MASSAGE THERAPY: Is It Good For Stress?
Massage therapy involves manipulating the body's soft tissues, connective tissues, muscles, tendons, skin, and ligaments. Depending on your needs, your registered massage therapist can use varying ranges of pressure and movement to help you achieve the intended goal. For most people considering massage therapy, one of the most common concerns they struggle with is whether massage therapy is good for stress. Several clients opt for massage therapy to help with pain management, migraine control, injury management, and general wellness. Massage therapy can also help reduce stress, with studies showing that it can reduce stress hormone levels by 30 percent. It also helps increase your dopamine and serotonin hormone levels by 21 to 28 percent, respectively, implying that massage therapy helps ensure a good balance of your hormone levels to alleviate stress. But it doesn't end there. Stress relief from massage therapy also comes from the relaxing environment, attention to detail and making the processing of booking and receiving a massage effortless.
At Aligned One Wellness, our space is designed to encourage relaxation and promote calm within the body, mind and spirit. From the low lighting to the soothing and soft music playing in the background, these environments are carefully designed to help you disconnect from the outside world and the electronics you constantly use. This way, you find it easy to unwind fully and wholly focus on your present. Research shows that the enormous amount of text alerts and constant engagement on social media can harm an individual's emotional and mental health. Sadly, we don’t realize how harmful stress can be and the effects that it can have on our physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health until it’s already reached a problematic level.
According to Mayo Clinic, stress may lead to headaches, anxiety, depression, insomnia, restlessness, and irritability, among other problems. Incorporating monthly massage therapy treatments, coupled with a good self-care routine and adding other healthy practices into your day-to-day routines can get you on a path of balance and decreasing the harmful effects of constantly being stressed.
How Massage Works on your Muscles to Promote Relaxation and Reduce Stress
Other than helping create a balance for our hormones, massage therapy is also known to be effective in reducing muscle tension. This is relatable because stress causes your muscle tissue to tighten. This is your body's natural reaction to stress. Therefore, if you get stressed frequently, there is a risk of your muscles remaining tensed and causing chronic pain and discomfort. This is where the back pains and headaches come in. You may also experience joint pains and neck pains which may persist until you seek a solution to the problem. A registered massage therapist can help you manage such pains and relieve you of the stress by working on the affected muscle groups to loosen them. Ultimately, one of the aims in a massage therapy treatment here at Aligned One Wellness is to relax the affected muscle groups, reduce and eventually eliminate pain and to relieve you of stress and discomfort. Our registered massage therapist are intuitive, meaning they listen to your body and use their experience and knowledge to help release tension and any stress you are carrying.
What Should I Look for when Searching for a Registered Massage Therapist?
When searching for a registered massage therapist, look for someone who is knowledgeable, has great communication, and who listens to you and makes you feel like you’re in good hands from the moment you walk in. All of our therapists are registered, intuitive and have a genuine passion for healing others. If you are looking for a registered massage therapist on the Danforth consider booking an appointment with us. We have convenient online booking and same day appointments are usually available.
Good Communication Skills
A good massage therapist must be able to clearly and effectively communicate with you to create an environment that feels comfortable to you and makes you feel at ease. As a basic rule, your massage therapy appointment should start off with a consultation about what you need from the sessions and what you can expect. The therapist will also explain what will happen in the session, positioning, draping etc
Empathy
Empathy ensures that your massage therapist understands your feelings. A competent massage therapist should be able to create a connection with you to understand your troubles and put themselves in your place. You can know if your massage therapist is empathetic by observing how they handle your situation. They should be listening, respectful and at least show that they care.
Integrity
Your privacy is paramount, and your therapist needs to keep all the medical or personal information you share with them private. Again, you can figure out if your massage therapist is trustworthy by looking at how they handle your situation. Ideally, they should show humility and compassion. They should also not impose their will on you but allow you room to explain your needs. The bottom line, in this case, is that your massage therapist ought to respect your boundaries, thoughts, and decisions. Ideally, they may recommend something but not force it on you.
Massage therapy is good for stress and plethora of other conditions but the effectiveness of your session will to some extent, rely on your massage therapist's experience and skills as well as your self care at home. Incorporating massage therapy into your self care routine can add immense value to your life and we highly recommend it.