relax – Wellness Focus

How Much Time Should You Make For Yourself?

There’s a better-than-average chance that you have completely forgotten about “me time”. You know, the time you actually set aside for doing something you enjoy, or sitting by yourself, or treating yourself to a relaxing massage? Today’s always-connected life makes it easy to forget “me time”. There’s just stuff to do EVERYWHERE. Work stuff. School stuff. Family stuff. Car stuff. Home stuff. Medical stuff. Financial stuff. See?

Humans are hard-wired to need recharge time. That means more than just the 6-8 hours you’re actually (hopefully) sleeping each night. It means that the human brain needs periods of down-time to recharge, especially in the face of stress or strain. Just like the battery in your smartphone, most of us need at least 30 minutes each day to disconnect from deep thought and rest the brain cells. Physically we need breaks too. If you are in a high-stress job that requires lots of manual labor, at least two 30 minute breaks a day are in order, or you’ll quickly burn out.

Continue reading “How Much Time Should You Make For Yourself?”

Relax With Music, Really?

Researchers at Stanford University (2006) concluded that “listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medication.” That’s right, music is officially a “therapeutic modality” – a proven way of changing how you feel.

Most of us know that uptempo (faster) music can get you fired up and make you feel more alert.That same music also helps many concentrate better. Want to relax? Try a down-tempo (slower) track that will help quiet your mind and relax your muscles.

Now medical science has jumped on board and are using music to calm the nerves of patients in dentist and doctor offices, relaxing patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, and calming down kids nervous about their visit to their pediatrician.

Continue reading “Relax With Music, Really?”

Massage and a Better Life

Evidence suggests that massage and other relaxation therapies can have a substantial impact on the quality of your life. Study after study in patients with everything from breast cancer to arthritis, sports injuries, heart conditions, depression, and learning disorders cite real and positive benefits to receiving regular massage.

In both male and female patients with significant illnesses or traumatic injury, the reduction of stress and relaxation of muscles helps speed recover by reducing anxiety, lowering blood pressure, improving sleep quality, and increasing the efficiency of blood flow.

Continue reading “Massage and a Better Life”

Wellness Check Up

It’s good to stop and take a look at yourself now and then. In addition to the good things in life, we all get a few challenges. Sometimes you get injured. Sometimes you become ill. Sometimes your work, your family and your relationships cause you stress. Sometimes your muscles ache. And sometimes, you are just tired and need a break from your insane schedule. There’s a growing base of research that suggests that regular massage can have a profound positive effect on most of the challenges you face.

Take a look at this list of common wellness issues and check any and all that apply to you, then check the list below to see how you can more toward more wellness:

___ I am under stress from a relationship, from work, or just life in general.

___ I am very active and sometimes experience aches and pains

___ I am not as active as I should be and sometimes experience stiffness and soreness

Continue reading “Wellness Check Up”

Relax in Five Minutes

While a day away at a high-end spa is a great way to relax, most of us don’t have that kind of time, or that much cash. Luckily, there are some very simple things you can do that won’t break the bank and take less than 5 minutes of your time.

Grab a good tune. Music really does soothe the savage beast–and monster headaches and stress as well. Listening to, or singing along with a favorite tune can make melt away stress. Try some “spa music” to transport yourself to immediate relaxation–especially before bedtime.
Continue reading “Relax in Five Minutes”

Is Relaxation All in Your Head?

Why is it that it takes some people an hour in a spa to relax, while others can just close their eyes, envision a happy place, and relax almost instantly? It turns out that while relaxation has physiological effects, the process of relaxation is all about your state of mind.

That’s right, if your head’s not in the game, you won’t relax. If you sit down after work in your most comfy chair with a nice cold beverage and think about all the things that happened that day, and all the things that will happen tomorrow, you won’t relax. Relaxation is about quieting your mind, not processing throughs. It’s about thinking about right now, not a while ago or tomorrow. It’s about consciously shutting out the day-to-day noise, even if just for a few minutes.

You can get yourself into a relaxed state of mind almost anywhere, but, particularly when you are learning to relax, it’s a good idea to control your environment.

Continue reading “Is Relaxation All in Your Head?”

Make the Effects of Massage Last Longer

Massage helps you feel better. It gets the blood flowing faster and soothes sore muscles. While some people may experience mild muscle awareness as the muscle fibers and nerves readjust to the work done, which is completely natural, most people will just experience an incomparable feeling of relaxation and wellbeing. Every fiber of your body is relaxed, your aches and pains subside and your brain knows it.

Here are some tips to help make the effects of massage last longer and prolong these good feelings:

Continue reading “Make the Effects of Massage Last Longer”

Can You Trust Your Massage Therapist?

In many cases, the difference between a basic massage provider and a massage therapist comes down to trust. Trusting in your therapist means you believe they are reliable, truthful, and that they have the ability to help you relax, reduce aches and pains, or help you meet other massage goals. Most will agree that trust is earned, mostly by acting in a trustworthy manner.

As bodyworkers, we’re aware that clients enter a trust relationship when they walk through the door. They are trusting that we know what we are doing, that we will keep them safe, that we have strong ethical boundaries, and that what we do will help, not harm, the client’s overall body, mind and spirit.

Here are a five things to consider when you’re answering the question “can you trust your massage therapist”?

Continue reading “Can You Trust Your Massage Therapist?”

Massage and Endorphins

Massage stimulates your body to release endorphins and with that release comes wide-ranging, positive effects.

Endorphins are natural chemicals in the brain that have pain-relieving properties similar to morphine. Besides behaving as a pain regulator, endorphins are also thought to be connected to physiological processes including euphoria, appetite modulation, and the release of sex hormones.

Endorphin research suggests that there is a link between emotions and a healthy immune system. So pleasant memories, exercise, sexual activity, laughter, and even pursuing dangerous activity are all ways we can increase our levels of endorphins and benefit from our own natural chemicals. Continue reading “Massage and Endorphins”