Feeling Stressed? Massage Therapy Might Help

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    massage-therapy-stress-relief

    Whether it’s from a heavy work load at a new job, an upcoming exam, or from relationships in our day-to day lives - we’ve all experienced a form of stress. Despite this, what many people fail to recognize is that consistent and prolonged feelings of stress can lead to chronic health issues, such as heart disease. Studies have shown that sudden rushes of emotional stress can cause strokes or heart attacks, further leading to death. Anger is the most common form of acute stress, which many people are unaware they suffer from, until it takes a detrimental toll on their health. At this point, I’m sure that reading through all of this information has only added on to your stress levels and you’re probably a few seconds away from having another anxiety attack. However, that was not my intended purpose! Instead, I’d like to introduce a common coping mechanism for stress that has been statistically proven to be successful-massage therapy.

    What exactly is massage therapy?

    Mayo Clinic defines massage as being the method of rubbing and pressing a person’s muscles and ligaments with either minimal or firm pressure. There are several types of different massages, with the most common being the Swedish massage, which uses a variety of strokes, taps, vibrations, and circular motions to help the body relax.

    How does it help reduce stress?

    In tense situations, the body initiates a fight-or-flight response, further triggering an increase in heart-rate and anxiety. In contrast, massage therapy does the exact opposite. In fact, studies where people who have frequently received massages regularly over a fixed period of time show that their blood pressure, heart-rate, and overall frequency of emergency stress responses decrease significantly. It has been stated that this is because massage has the ability to activate certain pressure points within the body that are linked to the nerve that regulates blood pressure. Another reason why massage reduces stress is because it provides people with a sense of “alone time,” away from all triggers of anxiety and tension. During this time, it’s important to practice mindfulness – commonly known as the practice of being aware of the present – where you remove all thoughts associated with the past and future. Simply focus on your current surroundings to fully benefit from the experience. There’s no point in booking an appointment for a professional massage if you’re still going to think about all your problems, because mental relaxation is just as important as physical relaxation - they are both correlated to one another. Does massage therapy sound like a program you might be interested in pursuing a career in? If the answer is yes, ABM College offers a Massage Therapy Diploma. Aside from this, massage services are also offered to the public! Click the link below to find out more information.

    Massage Therapy CTA.
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