Releasing Anxiety
Anxiety and depression are becoming increasingly more common as is the use of antidepressants and medications for their treatment. whilst this offers a solution in some people its not always an effective treatment for many others. Antidepressants come with a long list of side effects and can often make people with depression and anxiety worse or at best have no effect.
Because of this an increasing number of people are turning to alternative or holistic therapies for help. Massage therapy is one of the treatments people turn too:
Early research at the Touch Research Institute demonstrated that 30 minutes of daily massage therapy to hospitalized depressed adolescents over a 5 day period brought about an improvement in mood and behavior. Since then, many studies have documented that massage therapy can have a beneficial effect on depression and anxiety. In fact, it is one of the most consistently documented results of massage.
Cortisol is a hormone the body produces to cope with stress. Due to our modern environment and stressful lives cortisol levels are often too high in most people. This can have a negative impact on the body when this happens consistently, leading to unwanted physiological effects such as weight gain, adrenal fatigue and insomnia.
It has been proven that regular massage therapy reduces cortisol up to 53% this is in addition to a long list of other benefits massage brings such as.
. Increase serotonin and dopamine levels
. Improved sleep
. Relax and normalise soft tissue
. Increase blood and lymph circulation
. Lowers blood pressure
. Regulates breathing and heart rate
. Boost the immune system
