After 23 years of massaging people I have seen a lot of sleepy, relaxed, ache and pain free people. Recent years have brought better research that helps us reduce fear about posture, pain, so that we feel more confident in our bodies and more resilient.
Things massage does for your mind and body:
- Feels nice. It feels nice to look after yourself. It feels nice to be looked after. It feels nice to be listened to, feel heard and feel respected.
- Allows you to rest. With us a whole hour is devoted to your rest. You could be surprised about how good you feel when you give yourself that time to stop.
- Return your nervous system to the ‘Rest and Digest’ or parasympathetic system (instead of the ‘tired and wired’. You might notice your belly rumble which is a good sign! It means your nervous system has stopped producing adrenaline (which it does when we’re stressed) so you will notice your heart rate and breathing slows down because that is often caused by the increase in adrenaline we have when we feel stressed.
- Helps you sleep. As your nervous system is calmed well before bed time you might notice how easily you fall asleep and how well you sleep through.
- The cumulative effect of regular massage can help you set a routine/ritual that your body and mind are familiar with (a bit like a babies bedtime routine!)
Things massage doesn’t do:
- Increase circulation – otherwise you’d be out of breath on the couch! The only thing that increases circulation is your heart. And we’re not massaging your heart…
- ‘Release’ muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, anything soft tissue actually. You might release some emotions. That’s up to you, and coincidental to the massage.
- Release toxins. Nope. Not even when you drink a glass of water after. The only thing that releases toxins is your liver and kidneys. They deal with your toxins on their own schedule.
- Lengthen muscles. We stop growing around 21 – 25 yo. Your muscles and other soft tissues grow to accommodate your bone length and to allow effective movement at the same time. We can’t ‘push’ them into a longer length.
- Break down knots/adhesions. There’s no such thing as knots or adhesions and we’re definitely not breaking anything down in the body.
- Realign the pelvis. If you can be in a car accident at 30+ miles an hour, fall down some steps, fall over, etc and not suffer a misaligned pelvis then I’m sure a massage cannot mis or realign anything!
- Speed up recovery. Your own metabolism/body processes, the food you eat and the rest you get will dictate how fast you recover. It does feel nice whilst you recover though!
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