress?

How does Massage Help With Stress? Massage is a treatment that improves both physical and psychological well-being. It helps to relax the muscles, but more importantly, it may improve immunity, decrease stress levels, improve concentration, reduce pain and increase joint mobility.

Massage provides many of the same benefits of meditation; It slows down the breathing rate (decreased oxygen consumption), decreases blood pressure and heart rate (and therefore decreases stress hormones like cortisol) while increasing endorphin production which acts as the body’s natural pain killer. Read on – How does Massage Help With Stress?

Why Is Massage Beneficial?

One of the main reasons massage is so beneficial for people suffering from stress is because it stimulates nerves in areas of the skin where sensory receptors are abundant — on your cheeks palms of hands, soles of your feet, arms, and legs. Massage stimulates these areas to release beneficial mood-enhancing hormones like serotonin.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of well-being and relaxation. So massage may improve your psychological health by providing stress relief through mental stimulation.

Massage is generally used to relieve stress. It has been shown that it activates the parasympathetic nervous system which can help relax muscles, slow heart rate, and lower blood pressure. Although massage itself might be stressful at first it leads to a relaxation response in the body rather than an alarm reaction.

This has been shown with MRI scans of the brain, by measuring changes in alpha waves, which are present when the mind is calm and relaxed. A recent study also showed that 90 minutes after receiving a 30-minute sports massage people had significantly less cortisol (stress hormone) in their saliva samples than those who just rested for 90 minutes!

Stress can cause many problems with our bodies including exhaustion, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression and it is recommended that we try and reduce stress in our lives. Massage can be a great way to reduce stress, as well as work out any knots or tension that you might have built up.

How Often Should I Go For Massage?

You do not need to go for a massage every day, even once every week or two weeks will help your body stay healthy. However, if your job is highly stressful then perhaps consider going for daily massages so you are constantly relieving the effects of stress on your body!

Finding a therapist who will tailor their massage to meet your needs can be beneficial too – some people prefer lighter pressure whereas others may benefit from deeper tissue work.

It also helps with relaxation which is important because relaxation can help you sleep better and aid in creating and maintaining good relationships with friends and family. It helps you feel like you again and it’s an excuse to take time for yourself!

Release Endorphins

Massage can also help your body release endorphins which are the chemicals that make us feel happy. Endorphins block pain messages traveling through our nervous system, enhancing our sense of well-being and happiness! This is why we may associate massage with relaxation or feeling ‘happy’.

The more often we receive a message, the more endorphins we produce – so massages should become something we should incorporate into daily life if possible! There is still much research being conducted on the benefits of massage but it has shown itself to be effective in many ways. We just need to find the right therapist for us!

Massages have been used for medical purposes in many cultures and throughout history. Today, people receive massages primarily as part of relaxation, preventing or treating illnesses, enhancing health and wellness, pampering pleasure beyond a “full-body treatment”, and personal enjoyment.

Is Massage Painful?

Sometimes the pressure will be very gentle and less focused upon areas that are tense or painful. Other times the touch may become much harder during certain strokes to provide increased benefits from deep tissue work.

The therapist’s hands should not be still but move continuously – kneading muscles, stroking skin firmly yet gently, applying pressure with fingers and thumbs without pinching the skin (and causing it to turn white), “walking” on the muscles, rotating wrists over taut tissues, and making large circles with hands or elbows to provide more intense stimulation. If you are not comfortable ask your therapist to slow down.

The skin of the face is more delicate than that of other parts of the body. You may want to start by simply resting your head in the therapist’s lap or on a support such as a specially made face cradle or headrest. Most experts also recommend keeping eyes closed, which helps prevent tension that can build up during a massage session and creates an even more relaxed experience for some people.

Massages can be performed using just hands and fingers (friction strokes), use of palms (compression or percussion), elbows and knees, and feet reflexology (friction and compression).

What works

The best massage is a massage performed by someone who knows what they are doing. But what makes a good muscle (and deep tissue) massage? What does it take to help the person on the table get better?

What marks an effective and successful massage?

• Sustained pressure over the area, not momentary ‘pokes’ or rubs; ideally this means building up (over time) and pushing/pulling with some strength. Remember, fascia is very tough stuff and can handle lots of pressure before it releases.

This is why we do not usually use feather-light touches on muscle and why we ‘punch’ (repeatedly place pressure against the fascia using our knuckles or fingertips, not pats) instead of tap or rub

• The most effective massage is deep; you can go as light as needed when working more superficial structures but the best results come from going deep. It’s A LOT harder to get a good release of something like a pec if you’re gliding along with it and barely even touching the tissue underneath.

• Anchoring down while applying force; we need both parts – we find places to brace ourselves that also allow us to use some force/strength without fear of toppling over!

How does Massage Help With Stress? – Conclusion

Now that we’ve come to the end of the article – How does Massage Help With Stress? we hope you enjoyed reading and learned something new! If you require any massage services, feel free to contact us and we will be here to assist you! Remember to take it easy and enjoy every moment of the life you’re living now! And by doing that, you require to have the best health. So, stay happy!