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.
Therapeutic massage is designed to help muscle and soft tissue release contractions and blockages to blood flow, oxygen rejuvenation and waste elimination.
Applied to sports injury, chronic illness, stress relief and the strains of daily life, therapeutic massage opens new channels for nutrient replacement while stretching muscles and re-aligning the body.
How do blockages occur? Muscle fibers bind together as they are called on to create strength and balance. Often the result is a constriction or "knot" which does not release when the effort ceases. Increasingly, the "knot" binds new fibers and restricts blood flow to the affected fibers and area creating a cramp to the muscle. These restrictions can be reduced or eliminated through ischemic pressure on the muscle or smoothing and lengthening of the fibers.
Whether caused by high activity levels such as athletics, posture issues associated with sitting or driving, and simple tensions of anxiety, the body tightens up and needs relief. A massage therapist is trained to see the anatomical issues and address them with soft tissue manipulation freeing tissue and energy.
