The Value of Investing in YOU
By: Rebecca Gleason
Why Get Monthly Massage?
We’ve all been there: we feel good, other than some minor tension or stress, so we think “I don’t need a massage, why waste the money if I feel ok?”. First and foremost, you are never wasting money on your health and wellness; you are keeping a well-oiled machine working so that it will last a lifetime. Think for a moment about your car, you take it for its regular check-ups, oil changes, and general maintenance so that it lasts you as long as possible. On another note, when you don’t take these precautions you often end up doing major work that can sometimes cost a small fortune. Now think of your body in that same way; doing small maintenance to prevent major issues is, in the long run, worth every penny! It never ceases to amaze me, when a client with no physical ailments gets off my massage table and says, “I had no idea I was holding so much tension!”. To be honest, most people don’t. Our physical body tolerates much more than our brain can process and it’s not until we start to breakdown those walls that we begin to see major changes in our physical and emotional state.
If you have ever suffered or are currently suffering from chronic pain, you understand how debilitating it can be, both physically and emotionally. It often feels like there is no solution; medications barely break the surface, and can be a cumbersome way to find relief. Massage therapy can help you make great strides in managing your pain. Frequent massage enhances the sensitivity of the nervous system and improves its processing capacity; meaning, through regular structured touch you become more aware of your body’s movement and hypersensitive to tightness, pain and stress long before it becomes critical or debilitating. Regular consistent massage has a cumulative effect on the body and mind; basically the more you do it the better you will feel and the less likely you will be to fall into the danger zone of chronic pain.
When we look at chronic pain from a stress perspective, we first have to breakdown how our physical body responds to stress. Let’s say you had a bad day, your boss reprimanded you in front of your co-workers or you got into an argument with your spouse; your body’s reaction might be to become tense in the neck and shoulders, maybe you hold your stress in your hips and lower back, or maybe stress effects your blood pressure, but we will discuss that later. You eventually resolve your differences, but your body doesn’t process this, so it continues to hold tension. As you carry around this unnecessary tension, other stressors build off it, eventually bringing you to the point of pain. If you don’t resolve the pain issue your body starts to compensate causing other areas, that aren’t normally effected, to become tense or stressed; here is where injury and chronic pain surface. Regular massage helps you to breakdown this unnecessary tension thus preventing the later from ever coming to fruition. While chronic pain is a horrible fate for many, other disorders caused by stress may become life-threatening when left untreated.
Everyday stress can lead to a multitude of problems that may not surface for years but can become hindering once they do. Hypertension is a common ailment you may encounter if you are over stressed; according to the CDC 67 million Americans suffer from hypertension each year, which equates to 31% or 1 out of 3 adults. Hypertension greatly increases your risk of heart disease and stroke which are 2 of the leading causes of death in the United States. Regular massage has long been known for its ability to reduce high blood pressure; therefore reducing your risk for greater illness down the road. A clinical study found regular massage significantly reduced systolic blood pressure; when combined with antihypertensive medication massage can help to reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure more so than medication alone.
Massage is progressive, the more often you do it the deeper the healing process can be; you can eliminate years of tension by receiving a monthly massage. It won’t happen overnight or in one session but if you’re consistent you may find yourself feeling better than you have in years. Believe me a massage once a year is better than none at all; but if you’re looking to make long lasting or permanent change in your overall health massage, at least once a month, is the way to go.
**Supporting information gathered from the following sources**
http://www.bodysensemagazinedigital.com/i/434714