How Massage can help to ease the ‘Winter Blues’

 

body massage

The Benefits:

The benefits of massage are rewarding for both your body and mind. Massage improves health by acting directly on our bodies muscular, nervous, circulatory and immune systems. Massage can improve physical and mental performance, aid recovery, prevent and eliminate injuries, soothe the mind and even enhance metabolism and circulation!

Massage also reduces overall stress – In our fast-paced society it is easy to get overwhelmed with the multiple roles each person plays and just about everyone who you talk to nowadays will complain about being “stressed out.”  Busy lifestyles can lead to unhealthy amounts of stress and anxiety, altering our moods, our outlook and often our productivity. By lowering the unhealthy stress, we function better in our busy lifestyles and improve on our physical and mental well-being. Massage therapy is an effective and enjoyable way to reduce stress. It can also help with insomnia and depression.

Massage is not a cure for any serious illness but it can be extremely beneficial in providing welcome relief from the symptoms of many ailments.

But you don’t need to have an ailment or be in discomfort or pain to benefit from a massage. Many people go for a regular massage because they find it helps them feel better, mentally and physically. They feel more relaxed, with more energy and are better able to manage the issues that life throws at them.

 

How do I decide which is the best type of massage for me?

Different types of massage and their benefits:

  • Back massage: Excellent for reducing everyday stress and tension in the back, neck and shoulders.
  • Full Body Massage: eases tense and knotted muscles and stiff joints, improving mobility and flexibility throughout the body. Increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients (to cells and tissues), improving and relieving congestion throughout the body
  • Aromatherapy Massage: Massage therapy with the use of pure essential oils. An essential oil is a liquid that is generally distilled from the leaves, stems, flowers, bark, roots, or other elements of a plant. Each essential oil has different healing properties. For example, some calm while others energise.
  • Heat massage: Massage combined with heat (such as infra red or herbal heat compresses) to relax muscles and allow for a deeper massage.
  • Indian Head Massage: Practised for thousands of years. It is a very relaxing massage of the head, scalp, face, shoulders and upper back. Excellent for neck and shoulder tension, headache, migraine and hay-fever sufferers.
  • Reflexology: A relaxing pressure point foot massage that has been practiced throughout ancient history to revitalise energy, encourage the body’s natural healing processes and cleanse the body of toxins.
  • Hot Stone Massage: Heat from basalt stones relaxe the muscles and can allow the therapist to apply greater pressure if necessary.  The wamth from the stones assists with relaxation and can calm the nervous system.
  • Lava Shell Massage:  A similar treatment to hot stone massage, performed with heated tiger shells.

A selection of our lovely massage treatments can be found by clicking here!

Thank you for reading and we hope to see you soon!

 

Reference: Kathryn Danzey, Wendy O’Hare