This Post will help you comprehend why having a massage from time to time will help you more than you think.
1 To relax.
These days people don't know how to relax. Why? Because of all the noise around us, our cell phones going off with notifications, children who need looking after, That TV series we just have to finish, a dog that needs a walk, music from the neighbours that plays late into the night, that video game that is addictive, etc etc.
Relaxation is to let go of anything around you and let your unconscious mind to take control and let your thoughts to come and fade away. Your body should become more active in it's interior rather than exterior. Someone once described it to me as putting yourself into yourself. Think about it. Put yourself into yourself!
2 Increases blood circulation.
This will help overall in many aspects of your body’s functions. Think of your body like a water-cooling system, the water needs to run through a pump and after that again through the whole system. Similarly to this, blood will be more active on the venule return system because often massage strokes are done towards the hearth. This will help your heart to function with less effort.
3 Increases oxygen intake.
By movement towards the hearth and then back, will bring oxygenated blood into the tissues and because the massage movements, will help your body to work less and absorb more oxygen. Also if you breathe deeper than usual, your oxygen intake will increase, this is the “natural” way of breathing. We inherently breathe deeply when we are babies, but when we grow to teenagers and later become adults, we start to get stressed and this causes us to shorten our breaths and forget how to relax our diaphragms because we learn to live in a continuous stress. Here are some suggestions: Turn off the TV, or sit in a quiet place when you eat, this will help you digest instead growing your cortisol level.
The increased oxygen intake has benefits like, energizing your muscles, eliminate toxins from your body because when you breathe out, toxins will also be expelled along with CO2.
Remember, sometimes in the morning, you feel a smell in your room and that is the toxins you expelled all night through breathing out toxins and CO2 „Some scientists suggest that exhaled air contains as many as 3,500 compounds, most of which are in microscopic amounts „ , smoke, sulphur, etc. https://sciencing.com/chemical-composition-exhaled-air-human-lungs-11795.html
Research published by British Medical Journal
(https://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g7257) are saying that exhaling also expel fat. A type of fat that is released through oxidation are tryclicerides.
4 Your parasympathetic nervous system is stimulated, which helps your body get into rest mode and aids digestion. This means, your body will get into a scanning phase and allow you to accept and fight with your affections.
5 Increase your metabolism.
This is because your circulation is stimulated so your metabolism increases as a byproduct. Your cell's job is to grow, regenerate, replace, and thus will stimulate your entire body at the cellular level. Depending of what type of massage you get, sometimes you can feel tired because all the work your cells do during the massage and because a part of the cells were replaced and eliminated, you need new nutrients to replenish the body needs.
6 Stimulates the trophicity (replenish depleted nutrients) through bringing new blood with nutrients and oxygen to all massaged tissues.
7 Stimulates the lymphatic system.
This goes especially for people that stay prolonged periods in bed after surgery or any other reasons for staying in bed for longer periods (elderly, sick, postnatal). Movement stimulates the lymph system to move so a massage is recommended to have a lymphatic massage once or twice a week to keep your body in balance.
Massage helps your lymphatic system to expel toxins. This system has no pump like the heart, which pumps blood in and out of your organs and bones, The lymphatic system is like the sewage system of your body that needs to be stimulated through physical activity or massage.
Most massages that use light strokes towards the centre of the body will stimulate the lymphatic system.
8 You may feel happier after a massage because touch helps to reduce stress and increases the production of endorphins. These chemical messengers are associated with a good mood and the sense of euphoria. Endorphins are released in the brain by our pituitary gland and is structurally similarly with morphine because it increases the pain threshold. This means that any pain your body is feeling will be dulled down with the overwhelm of endorphins that floods your body during and after the massage.
9 Decrease anxiety because touch is perceived by the person receiving it with the intent that the practitioner is giving. This has an effect of healing and support. When there is trust in between practitioner and receiver, the effect is relaxation, stress relief, and anxiety relief. It’s your practitioner's job to establish rapport so allow some openness at a mental and body level. This will allow them to comprehend you, your stress level and your expectations. When the connection is mutual, there will be only benefits from both either sides. A win win situation.
10 Reduces pain in some parts of the body. Sometimes muscles become so used to the incorrect movement, that will cause trigger points to occur in them. Trigger points usually feel painful and until you talk to your muscles to send them a signal to relax, you will feel pain. Massage is a type of language that will send the signal to your brain to relax that muscle through a trigger point release technique.
11 Stimulate sleep and reduce insomnia: The increase level of endorphins, oxygen, and stress reduction, will induce a good mood that will guide you to fall asleep. Afterwards, just go with it and rest, nap, or sleep. Maybe you can remember a time as a child when you were wanting to sleep and someone dear to you stroked your forehead and scalp until you fell asleep. This is because your stress forgets about you for a while and you get into the present moment. 90 minutes of a relaxation massage with intent is needed to induce that sense of comfort, Mute your phone and give it a try.
12 Increase the elasticity of your skin.
Because of internal adhesions that form over time, we get hardened skin or low elasticity. The skin has to be looked after with touch and massage. Hyaluronic acid is the bodies natural internal humidifier. It is generated by touch and when the layers of the skin are moved in differing directions. As well as hydrating the skin, hyaluronic acid also plumps the skin and gives you a youthful glow.
Massage help After a surgery, a cut, an accident. For example, if you incur an injury in your hip or ankle, the immune system goes into defending mode and adhesions form to harden the place of injury to be ready for the next time when he gets a hit. This is normal. Those adhesions that form can be relaxed or broken down through movement, massage, and patience.
13 Increase Flexibility.
Because you might have a low flexibility, after one or more sessions of massage, you can check your flexibility and realize that is better after a massage because the pressure and relaxation of the muscles will push them to work in a normal range.
14 Overall, boost the immune system.
Because lymphocytes (immunoglobulins or white blood cells) present in the lymph nodes are released into the body and influence the immunity of the person who receives it.
15 Massage is one of the oldest therapies known by the people and if our ancestors were using it, it means is a natural way of keeping yourself healthy. Get your dad, or mum, son or daughter, friend or neighbour and tell him about this therapy, find a place to experience it, feel the benefits, and you will probably repeat the experience again. Remember, the aim of the practitioner is to help you feel better than before massage.
I hope you enjoyed this post and hope it will help you decide on reasons to get a massage.
Adrian R.D.
Massage therapist