CONNECTIONS to HEALTH

Stress reducing tips and the miracle of massage therapy by Melissa Callaway I'm going to cover a little about what to expect in a massage treatment and how it can help with stress along with some stress busting tips you may find useful. Let's look at the different symptoms of stress and why it happens. Emotional Signs Irritability Crying Hostility Impatience Low self esteem Jealousy Being critical Anxiousness Feelings of hopelessness Physical signs Insomnia Aching limbs Lack of energy Lowering of immune system Nausea Chest pain Skin breakouts Weight changes Headaches Do any of these symptoms sound familiar..? It's normal to get stressed in fact it's the body's natural way of responding to events and can be very helpful at times. For example if you need to reach a deadline or respond quickly while driving this reaction is important. That's great and useful for when we need a short-term burst of hormones but what effect is the response having if it's being activated everyday? Well we all know that too much adrenaline is bad for you. Physicians even suggest then it could be responsible for up to 70% of illness including depression, heart disease, memory problems and skin problems. We don't need the fight or flight response to be activated every day like our caveman ancestors did perhaps when they fighting sabre tooth tigers and mammoths! Because we don't need this response so much today it's a great gift to yourself to learn ways to deal with stress and reduce its impact on your daily life. Here are 7 different ways of dealing with stress Enjoy yourself. Find something that interests you and do it when you're stressed! Like painting, reading, playing an instrument, or knitting what ever makes you happy. Exercise and eat well. This helps to get rid of that excess adrenaline and releases endorphins. Food can also play a big part in your mood. Look on the brighter side off life. There's always going to be something in life that can potentially make you feel rubbish so try to not focus on the bad things too much. Be thankful for what you have. Organise your life. Keep a diary so you know what you have to do each day once it's on paper it's out of your mind. Organise your life and spend less time worrying about it! Talk about it! This is the best way before it turns into angry outbursts! Talk to your close friends or partners. Have regular therapies even just once a month its space and time for yourself. Massage therapy Massage therapy is the manipulation of the soft tissue of the body. The muscles, ligaments and tendons are worked on using pressure and stretching to help release any acid in the fibrous tissues in the muscles. The word massage originates from the Greek work 'massein' meaning to knead. Massage is a universal instinct and because of this there are records of it being practised all around the world. The first documented writing was in china 1400bc. There are a lot of different massages available incorporating different belief systems and cultures. Different research has been done with massage and how it can help with stress. The latest controlled study conducted at the Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, Florida, USA shows once again that massage has an important role to play in the alleviation of stress and stress-induced illnesses. In the study, twenty-six adults were given a chair massage two times every week for five weeks and twenty four adults were asked to relax in the massage chair for 15 minutes to be used as controls. On the first and last days of the study all of the participants were monitored for EEG, before, during and after the sessions. In addition, before and after the sessions they performed maths computations, they completed POMS Depression and State Anxiety Scales and they provided a saliva sample for cortisol (Cortisol is released alongside adrenaline when we are stressed). At the beginning of the sessions they completed Life Events, Job Stress and Chronic POMS Depression Scales. The results revealed the following Frontal delta power increased for both groups, suggesting relaxation.  The massage group showed de-creased frontal alpha and beta power (suggesting enhanced alertness); while the control group showed increased alpha and beta power. The massage group showed in-creased speed and accuracy on math computations while the control group did not change. Anxiety levels were lower following the massage but not the control sessions, although mood state was less depressed following both the massage and control sessions. Salivary cortisol levels were lower following the massage but not the control sessions but only on the first day; and at the end of the 5 week period, depression scores were lower for both groups but job stress score were lower only for the massage group. Field T; lronson G; Scafjdi F; Nawrocki T; Goncalves A; Burman I; Pickens J; Fox N; Schanberg 5; Kuhn C.Massage therapy reduces anxiety and enhances EEG pattern of alertness and maths computations. mi Neurosci (ENGLAND) Sep 1996,86 (3-4) p197-205. This small-scale study suggests that massage therapy offers benefits in not just alleviating the physiological effects of anxiety, but also in improving mental alertness. There are lots of benefits of massage as well as helping with the symptoms of stress it can help with fluid build up, cellulite, aches and pain and headaches. What happens in a treatment? Firstly you have a consultation to check all you medical history and also if you are OK with the areas that are being worked on for example a woman on her period may feel uncomfortable having her stomach worked on. You will then be left to get ready. For massage you need to be undressed to your underwear but you are underneath towels for the treatment and only the area being worked on is exposed so you don't feel cold at all. First I start with a body balance this stretches out the shoulders hips then legs. I will check at the beginning of the treatment the pressure is OK for you then you can go to sleep or talk to me if you want to! The legs are then worked on and the feet, the stomach, arms shoulders, face and scalp. I will then ask you to turn over while holding the towels so they move with you and the backs of the legs are worked on and the back (with the Hydrotherm you don't turn over). When the massage is finished I will ask you to take some deep breaths and come round when you are ready. Sometimes people are asleep by now! I will then get you a glass of water and let you get ready. The types of massage I do are Sports, Lymphatic drainage, Aromatherapy and Hydrotherm if you would like to find out which type is best for you come in for a free 10 minute consultation with me. I challenge you to feel stressed after a massage! For anymore information or to book an appointment call me on 07834857032

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