Massage is fast becoming a recognised therapy used to promote general health and a state of well-being, complementing other therapies and conventional medicine. Touch and massage are the most natural of instincts; we rub our temples to cure a headache, parents hug children who are upset; spontaneous actions intended to make ourselves or another person feel better.

However, in modern western society touch seems to be on the decrease as our lives get busier. We recede into our own little world, often knotting ourselves up with stress and anxiety, which then affect our general health. We work through our pain - physical and emotional - shutting it out and not listening to our bodies. This causes imbalance and disease in the form of colds, repeated headaches, bad backs or persistent tiredness. This imbalance continues in a cycle until a serious illness arises, forcing us to take a break. Even then, when we are ill enough to see our GP or spend time in hospital, the health workers are too busy to offer the patient the simplest of nurturing touches.

To quote from the Massage Journal: -

"Often times people are stressed in our culture. Stress-related disorders make up between 80-and-90 percent of the ailments that bring people to family-practice physicians. What they require is someone to listen, someone to touch them, someone to care. That does not exist in modern medicine. One of the complaints heard frequently is that physicians don't touch their patients any more. Touch just isn't there. Years ago massage was a big part of nursing. There was so much care, so much touch, so much goodness conveyed through massage. Now nurses for the most part are as busy as physicians. They're writing charts, dealing with insurance notes, they're doing procedures and often there is no room for massage any more. I believe massage therapy is absolutely key in the healing process not only in the hospital environment but because it relieves stress, it is obviously foundational in the healing process anytime and anywhere."
Joan Borysenko - Massage Journal Interview 1999

Previously seen as a luxury, bodywork in its various forms can help break the vicious cycle of modern day life and help unwind the built up tension, soothe the nervous system and calm the emotions. Its effects can be felt on many levels - physical, psychological, emotional - and it can even reach people on a profoundly spiritual level. This level of massage has different meanings for different people. For some it is linked with the emotional plane whilst for others it is an esoteric experience that we do not yet know how to explain.

…for Body & Soul
Massage and bodywork can help release chronic muscular tension, reduce pain and swelling, foster faster healing of strained muscles and sprained ligaments. They improve circulation of blood and movement of lymph fluids and increase joint flexibility and range of motion. Massage reduces mental and physical fatigue and stress, promotes easier and deeper breathing, improves posture, and reduces blood pressure. This simple physical touch affects all systems of the body, which in turn affect our emotional health.

The muscular and skeletal systems maintain posture and move the body. If we are standing still, muscles throughout the body constantly tighten and slacken to retain that stillness. When muscles become too tight or too slack the posture suffers. This is where massage therapy comes into its own. Tight muscles will be relaxed and stretched and slack muscles toned and tightened. Throughout the massage, the blood supply is increased to the muscles and joints, providing the nutrition they need and removing waste products often lying stagnant in tight muscles and restricted joints. Massage reduces spasms, tension and cramping, breaks down adhesions (the 'sticking together' of surfaces that would not normally be connected) and fibrosis (scarring of connective tissue), helps to prevent muscular deterioration, increases ease and efficiency of movement and helps to restore the body to a natural and balanced state.

During massage the circulation improves to all parts of the body. The capillaries dilate, increasing the 'surface area' through which fluids are exchanged within the body so waste products can be taken away and nutrients absorbed. The direction of the strokes encourages lymphatic draining and assists in the reduction of swelling. The heart rate reduces and the blood pressure is decreased as we relax.

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Massage can have a sedative, stimulating or even exhausting effect on the nervous system, depending on the length of treatment given. It is known to affect the neurotransmitters of the brain and increase endorphin secretion (the body's natural pain killers) in particular. It reduces nerve entrapment through release of soft tissue or muscular binding and as the body relaxes and softens so does the mind, creating a sense of calm and well-being. The breath will deepen and slow through relaxation and the release of tension around the rib cage and the respiratory muscles. Massage can also relieve congestion through percussive and compressive movements.

Massage gives the recipient time to switch off, reducing anxiety and stress. The brain-wave patterns that occur during relaxation (a state often induced by massage and bodywork) are very similar to those experienced when falling asleep and whilst meditating. This 'space' between asleep and awake is where we can enjoy the peace of the moment and just be. Thoughts flow freely and escape from the spin cycle of a busy brain. This is when we are most likely to experience a sense of spiritual ease.

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With the breathing eased, muscle tension released, pain reduced and nerves soothed, emotional health improves. Each benefit has a knock-on effect to another and these are different for each person, as each one of us is unique. The effects will also be different on different days and as our emotions change, according to whether we've had a good or bad day, or even had enough sleep.

Everyone who experiences massage will feel some benefit, on a physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual level.

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As a Holistic Massage Practitioner I take many benefits from giving. The treatment becomes a free-flowing experience where the giving and receiving become one and the same. I learn something from each treatment and each person. It is a truly honouring experience to be allowed into someone's space, and to be guided without thought or words.