Massage can be an effective way to soothe the body and mind, helping reduce stress levels and improving sleep quality.
Improving your mood and energy are additional advantages of practicing yoga.
Though scientific evidence for its benefits remains mixed, many people enjoy experiencing them first-hand. Here are a few that you may want to try:
Boosts Your Mood
Under stress, your body produces adrenaline and norepinephrine to prepare you for possible threats, yet can make you anxious or irritable when not necessary.
Massage has the ability to lower cortisol levels – the body’s stress hormone – while raising serotonin and dopamine, two essential brain chemicals for mood regulation and restful sleep.
Many people find massage to be the ideal remedy for a bad night of restful slumber or jet lag, with its movements and pressure helping boost circulation, sending more oxygen directly into their brain and body and leaving them feeling awake and energetic again.
Massage increases endorphin levels – your body’s own natural painkillers – which studies have demonstrated can increase up to 30% through regular massage therapy sessions.
Boosts Your Circulation
Our circulatory system works tirelessly to bring oxygen and nutrients to our cells while clearing away waste products from our bodies. If our circulation fails us, this could result in many health issues including fatigue, dizziness and heart disease.
Massage helps increase circulation by moving blood through congested areas of your body. Massage techniques use pressure, squeezing and pulling movements to flush lactic acid out of muscle fibers while increasing oxygen-rich blood flow throughout your entire system.
Increased circulation leads to a healthier, active you! Furthermore, it improves lymph fluid circulation – essential for carrying metabolic waste away from muscles and internal organs.
Massaging lymph nodes located in your armpits, behind legs and groin can help support the natural processes of circulation in your body and stimulate Vitamin D production – an essential fatty-soluble vitamin your body produces itself through exposure to sunlight or through food and supplements that contain it.
Boosts Your Immune System
Your immune system is your body’s natural defense against infection, and to function optimally it requires proper balance. Massage therapy is an excellent natural way to strengthen it by increasing white blood cells (also called lymphocytes).
By receiving regular massages, your lymphatic circulation can be stimulated to combat infections and reduce inflammation in your body, as well as lower cortisol levels that often accompany stress-induced immune suppression.
Massage can boost your immunity in another way: by relieving pain. Studies have demonstrated the immune-suppressive nature of pain on the body, while chronic discomfort reduces its ability to produce antibodies necessary to ward off infections.
An Energizing Massage uses tapotement techniques and effleurage, both proven techniques for increasing circulation. After your session, you will feel revitalized and revitalised – ideal if you are struggling to wake up for work in the morning!
Boosts Your Energy
If winter fatigue has you feeling down, an invigorating massage could be just what the doctor ordered. Massage techniques use blood-pumping techniques to increase circulation in your veins, delivering oxygen directly into your brain and body.
After an especially long flight or lack of restful sleep, massage therapy can be particularly helpful to help restore energy and increase alertness. Therapists use percussive tapotements and deep kneading (known as petrissage) to stimulate your nervous system and make you more awake.
Exercise also increases circulation, increasing the number of oxygenated cells in your body and keeping you energized for a fuller day – an effective way to combat winter blues!
Evidence indicates that it can also help lower cortisol levels, which can contribute to fatigue and irritability, while increasing serotonin production for more restful sleeping patterns.