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How Massage Makes You Happier
Massage is not only an important part of our remedial therapy toolkit. Here's how massage can make you healthier and happier too.
Stress is basically your body’s response to a physical or emotional demand. We experiences changes in stress levels throughout the day as we respond to situations which provoke a fight or flight response. Everybody’s response to a situation is different and some of us reduce the stress levels faster than other’s but it’s completely natural. In fact, the body’s ability to react to stressful situations and deal with threats is critical to our survival.
However, when you’re under prolonged stress caused by ongoing situations such as work or family problems, financial problems, etc. your body maintains unhealthy levels of cortisol (aka “the stress hormone”) – a state which has harmful effects on many bodily systems. High cortisol levels over extended periods of time interfere with learning and memory, lower immune function and bone density, increased weight gain, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, increased risk of heart disease and so on. Chronic stress and elevated cortisol levels also increase risk for depression, mental illness, and lower life expectancy.
The things is once your body responds to a situation with an increased cortisol level, whether that be with negative stress (distress) or good stress (eustress), you need to reduce the cortisol level in your body or you will feel anxious. Even if it’s very short term your body needs to relax again. Ever notice how you couldn’t sleep properly after a great day or watching an exciting game on the TV? It doesn’t feel a lot better than laying in bed worrying about something really.
The following are a few very effective lifestyle changes that will help lower your stress and anxiety and maintain healthier cortisol levels:
1. Massage
Massage is not only an important part of our remedial therapy toolkit. Many healthy people seek out our massage services as part of their strategy to relieve stress too. The most notable, immediate benefits of receiving a regular massage are reduced anxiety and stress levels, and a noticably improved sleep.
Massage reduces stress by releasing endorphins that calm the peripheral nervous system. A therapist with expertise knowledge of your musculoskeletal system will also work to reduce general muscle tension and pain, and increase the blood circulation in your muscles, further reducing stress levels in your body. Using massage to reduce stress is natural and safe and is a proven discipline within the medical community with scientific evidence supporting its use for stress management. In fact there are many studies that have proven the effectiveness of massage in reducing stress in various situations.
2. Regular Exercise
Any aerobic activities, like walking, jogging, swimming, biking, stairmaster… are great ways to recreate the ‘flight’ outlet and burn-up cortisol. Just 20-30 minutes of activity most days of the week pays huge dividends by lowering cortisol every day and in the long-run. Fear increases cortisol. Regular physical activity will decrease fear by increasing your self-confidence, resilience, and fortitude — which in turn reduces cortisol.
If your schedule is too hectic to squeeze in a continuous session of aerobic activity, you can reap the same benefits by breaking daily activity into smaller doses. An easy way to guarantee regular activity is to build inadvertant activity into your daily routine. Try things such as riding a bike to work, walking to the store, taking the stairs instead of the escalator… I wrote about how these things can add up to increase your quality of life here.
3. Social Connectivity
Two studies recently published in the US journal “Science” demonstrated that social agression and isolation lead to increased levels of cortisol that trigger a cascade of potential mental health problems—especially in adolescence. These findings, reported in the January 2013 journal Science, could have wide-reaching implications in both the prevention and treatment of schizophrenia, severe depression and other mental illnesses.
Close knit human bonds — whether it be family, friendship or a romantic partner — are vital for your physical and mental health at any age. No romance in your life right now? I’m sorry to hear that. Try writing an email of praise or thanks to someone close to you and note the almost immediate difference in your mood.
This last point is something very close to my heart these days - if we were more focused on increasing the level of social connectivity we had we would not only be happier as a result, we would be healthier. And society would be healthier too. If people generally, but youth in particular, felt more connected and happier there would be much less pent up frustration and anger resulting in less cases of mental illness and less social problems.
But not surprisingly, all three of these strategies are inextricably linked to good health. Your mood and appetite for social interaction is largely determined by your physical well-being. If there’s something preventing you from leading a more active life right now then get some advice on how to sort those problems out.
There are plenty of studies that verify the claimed benefits massage has on reduced stress and anxiety, as well as improving flexibility and range of motion - leaving you moving and feeling much better. We’ve observed the evidence in another very clear way at Noosa Back Massage though: the huge majority of clients who have come to us as a private massage clients have become regular clients since. That can’t be just good luck :)
Smile, and have a great start to your week. Thanks for being you!
Åsa
Feel Better. Move Better. Live Better.
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