I love how great I feel after getting a really good massage. I feel like I can take such a nice long nap and it would be perfect way to end the day. However, if I get one in the morning, often times a nap is not going to happen for me. With so many reasons to love getting a massage, if I had to narrow it down to what I love most about a massage it's this, I feel so good afterwards.
We all have some sort of little things that we do to keep us healthy, well, at least some of us do. I run and stretch and meditate at least three days a week. It would be ideal for me to do it four times a week, but, I haven't quite gotten to that point yet. I also don't eat things that hurt my stomach thus, making the rest of my body feel so much better. I don't eat wheat. No because I have been diagnosed with anything, I just know that it hurts if I eat it, so I don't. I don't indulge in too much alcohol, but I do have a beer at night after running while stretching. I read so my mind stays active, I write to become a better writer. I paint because I love how I feel while I'm doing it. And I love to listen to music and just relax and watch the weather outside do its thing. All of these I do to keep my healthy. The most important thing I do, is get a regular massage. I know of nothing better to keep my body is it's best shape that I can, and it's great for what it does for my peace of mind.
Why is massage so important? How does that keep me healthy and feeling my best? There are lots of ways that massage helps. For starters, if you think about the dis-ease that we suffer from that are generally terminal, they are caused from one of three things; poor circulation, inflammation of the body, and stress.
Stress does so much to a body that it can boggle the mind what it's capable of. There are so many people in our lives who have no outlet and the stress is literally tearing their bodies apart. Pain of any kind, heart dis-ease, digestive problems, sleep problems, depression, weight problems, auto-immune dis-eases are all ways that our bodies react to stress overload. With so much going on in our lives on a daily basis, it would seem that no one is really needing to have these kind of issues with their health. But how do we deal with stress. There are so many way to deal with and yet, we have to be reminded of it. In fact, we as a society have gotten so lost, we have to pay someone to remind us to breathe and relax. Go back to the basics, to when you were little and the hardest decision in life was do I finger paint the driveway right now, or do I go play tag. What did we do to relieve our stress? We played, we went outside and had fun rolling down the hills on the grass. We laughed. Our mom would rub our backs when we weren't feeling good, or kiss our knees when we fell off our bikes. We loved life and didn't care about anything but having fun.
There's that idea of touch again. Fast forward to our lives now. For me, in my thirties, I wonder where do I go from here. I have so much stress that it tends to misuse my imagination a lot, but, with all of it, I make time to get the massage. It allows my mind and body to free itself from the tension that comes from being an adult. I am often asked how often should one get a massage and my response is always the same, if possible, once a week. Not everyone can swing that, so for those who can't, once a month is good too.
Inflammation of the body is one of those little things that creeps up on you and before you know what hits you, you have developed some sort of problem that you really don't have the time to deal with. If left alone, chronic inflammation can lead to serious issues including some kinds of cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis, periodontitis, and hay fever. Once again, our lives have way too much going on for us to have to go through the pain and heartache of these problems. A certain amount of inflammation is alright, especially when fighting off infections, but, in the case of excess inflammation, these are all possible outcomes. Again, a massage offers a relaxing alternative to a vast industry of pills and cures. (I'm not saying that everyone will be going off of their meds and before getting a massage, if you have these kinds of issues, you will need to consult with your doctor, and in some cases, have a doctor's note to receive the massage.) By manipulating the bodies soft tissue, you are moving the lymphatic fluid and helping it to drain to the proper locations thus relieving inflammation. This is why we are telling you to drink lots and lots of water to flush the lactic acid out of your body. Also, to take a nice hot bath before you go bed. Your skin is your largest organ and by sweating it out, you are doing exactly what your body needs to be doing. Again, flushing out the lactic acid, though this way is through perspiration.
We have all seen what poor circulation can do to a person. Makes them turn blue. With good circulation, think of a child's cheeks after playing outside, all flushed and out of breath. They are red as can be. That's the flow of blood to the skins surface. Some common problems with poor circulation include Peripheral Artery Disease, blood clots, varicose veins, diabetes, obesity, and Raynaud's dis-ease. PAD, blood clots, varicose veins would all require a doctor's note before receiving a massage.
With so much that can go wrong with a body, a massage seems like a drop in the bucket in taking care of yourself, but to know that it can help with all of these things, that it can take the knots out of our bodies, help us sleep better, focus more, and feel a bit happier, perhaps you should ask yourself this instead: Isn't my health worth that much each month to take care of my body and mind? Isn't my peace of mind and attitude worth that much to help chase the gremlins out of my head? Isn't my life worth that?
If your still not convinced, try it for a few months and see what it can do for you. You may just be surprised how much better your body feels afterwards. Give it a shot, after all, we need to take care of our bodies, it's the only place we have to live.
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