21/01/2024
Five ways massage can improve your mental health
1. Massage Reduces Cortisol levels in the body.
Cortisol is produced in the adrenal gland and transported around the bodies blood flow, although its good to have some cortisol in our bodies to support our fight or flight response, too much cortisol in the body can result in feeling anxiety and depression symptoms and can also supress the immune system resulting in slow recovery and inflammation. Massage can significantly reduce levels of this hormone resulting in increased relaxation, improved mood, better sleeping patterns and energy levels.
2. Massage produces Serotonin and Endorphins.
So we’ve talked about the pesky Cortisol hormone, what about our happy hormones that make us feel utter bliss and contentment? When Cortisol is decreased Serotonin increases, boosting your ability to fight off pain, anxiety and feelings of sadness. Now everyone knows certain types of massage can be extremely relaxing but do you know how and why you feel like you are floating on a cloud during and after your treatment? The answer is this, the increased Serotonin and Endorphins released in the body allow one to feel happiness and relaxation, in turn reducing stress levels and regulating the nervous system. They don’t call them happy hormones for nothing!
Now how about Human Touch?
3. Human Touch literally reduces depression and anxiety.
Ever heard that saying “you look like you need a hug?”, well there’s scientific evidence proving hugs do actually make us happy and can reduce stress and depression symptoms. Did you know when you sit next to or hug a loved one our body releases Oxytocin, (our bonding and love hormone) blood pressure lowers and anxiety is decreased? If the body can do all of this with a hug imagine what a massage treatment can do? Human touch is crucial to our wellbeing, it has a huge impact on the mental and physical development on humans from infants to adults. Life without human touch causes all sorts of developmental, neurological and physical problems.
4. The key to happiness and calm is to learn how to regulate your nervous
system.
Our nervous system pretty much controls everything in our body, including our heart rate, blood pressure, digestion and breathing. There are two main parts in the Autonomic Nervous System, called the Sympathetic System and the Parasympathetic System. The Sympathetic system will be turned on when our body feels under threat and the Parasympathetic System will come into action when our body needs to calm down and heal. When both systems are balanced you will experience better physical and mental health. There are many ways we can regulate our nervous system, we can do this with breath work, moving the body, meditation and you guessed it…Massage!
5. Time to switch off the noise.
We can all benefit from a moment of calm, whether you work a busy job, are a full time mum, or are just over stimulated by too much time on your phone or simply need to recharge your batteries from being around people. Massage offers a private haven of relaxation and an opportunity to totally switch off from the everyday stresses life can bring. If you really think about it, when was the last time you had an hour of silence? An hour just for you? With no distractions, total peace and calm…I can guarantee its probably not as often as you would like. Without these moments of calm Cortisol will build in the body, the Sympathetic System will get switched on and we will start to experience feelings of dis ease and anxiety, not only will our mental health be affected tremendously but the body will show these feelings in physical form too. Massage is an investment into your long term mental health.
