Massage’s movements and pressure stimulate circulation, sending more oxygen directly to your brain and body for greater alertness and reduction of fatigue. Massage therapy is the ideal cure for insomnia or jet lag.
Massage may seem counterintuitive as a means to increase energy, yet there are numerous mechanisms by which this happens. These may include:
Increased Circulation
Massage stimulates nerve endings to dilate minute blood vessels under the skin, providing more efficient circulation around your body and delivering nutrients where they’re most needed.
Increased circulation also facilitates faster removal of waste products from muscles, leading to detoxification that relieves feelings of fatigue and lethargy while simultaneously stimulating increased energy. Long after your massage has ended, these benefits continue to provide you with increased vitality.
Massage’s improved blood flow can actually facilitate muscle tissue growth by providing enough oxygen and flushing out any lactic acid build-up which could otherwise cause soreness in muscles.
Massage’s ability to reduce stress levels also leads to improved sleep, as it reduces activity in the nervous system, making it easier to fall asleep quickly and enjoy an restful slumber. Good sleep is crucial to overall health as it aids recovery from exercise, injury and illness.
Increased Oxygen Levels
Massage increases circulation by sending more oxygen directly to your cells, thus helping energize you and combat lethargy, leaving you feeling awake and revitalized after just one session.
Massage helps lower stress levels by encouraging the release of hormones such as serotonin and dopamine that balance moods and promote relaxation. Cortisol levels drop as these positive chemicals replace it, giving you more focus and relaxation capacity, giving you more energy overall.
Increased blood flow to muscles and tissues also provides vital healing nutrients, removes waste products and toxins, increases flexibility and decreases pain.
Energy work employing techniques from acupuncture, reflexology and Swedish massage helps promote relaxation while creating equilibrium in the body’s energetic system. Massage practitioners need to know how to channel this energy so as to help their clients. Energy work massage is beneficial for anyone experiencing stress, anxiety or fatigue – especially those suffering from these issues themselves.
Increased Endorphin Levels
Massage’s deep and relaxing motions activate endorphins – natural “feel-good” chemicals produced in your body by massaging – which help soothe nerves and reduce stress levels, leaving clients feeling rejuvenated despite lying still for so long. This results in feeling both refreshed and energetic after their session is completed.
Handling soft tissue manipulation by a therapist helps relieve nerve compression through myofascial release, friction and stretching techniques. This breaks the pain/spasm cycle while freeing tight muscle fibers back to their original lengths and lengthening their proper range of motion.
Massage increases oxytocin, commonly known as the cuddle hormone. Along with relaxing responses, this helps boost immune function by speeding white blood cell travel to injured areas more quickly, thus reducing inflammation and speeding healing processes. Massage sessions are especially beneficial to athletes as they help improve flexibility, speed up recovery times, and allow more intense workouts without injury.
Improved Sleep
Massage can help you to fall asleep more easily and stay asleep through the night, which may help with insomnia – a sleep disorder which makes restful rest difficult to achieve. Furthermore, regular massage sessions may improve your sleeping cycle so that you wake up more refreshed each morning and experience greater restful waking up times throughout your day.
Studies have demonstrated that massage reduces cortisol levels – an anxiety-inducing hormone – while simultaneously increasing serotonin production – an essential chemical that regulates your sleep cycle and produces melatonin, your brain’s natural sleep aid.
Massage provides more than physical relief; it also calms and releases negative thoughts that are keeping you up at night. This energy healing technique, called “energy work”, can be particularly helpful to those suffering from insomnia or other forms of sleep disturbances. Petrissage massage involves percussive motions called tapotements and deep kneading called petrissage to stimulate circulation of blood, oxygen, and nutrients around your body.