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Holiday Stress Relief
The holidays may be “the most wonderful time of the year”, but along with the hustle and bustle and cheer stress can rear its ugly little head. Between the shopping, the decorating, hosting, gift wrapping, and holiday party attending you may find yourself a little tired and achy, and feeling more like Scrooge than Santa. The holidays are meant to be a time of joy and gatherings with loved ones but stress can detract from these experiences. Increased stress and anxiety can manifest itself in the body in a variety of ways but the most common is through muscular tension.
While sometimes you may be tempted to use the stress reduction method below, we don’t really recommend it, and we’ve a far more effective and less painful strategy for you.
One alternative to Stress Reduction
Just give us a call and book yourself a massage. Don’t have an hour? No problem. In half an hour we can melt the tension right out of your back and shoulders. Don’t believe me? Okay, okay, here’s why you should come in.
Massage is a great way to help relieve tension and can give your body the restorative time that it needs to melt away muscular aches and pains and bring you back to a state of feeling relaxed, centered, and ready for the next party. Modern medicine now recognizes that massage has measurable effects on the physical, emotional, and mental bodies. Massage is much more than a luxury, it is a non-toxic and mostly non-addictive way of allowing your body to rejuvenate and heal itself while in a relaxed state.
Swedish massage has been shown to provide the following benefits:
- Pain Relief – Massage stimulates the body to release endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers) which helps alleviate soreness, aches, and pains in the body.
- Increased circulation - The gliding and kneading strokes of Swedish massage help to increase blood and lymph flow throughout the body which in turn helps the body to process and filter toxins. Massage causes the body to enter a relaxed state and can activate the parasympathetic nervous system which can cause the heart rate and blood pressure to lower. The increased circulation of fluids also assists the body in receiving more oxygen throughout the body as blood is circulated.
- Immune boosting – Some studies indicate that after receiving a Swedish massage the body has an increase in cells that help defend the body against harmful substances like the cold virus or bacteria.
- Reduce stress and tension – After receiving massage it has also been noted that recipients had a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol. Through relaxing music, warm blankets, relaxing massage strokes and aromatherapy the mind is able to shut off for a moment leading to peace and serenity.
- Lessen anxiety and depression - Massage has been known to increase the levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine in the body which can create a euphoric sense of happiness.
During this time of giving make sure you give yourself the things that you need to stay happy, healthy, and well. Get a massage, take a nice hot Epsom salt bath, attend a yoga class, go for a nice long walk - whatever it is that you need to do to be relaxed, do it. If you don’t take care of yourself then you won’t be able to enjoy the season and it “‘tis the season to be jolly”!