Anxiety and stress are part of everyday life these days, so what can we do to try and get the right balance. For starters, we need to recognise the signs and admit to ourselves that we may be stressed and suffering from anxiety. Next step, we deal with it!
Think about it; how often do you hear someone say, "Oh, I don't really get stressed, it's not on my radar'. Well, the reality is that we all get stressed and feel anxious at times - the difference is, we just deal with it in different ways. Being a busy mum can be hard work, and sometimes mums feel under pressure to be SuperMum! This is something I hear regularly from clients, and it can really affect you mentally and physically. It’s simple - if you don’t work, nothing else will.
All too often, women - especially mums - tend to think of looking after themselves as a treat and, at times, feel guilty about that. Massage and Bodywork is a natural and holistic way to deal with anxiety and stress while supporting the body's systems. It is a neuroscientific fact that touch is a basic human need, and we all need it to survive and develop as balanced human beings, emotionally and physically. Within 20 seconds of Massage and Bodywork, the oxytocin hormone (feel-good hormone) is boosted, encouraging the body to relax. Serotonin (mood) and melatonin (sleep) hormones are also boosted resulting in better sleep and improved bowel movement, clarity of thought, and much more. It’s not rocket science - if you sleep better, you are in better form; if you are in better form, you make better decisions, and so on.
Our posture can also be greatly affected by stress and anxiety and we need to understand this. When we are anxious and stressed we hunch forward, our shoulders are raised up towards our ears and we walk around with our head forward in front of our body. As a result, we don’t breathe correctly, if we don’t breathe correctly how we can expect our bodies to work efficiently.
An experienced massage and bodywork therapist will be able to work efficiently with a client suffering from anxiety, to come up with a treatment plan. It's important to remember that it may take a few sessions before you notice a difference but, I promise you, it will if you give it a chance. One of the many benefits of 'maintenance massage' is that it helps to relax the muscles while improving muscle tone and flexibility, resulting in better posture and movement. The skin is also the largest sensory organ in the body and is directly connected to the nervous system, which is why clients find the sessions so relaxing.
I love this little video clip on how stress can affect the body long term. If you have a few minutes it’s well worth having a look.
Feel free to give me a call for a chat about how Massage & Bodywork can help you to manage stress and anxiety. I work from my clinic Mondays and Fridays, by appointment, in Riversdale House Ballyboden; and I also work mobile for my client’s convenience.
