Therapeutic massage and the mind

I have been having therapeutic massage for approximately a year now following several months of painful back problems. Within a short space of time my massage therapist had resolved my problems, but I continue to see her once a month to keep things in check.

It was during my treatment yesterday that I began to think about the connection between massage and the mind.

There are of course the obvious benefits of massage in that if you feel pain free and healthy in your body then you are more likely to feel happier. However I began to think of the additional psychological benefits over and above this.

In our ever increasingly busy lives we do not get many opportunities to take time out for ourselves where we do absolutely nothing but relax. Massage offers that opportunity to relax without distraction, you are not talking to anyone, watching TV, working, or even sleeping where your mind can still be very active.

In that short space of time you can take the opportunity to allow your mind to wander and drift of wherever it likes. In a way it may be similar to hypnosis; clients often tell me how good they feel after a hypnosis session because they have had an opportunity to just relax for a few moments.

The process of allowing your mind to just drift is very therapeutic in itself. It can allow your mind to rest for a moment, away from the worries and concerns of the day and what ever you have to do next. This rest can revitalise and reenergise you. I often encourage clients to take ten minutes in a day and do absolutely nothing, not listen to music, TV or anything and close their eyes and just relax for 5 to 10 minute but not to fall asleep. People were doing it in the 80’s they called them ‘power naps’, the benefits you can feel as a result of doing this are great.

With a massage you get to do this to a deeper level as your muscles are being relaxed and as a result of your muscles being relaxed this will help you mind to relax and therefore deal with more aspects of life. Thus you can begin to create a circular process. With you muscles being more relaxed, your mind can begin to find it easier to relax (as it is not worrying about aches or pains and over and above this it is learning to relax by experiencing muscle relaxation). As a result of your mind learning to relax more easily you are less likely to tense your muscles as frequently and may even learn how to relax them more quickly after a stressful episode as you have experienced through feedback what muscle relaxation feel like. This in turn will enable your mind to stay more relaxed, and thus the circle continues.

One of the reasons for the mind being able to relax more easily as a result of the muscles relaxing is due to how your body reacts when you feel mentally stressed. Our body and mind are interconnected and when we feel stressed or anxious our body reacts by tensing up. It is actually very difficult to have an anxious thought whilst your body remains completely relaxed.

Therefore I would encourage anyone to seek the benefits of massage not least for your body but for how it can help your mind.