“If you listen to your body when it whispers, you won’t have to hear it scream.” – Massage Therapist

Nowadays, most people have an awareness of what massage therapy is and that it has many benefits. However, there is still a lot of myth to dispel and a great deal of education to be done.

What reasons might draw someone to receive massage therapy, you might ask. Well, the answers are vast and new research is finding more reasons every day. There are so many benefits to discuss, we will only address a handful of them here, in Part I.

Muscle strain…

is a common occurrence from both overuse and underuse of muscle tissue. One of the main benefits of massage is improved circulation, which means that massage helps deliver oxygen and reparative cells to strained tissues. Better circulation leads to quicker, more substantial healing

Stress… 

manifests in the mind and the body. Depending on the school of thought, there are three to five types of stress that you endure in all parts of life. Even positive changes can cause stress. Guess what!? Massage lessens the effects of stress on the body by activating the “Rest and Digest” function of your nervous system. Massage helps regulate the nervous system, which is what controls the body’s reaction to stress.

Lack of sleep…

can dismantle most, if not all of the hard work you’re doing to lead a healthy lifestyle. It’s hard to fall asleep when you have a lot on your mind or your muscles are aching. Massage aids in regular sleep by remediating stressors on the body.

Anxeity…

seems almost engrained in Western culture, now. One lesser known way that massage helps decrease anxiety is that it releases the endorphins dopamine and serotonin. Endorphins also help alleviate depression and obsessiveness, an all-around benefit of massage therapy.

Sports training…

and increasing or changing your workout routine are also reasons to seek massage. Your muscles contain tons of (cutely named) Golgi (pronounced goal-gee) tendon organs that store your muscle memory and relay muscle activation information to the proper receptors when you move. Massage helps you reset your muscle memory, so that you can more easily reap the benefits of your routine.

Feel free to leave a comment and add to the discussion or request certain topics for future posts!

Stephanie Dent, BCTMB, LMT, Spa & Wellness Manager