How the power of touch can reinvigorate your life and health
Massage Therapy has been looked upon as a luxury by many people who have not used it as an adjunct to healthy living. Touch is our most vital sense. Just as babies need to be nurtured and touched, adults do as well. Just the simple act of placing your hand on someone’s arm, or giving a quick hug, releases endorphins. Massage Therapy can be utilized to help control pain (chronic and acute), increase the body’s ability to fight disease, lower blood pressure, and decrease inflammation. Soft tissue work can be done after surgery to speed up the healing process and regain range of motion, as well as decrease the need for pain medications.
Experts estimate that upwards of ninety percent of disease is stress-related. And perhaps nothing ages us faster, internally and externally, than high stress. Massage is an effective tool for managing this stress, which translates into:
- Decreased anxiety.
- Enhanced sleep quality.
- Greater energy.
- Improved concentration.
- Increased circulation.
- Reduced fatigue.
Massage can also help specifically address a number of health issues. Bodywork can:
- Alleviate low-back pain and improve range of motion.
- Assist with shorter, easier labor for expectant mothers and shorten maternity hospital stays.
- Ease medication dependence.
- Enhance immunity by stimulating lymph flow—the body’s natural defense system.
- Exercise and stretch weak, tight, or atrophied muscles.
- Help athletes of any level prepare for, and recover from, strenuous workouts.
- Improve the condition of the body’s largest organ—the skin.
- Increase joint flexibility.
- Lessen depression and anxiety.
- Promote tissue regeneration, reducing scar tissue and stretch marks.
- Pump oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs, improving circulation.
- Reduce postsurgery adhesions and swelling.
- Reduce spasms and cramping.
- Relax and soften injured, tired, and overused muscles.
- Release endorphins—amino acids that work as the body’s natural painkiller.
- Relieve migraine pain.
