Stress Management
Has your stress level become too high? Mike Gibbons, LMT, has massage therapy treatments that can help you manage stress.
We all experience stress in our lives in one form or another. Some of it is the “good” kind in that it motivates us to get moving and get things accomplished. However, it can become harmful. Stress becomes harmful when it affects your emotional outlook (on a long-term basis) in a negative way. Long-term excessive stress levels can manifest physically and cause illness. It is harmful when it causes a person to “turn in on themselves,” and become depressed or anxious. Massage therapy has been proven to help with stress management.
Causes of Stress
The causes of stress are endless. Stress is also subjective. What one person considers “stressful,” another person can consider “exciting,” or “just a normal day.” Regardless of the cause; whether it be past abuse, any kind of post-trauma, your job, your family, any relationship, finances (the list goes on), if it becomes unmanageable for you, it becomes a problem.
Massage Therapy for Stress: More Information
WikiEducator gives an excellent overview of the different phases of stress, its management and the benefits of massage therapy, in the article entitled, Massage for stress management (scroll down to the section entitled, Massage and the General Adaptation Syndrome).
The University of Miami has posted a large compilation of studies from many sources about the positive effects of massage therapy on stress (from many causes), entitled, Massage. Here are a few:
An excerpt from an article from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, entitled, Effect of massage therapy on pain, anxiety, and tension after cardiac surgery: a randomized study, states: “Patients were highly satisfied with the intervention… Massage therapy may be an important component of the healing experience for patients after cardiovascular surgery.”
A study on job stress: (Cady SH, Jones GE (1997). Massage therapy as a workplace intervention for reduction of stress. Perceptual & motor Skills 84:157-158, discusses the results of a 15-minute seated massage (on-site) in which 52 employees participated. Their blood pressures were measured before and after the massage. Results: “Analyses showed a significant reduction in participants’ systolic and diastolic blood pressure after receiving the massage.”
There is a good resource site called The American Institute of Stress containing a vast amount of information about the various causes and types of stress and its management.
Massage Therapy Can Help Relieve Stress
It is proven that massage therapy can help relieve stress and thus aid in its management. Massage therapy for stress management is most effective when received on a regular or semi-regular basis. Self-care is foremost in stress management, which includes proper sleep, hydration, moderate exercise, and a healthy diet.