Swedish Massage both calms the nervous system and relaxes muscular tension.
Many of us live demanding lives, both overscheduled and over-worked. Stress can manifest in the body with increased muscle tension and sometimes pain,in the mind with increased worry or anxiety. Swedish Massage helps to clear the body and mind of unwanted responses to stress.
Swedish Massage will elongate the muscles, open the joints and decrease swelling, all of which will ease movement and increase flexibility.
While postural imbalances have many sources, including overworked muscles due to repetitive movements, overcompensating muscles to ease stress on strained muscles, prolonged sitting, or injury, Swedish Massage helps to ease the muscular holding that underlies postural imbalance.
Massage dilates the blood vessels and widens the membrane pores in the body, improving your body’s ability to deliver fresh blood to muscles and organs.
Research shows increased serotonin and dopamine in massage recipients, improving their mood and feeling of emotional well-being.
Studies show that getting a massage increases serotonin levels in the body, so you can fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer,having a better quality sleep.
Many headaches or migraines are a result of stress and/or poor circulation. Swedish Massage relieves the stress associated with tension headaches and improves circulation.
Increased circulation also means more oxygen delivered through the body, resulting in a boost in energy.
By increasing circulation, Swedish Massage increases the blood supply and nutrients to the muscles,reducing recovery time after strenous excercise or injury.
Because Swedish Massage also encourages the flow of lymphatic fluid, it increases lymphocytes, immune cells that are produced in the lymph nodes,increasing your imune sytem response and imunity.
Swedish Massage, incorporating stretching and range of motion techniques, will open and relax the joints for increased range and more fluid motion.
Often tension in the upper back, neck and head can lead to migraines, headaches and back pain which can make for uncomfortable living on a day to day basis and sometimes even lead to depression.
A massage therapist will start the Indian Head Massage by applying pressure to points in the upper back, arms and shoulders that will release muscles and knots. They will then move to the neck and head to reduce headache-causing blockages and encourage better circulation of the cerebral fluid.
This is a lovely side effect of the Indian Head Massage (if you’re trying to grow your hair anyway…). The massage increases nourishment and oxygen to the scalp and hair follicle which in turns stimulates hair growth. It’s a one way ticket to long, luscious locks!
Indian Head Massage stimulates and improves lymphatic drainage and blood flow to the neck thus helping to remove waste products from the body.
These are often side-effects of stress and Indian Head Massage will immediately relieve stress and promote relaxation by attacking the physical symptoms, thus allowing for a deeper sense of wellbeing and relaxation and opening your body to better rest.
Massaging the head encourages the supply of oxygen to the brain which is one of the best ways of reducing anxiety and of lifting one’s mood. Oxygen helps you think clearly and creatively and a similar effect is experienced through exercise.
An Indian Head Massage works with the Ayurvedic concept which goes beyond the limits of healing and places emphasis on balance. Working on the chakras through Indian Massage has a powerful effect in bringing the energy of the body back into balance.
Often we have short-term memory difficulties because our brains are overloaded with disorganised thoughts, making it very difficult for us to efficiently ‘log’ and collect thoughts and occurrences.
Indian Head Massage slows us down, sensual awareness takes over, thoughts quieten and awareness is brought to the forefront. Think of it like someone pressing your ‘reset’ button.
Most of us feel depleted and burnt out from time to time. Whether you have a busy family life, a hectic career, underlying health issues or all three of these challenges, it’s likely that you sometimes wish you could take a magic pill and instantly create more energy. If this sounds familiar, talk to your reflexologist. Ask them what they can offer you to help replenish your low energy supplies.
If you watch a reflexology video demonstration, you’ll often see reflexologists talking about the circulatory system. This is in large part because some of the most compelling research on reflexology shows that it can increase circulation all over your body, helping your organs to get the nutrients and oxygen they need (and thereby boosting their functionality).
For example, one group of diabetes patients with nerve problems were able to practice self-reflexology to improve the flow of blood to their feet. In addition, if you have Raynaud’s syndrome (a common condition in which the hands and feet easily become cold and numb), reflexology can help to return blood flow to affected areas more quickly, soothing pain and reducing the risk of injury by restoring normal sensation.
If you learn how to reflexology at home, you can make a habit of doing these exercises as soon as you come in from the cold.
Reflexology techniques are intrinsically relaxing. If you’re looking to learn how to do reflexology on yourself, you can practice these techniques any time you feel stressed or upset and need to calm down.
However, nothing beats the feeling of having a trained reflexology expert using their healing hands to drain your stress away! And the evidence strongly supports the use of reflexology to induce relaxation. This is a particularly important benefit for patient groups who struggle to get restful sleep, as you may do if you have a chronic pain condition or suffer from racing thoughts. The results can often be particularly good if reflexology is combined with meditation or with deep breathing exercises, though benefits are also seen without these additions.
Some experts even believe that reflexology helps to readjust the body’s circadian rhythms, helping you to wake up and fall asleep at the right time, making it especially useful if you do shift work or are struggling with jet lag.
One of the most exciting benefits of reflexology is its potential to treat certain types of chronic headaches.
Tension headaches are felt around your temples and your forehead. You might describe them as causing you to feel like you have an invisible hat sitting around your head.
This distinctive discomfort is caused by tense muscles, and reflexology can do a lot to help with this. It helps your entire body to loosen up, including the muscles in your head and neck.
Although most studies on reflexology and pain focus on headaches, there’s good reason to believe that a reflexology session could also help with any muscle tension. For example, in your back, legs or shoulders. One major benefit of using treatments like reflexology to address pain is that it minimizes the need to use pain-killing medications. This can place a huge strain on your liver or kidneys.
Reflexology body massage is also said to help remove toxins from your body. More specifically, some promising research on the benefits of reflexology demonstrates a link with better bladder function and a reduction in chronic urinary tract problems. This potentially points towards reflexology having a positive influence on the body’s ability to process and excrete toxic material. This, in turn, could reduce your risk of developing a whole host of health problems linked to the bladder and kidneys.
Any trained reflexologist can tell you more about this when you visit for a treatment. They can address your specific concerns about toxins (as well as how they relate to your individual lifestyle choices).
For example, you might be looking to detoxify your system after making a decision to stop smoking or drinking. A reflexology practitioner may have some effective suggestions to help restore your body to its former health.
Finally, the same research that taught us about reflexology and circulation also points to an improvement in healing that can result from this increase in circulation. This is handy for everything from minor cuts to more significant injuries (such as sprains, muscle aches, and burns).
Whilst you should go to your regular doctor for advice on healing first, your reflexologist can give you extra tools that empower you to take charge of your own healing. Once again, the key here is to tell your reflexology practitioner exactly what you’re looking for.
Ideally, they will show you at least some basic exercises that you can do at home between sessions. If you have a partner, this can also make healing an intimate and close activity. Reflexology can allow your partner to do something concrete and relaxing to help you. Otherwise, they may feel frustrated by their inability to take away your pain.