One
way in which frequent massage can improve our quality of life is by
alleviating stress. Experts say most disease is stress-related, and
nothing ages us faster--inside or out--than the effects of stress. As
stress-related diseases continue to claim more lives every year, the
increasingly deadly role stress plays in modern-day life is painfully
clear.
Massage is a great way to take charge and reverse the situation. Mary
Beth Braun and Stephanie Simonson, authors of Introduction to Massage
Therapy (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2007), explain the benefits of
massage therapy in the simplest of terms: "Healing input influences
healing output." They note that frequent massage can reduce the
accumulation of stress and improve overall health. "The benefits of
massage are cumulative," they write.
This being the case, it only makes sense that those aches and pains you
see your massage therapist for might disappear faster, stay away longer,
or even go away altogether with more frequent visits. Stress might
never reach those physiologically detrimental levels where the immune
system is suppressed or the nervous system is sent into an alarm state
if you are able to receive stress-relieving bodywork with some
consistency. Not only would your body benefit by regularly unleashing
its aches and pains instead of adapting to them, but your mind would
have time to wash away the stresses of a life lived in overdrive. Both
are critical pieces for living well.
Experts say the body and mind can learn to live more calmly, more
efficiently, and more healthfully when frequent massage shows the way.
That makes for a healthier whole, allowing us to continue to live life
at its fullest, even as we deal with each new stress or challenge.
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