Benefits of Massage

Reflexology is a unique and holistic way to support your good health and help you feel better. By nourishing your mental and physical vitality, reflexology can help you let go of tension and maintain your balance in meeting the demands and stresses of your daily life.

There are over 7000 nerve endings on the soles of our feet. This makes them quite sensitive and responsive to the sensory input of reflexology. Your body is reflected in your feet. Years of experience by reflexologists and recipients alike suggest that when pressure is applied to the feet, predictable positive changes occur in specific ares elsewhere in the body.

Reflexology has been shown to improve circulation. Circulation carries oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and carries waste away. Improved circulation can result in decreased muscle tension and soreness, and reduced swelling from injuries or illness. Immune function, skin tone, and the ability to concentrate also improve when circulation is increased.

Reflexology approaches the body as a whole with interrelated systems. This means, for example, that working the sinus points alone does not necessarily relieve a sinus headache. Your reflexologist stimulates all the reflex points, supporting overall well-being and enabling your body to concentrate healing energies wherever they are needed.

Reflexology is used as complementary care for people with a variety of conditions. For example, reflexology can help alleviate headaches, reduce arthritic and back pain, give support during addiction withdrawal, ease premenstrual discomforts, and reduce the symptoms of diabetes.

If you or a loved on are facing the many challenges of cancer, massage and other skilled touch technicians can be your ally. For patient and caregiver alike, taking the time for a soothing and nurturing massage can be truly worthwhile, even in a schedule crowded with appointments. Caring, professional touch can ease pain, relax mind and body, and restore your body’s own healing resources.

Many people find that when medication doesn’t completely ease their pain, massage helps. It can ease muscle tension, help eliminate irritating toxins and decrease achiness caused by forced inactivity. In addition, massage can reduce the discomforts of nausea, fatigue and insomnia.

Most of all, massage offers deep relaxation of body and mind that can bring profound relief. As you let go and focus on the comfort of nurturing touch, pain, and anxiety loosen their grip. Your physical and mental load can lift, often increasing your sense of energy and optimism. This welcome respite can extend into the hours and days beyond your sessions.

Massage can increase circulation and speed healing in tissues affected by surgery or radiation. Certain advanced techniques, applied with caution, can reduce swelling and restore pliability to scarred areas. In addition, due to its ability to decrease muscle tightness and increase range of motion, massage can help you feel more like stretching, exercising and enjoying recreational activities as soon as you recover.

Whether you are seeking stone massage for an overall luxurious treat or for reduction of pain and tension, you will not be disappointed. The properties of heat and cold combined with the comforting mineral element of stone massage can offer you the ultimate in centering, nurturing and healing. Indeed stone massage has been said to be “a sanctuary for body and soul.”

Stone massage is an exceptional type of bodywork that combines the time-proven healing therapies of hot and cold applications with therapeutic massage. Used in relaxing spa treatments as well as for chronic tension and pain, stone massage is increasingly in demand.

In this comforting and healing massage, stones of varying sizes and weights are settled into body contours in areas that tend to hold tension like the back, abdomen and face. Oiled stones are then used in flowing strokes to relax the whole body, creating a nurturing experience beyond compare. Imagine relaxing back on a sun-warmed pebble beach and totally letting go with the calming touch of massage.

Stones are often placed both under and on top of your body, usually on the back, in each hand, around the feet, and between the toes. When you lie face up, stones may be placed on your belly, chest and face, and set comfortably beneath the muscles of your back. A towel or sheet is normally placed between you and the stones, and temperature can be easily adjusted. With stationary stones in place, gliding strokes with oiled stones coax your muscles from head to toe to completely relax. As the upper layers of muscles warm up, your therapist can work deeper into areas of soreness or chronic tension. Afterward, you may wish to rest and drink plenty of water to get the most out of this deeply nurturing experience.

Next to the common cold, back pain is the most frequent complaint heard by doctors. Research and experience show that massage is a safe and effective treatment that can help your back heal and prevent further injury. With massage, appropriate medical care and common sense self care, your pain can recede and your back can become stronger and more flexible.

Massage is well known for kneading away tension and relieving pain in muscles that are injured or in spasm. It also relieves discomfort in surrounding areas that may be tightening up or “guarding” in response to pain. Massage improves circulation, increasing the flow of oxygen and nutrients to your tissues This helps reduce swelling and accumulated toxins that can cause irritation. When swelling and irritation are reduced, injured muscles and ligaments can heal faster with less discomfort. Massage also promotes flexibility, increasing ease of movement and reducing the likelihood of future injury

People experiencing anxiety and depression can have significantly increased low back pain. Simply feeling stressed or emotionally overwrought seems to heighten sensitivity to pain. With massage, your focus turns to pleasurable sensations, allowing your mind as well as your body to deeply relax. As relaxation increases and your nervous system calms, mental stress decreases and pain can fade away. A return to moving more freely with less pain may improve your state of mind, which in itself can contribute to healing.

Massage is a wonderful way to relax, increase your energy, and relieve discomfort during your pregnancy. The caring touch of massage can help you experience your changing body in a positive, accepting way. Massage can also be something special for you at a time when so much of your attention is on the baby to come.

Change, even welcome change, is stressful. The tension caused by stress, along with the physical changes of pregnancy, can sap your energy for coping day-to-day. A soothing massage can relieve physical and emotional tension, help you sleep better, and boost your energy. Massage loosens tight muscles and calms the nervous system. It also increases circulation, bringing energy-producing nutrients to your cells and carrying away metabolic waste products that can make you feel listless.

Massage can help with many of the aches and pains you experience as your body changes during pregnancy. Massage can relieve pain in your muscles and joints that must support added and redistributed weight, increase flexibility which makes it easier for your body to adjust to a changing shape, reduce excess fluid retention by gently pushing fluid into circulation where it can be eliminated, and relieve headaches caused by tension, constipation, or buildup of metabolic waste products.

In postpartum period, nature sets about undoing in eight weeks what it took nine months to create. Though it may be difficult, it is as important to care for yourself now as during your pregnancy. Massage can help you handle the physical demands of caring for a newborn by reducing tension and increasing energy. If you are nursing, a relaxing massage can help since tension interferes with milk letdown. Psychologically, massage can nurture and comfort you whether or not you are experiencing postpartum “blues”

Therapeutic massage can be a vital part of your arthritis treatment plan. It can help you live more comfortably with improved joint mobility and less pain. Massage also gently promotes relaxation and relieves stress, which, in turn, can renew the mental and physical resources you need to enjoy a full life.

If you suffer from pain, swelling or stiffness of arthritis, you are not alone. Millions suffer from this disease, which literally means “joint inflammation”. Even though there is no known cure for arthritis, certain measures can slow down the process and help you live more comfortably. Therapeutic massage is one of these measures.

Therapeutic massage can help manage the discomforts of arthritis in a number of ways. It can reduce the devastating grip of arthritic pain by helping you refocus attention on the pleasant sensation of nurturing touch. It also directly addresses muscles and their connective tissue coverings, called fascia, that can painfully contract around arthritic joints. Massage gently coaxes you tissues to relax and lengthen, helping you enjoy greater comfort in the hours and days following your massage.

When tension is relieved, circulation improves. This cleanses tissues of irritating by-products from arthritic inflammation and improves nutrition to tissues. Swelling often lessens as excess fluid enters the circulatory system where it can be eliminated.

Massage relaxes muscles and increases the pliability of fascia, both of which can limit your movement. This helps increase both comfort and range of motion in your daily activities.

Finally, research indicates that moving and exercising appropriately can slow the degenerative process of arthritis, both in the joints themselves and in muscles which can atrophy with disuse. Because massage can reduce muscle pain and improve joint mobility, you may find it easier and less painful to stretch and exercise appropriately.

Massage therapy can be one of your most powerful allies in coping with chronic headaches. It works on many levels to reduce physical and mental stress, improve circulation, promote healing and increase energy. With the pain and frequency of your headaches reduced, you can enjoy a renewed sense of well-being and increased enjoyment of work, play and family life.

Massage to the neck and head can relieve headaches by releasing tight, shortened muscles, trigger points, and fascia (connective tissue surrounding muscles and other structures). When muscles and fascia relax and become more pliable, circulation improves. This helps eliminate irritating waste products and brings oxygen and healing nutrients to tissues.

If you headache is due to an injury, massage therapy can promote healing and make restrictive scar tissue more pliable in the muscles and ligaments of the neck. If posture is a factor, massage can help by increasing your awareness of tension patterns that affect your posture so that you can take steps to improve it.

For migraines, massage may be a powerful preventative measure. It can help reduce accumulated physical and mental stress and, over time, reduce the frequency and intensity of episodes.

The relaxing effects of massage are a powerful way to ease stress and tension, an aggravating factor in almost any type of headache. When you focus on the pleasant sensation of relaxation, the persistent grip of pain recedes. As the body relaxes, so does the mind, reducing anxiety that may be part of your headache pattern. The nervous system calms, your breath slows and deepens, and your feeling of well-being is restored.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that can affect every area of your life. Along with widespread pain, a number of other symptoms can limit your activities and challenge your ability to cope. Profoundly relaxing, massage can reduce pain, improve quality of life, and provide emotional support through caring touch.

In fibromyalgia, pain may be aggravated by lack of sleep, stress, long periods of sitting or standing, or other physical and emotional factors. Deeply relaxing and comforting, massage shifts your attention to the pleasant sensation of caring touch – an effective break from unrelenting pain.

What’s more, massage increases circulation, which cleanses tissues of uncomfortable fluid buildup and irritating by-products of inflammation. As increased oxygen and nutrition flow to contracted muscles, your muscles can relax. Headaches may be eased, and the severity and frequency of flare-ups may be reduced.

Stress can be a special problem for you, since research shows it heightens sensitivity to pain. Massage calms the nervous system, slowing and deepening the breath, allowing anxiety to fade, and relaxing muscle tension. Stress levels decrease, freeing energy for vital functions such as digestion – needed for maximum healing and nutrition throughout the body – and repair of damaged tissue.

Since poor sleep is common in fibromyalgia and contributes to fatigue and muscle tenderness, improving sleep may be vital. Feeling rested and relaxed after a massage, you, like many people, may experience a deeper and more restorative sleep.

Although fatigue and pain may make you feel like curling up and staying put, consistent exercise is essential to improvement. Massage can support you by making it easier and less painful to stretch and exercise appropriately.

Finally, fibromyalgia sufferers have habitually shallow breathing patterns that can aggravate pain and tension, especially in the neck, chest and shoulders. Your massage therapist can help release tight muscles that restrict your breathing and work with you to establish good habits. This retraining along with techniques such as abdominal breathing can be a powerful tool not only to relieve stress and pain, but to increase energy.

Massage can be a powerful and effective therapy for reducing your neck and shoulder pain. It can improve ease of movement, help your tissues repair, increase relaxation and support other types of treatment. For both immediate pain relief and preventative care, massage can help you more fully enjoy the activities of your work, play and family life.

Massage can be one of the most effective measures you might seek for relieving neck and shoulder pain. Massage kneads away tension and painful muscle spasms, gently encouraging relaxation and increasing circulation. Improved circulation can cleanse tissues of irritating waste products that contribute to pain. Oxygen and nutrients flow to tight or injured areas, helping to reduce discomfort and promote healing. Therapeutic massage can also powerfully support additional treatments for neck pain such as chiropractic, physical therapy or other medical care.

There are many different massage techniques. Some focus primarily on relaxing the muscles, while some help heal ligaments or release trigger points in the neck and shoulder area. Others relieve pain by working with fascia, the connective tissue that covers and connects the muscles. All these techniques work to decrease pain, promote flexibility and help lower the possibility of future injury.

Problems with joint alignment are a common component in pain and reduced mobility in the neck. Massage relieves muscle tension that can contribute to alignment problems. It can also stretch and lengthen shortened tissues, helping to restore mobility. Massage can increase the effectiveness of other treatments such as chiropractic adjustments, which often proceed more easily and hold longer when combined with a relaxing massage.