Massage Therapy to Relieve Stress
Everyone has times in their life when they have an increase in stress and need to focus on their personal wellness.
Taking time to balance life and stress is very beneficial to your overall well being. Life balance can come in many different forms: going for a walk, having a cup of tea or coffee with a friend, hitting the gym for a quick workout, or taking the time to get a massage.
Research has shown Massage Therapy to have proven physiological and psychological benefits on the body.
The main physiological effect on the body is to increase blood circulation to tired overused and overstretched muscles.
During times of stress a person's posture can slip into a slumped position, exasperating over taxed muscles and increasing physical pain and discomfort. Massage can help relieve and reduce the impact of this, as well as draw your attention to it.
By releasing tension in the muscles, the body activates sensory receptors that affect the parasympathetic nervous systems (rest and digest mode). This leads to a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure, as well as a release of endorphins like serotonin and dopamine (which are the bodies feel good chemicals) which can lead to better quality sleep and feeling good. This can also lead to being able to better focus on tasks at hand and increasing work productivity.
Physiological effects go hand-in-hand with the psychological benefits. If pain and discomfort are reduced, then a person's mood lifts and they will be less distracted and better able to focus on tasks at hand.
Whatever your modality of self-care is during times of stress, you can never do wrong with taking an hour for yourself, to recharge your body and rest your mind, so you can clearly focus on the tasks at hand.
We hope massage therapy is an option you will consider to help you relieve stress.
RMT appointments are available at: Western Campus Recreation or by phone at (519) 661-3090
