If you have ever had a really good massage, you know how relaxing it can be, and how good it can feel. Have you ever wondered about the additional health benefits a quality massage can bring? A massage is not only a pleasurable experience, but it also has real health benefits. A massage can help you stay healthy and physically active. For some people a massage is part of their regular wellness and exercise routine.
A Regular Massage Reduces Stress and Improves Health
When asked about the main cause of over-eating in their life, most people admit that they are stress eaters. Stress is also a contributor to immune system depletion, which can make it easier for illness to invade the body. A soothing massage’s main benefit is the reduction and release of stress. The entire massage experience with the comfortable table, the darkened room, and the soothing music is a stress reducer. Include, on top of that, the therapeutic manipulation of your body’s soft tissues by the skilled hands of a massage therapist, and you have a recipe for total stress relief.
Increase Your Body Awareness
Body awareness is a person’s ability to be aware of what is going on with their body and understand how it moves through and balances in space. Regular massages help increase a person’s body awareness. The majority of people go through their lives with little to no body awareness. They ignore (or give very little thought to) what they consume, how they treat their body, and any warning signs it may throw at them.
A massage forces a person to slow down and listen to their body. A massage makes a person more aware of the aches, pains, and signals that their body is sending them. This understanding and awareness of what is happening to your body and the signals it is sending you is a positive effect of regular massage. Body awareness through massage helps people take better care of themselves and improve their overall health.
Stay More Physically Active
Whether they do it or not, everyone knows that regular exercise is important to maintaining a healthy life. Most people, however, will come up with every excuse under the sun, such as sore muscles, low energy, or a general ill feeling, to get out of exercising. Massage can help people overcome the muscular pains and low energy levels to help them maintain regular physical activity.
There is real science behind the health benefits of massage. Blood flow to the joints and muscles is increased during massage. A massage also causes the body to release opioids, which are the body’s natural pain killers. With a decrease in pain and an increase in the repair and healing of muscles and joints, the body is able to more easily sustain physical activity.
No longer should a massage be seen as a decadent luxury for the rich and spoiled. Massage has real health benefits. Massage reduces stress (a pre-cursor to weakness and illness) and allows the body to relax and slow down, which increases overall body awareness. By assisting with healing, muscle repair, and pain management a regular massage will also help people stay more fit by allowing them to maintain a greater level of physical activity.
