Massage Therapy and Mental Health
Mental Health, a topic that’s been on most of our minds since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, how can massage therapy help with this ethereal thing?
First off, pretty much anyone who lived alone during the beginning of the pandemic can tell you just how touch starved we are as a society. Regular human touch nourishes the nervous system, relaxes the mind, and can support our literal movement through life. During a massage, your therapist is applying very intentional touch. What could be better for staving off touch starvation than getting a massage?
Massage Therapy also helps to boost circulation which is vital to maintaining a healthy body. Regular massage therapy has also been shown to increase heart rate variability, the ability for your pulse to go back to its resting rate after being elevated. Which is a metric most doctors used to judge someone’s physical health.
As studied here massage therapy can increase Dopamine, the hormone that controls pleasure/motivation/satisfaction in the brain. This study also shows how regular massage therapy can help to keep a regulated nervous system by activating the parasympathetic response, the “rest and digest” response. Another study here confirms this information.
Another wonderful benefit of massage therapy for mental health is, it’s a way for you to intentionally spend time with your body and to listen to it. When was the last time you actually sat down and felt what your body felt instead of disassociating the feelings away.
In conclusion, massage therapy can benefit mental health by:
Staving off touch starvation
Increasing circulation
Increasing heart rate variability
Increases Dopamine
Activating the parasympathetic response
Intentionally spending time with your body
That sounds like a lot of awesome benefits. Why don’t you book a massage and find out for yourself!
