Along with easing stress – a major cause of disease – massage has a long list of benefits.As you lie on the table under crisp, fresh sheets; hushed music draws you into the moment. The smell of lavender fills the air while the massage oil is warming in your therapist’s hands. Once the session is under way, the daily stressors and the aching muscles fade into an oblivious 60 minutes of relief, and you don’t want it to end.Massage is about more than relieving the pressures of the day. What if that gentle, Swedish massage helped you recover from a strained hamstring in half the time? What if your sleep, digestion and mood all improved with massage and bodywork?Evidence shows that frequent massage enhances your health. Touching is a natural human reaction to pain and stress, as well as conveying compassion and support. When you bump your head or have a sore calf, the natural response is to rub it to feel better.The same was true of our earliest ancestors. For thousands of years, many cultures have used massage as a healing tool. Healers throughout time from all parts of the world have instinctually and independently developed a wide range of therapeutic techniques using touch. Many are still in use today, and with good reason.The fallout of stressExperts estimate that 80 to 90 percent of disease is stress-related. Massage is a perfect elixir for good health, but it can also provide an integration of body and mind. By producing a meditative state or heightened awareness of the present moment, massage can provide emotional and spiritual balance, bringing with it true relaxation and peace. The incredible benefits of massage are doubly powerful if taken in regular doses.Researchers from the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami found that recipients of massage can benefit even in small doses (15 minutes of chair massage or a half-hour table session). They also note that receiving bodywork two to three times a week is even more beneficial.The benefits of massageIn an age of technical and, at times, impersonal medicine, massage offers a drug-free, non-invasive and humanistic approach based on the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Following is a brief list of the many known, research-based benefits of massage and bodywork:
- Increases circulation, allowing the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs.
- Stimulates the flow of lymph, the body’s natural defense system, against toxic invaders. For example, in breast cancer patients, massage has been shown to increase the cells that fight cancer. Increased circulation of blood and lymph systems improves the condition of the body’s largest organ – the skin.
- Relaxes and softens injured and overused muscles
- Reduces spasms and cramping
- Increases joint flexibility
- Reduces recovery time and helps prepare the body for strenuous workouts, reducing subsequent muscle pain for athletes at any level
- Releases endorphins – the body’s natural painkiller – and is proving beneficial in patients with chronic illness, injury and post-op pain
- Reduces post-surgery adhesions and edema and can be used to reduce and realign scar tissue after healing has occurred
- Improves range-of-motion and decreases discomfort for patients with low back pain
- Relieves pain for migraine sufferers and decreases the need for medication
- Provides exercise and stretching for atrophied muscles and reduces shortening of the muscles for those with restricted range of motion
- Assists with shorter labor for expectant mothers, as well as reduces the need for medication, eases postpartum depression and anxiety and contributes to a shorter hospital stay.
