The benefits of massage ...

The benefits of massage …..

Massage has been used to improve physical, emotional and mental health for thousands of years. Egyptian tombs suggest that massage therapy was used there more than 4000 years ago; evidence from China suggests a well-grounded practice of massage as far back as 5000 years ago. In Europe, Homer wrote about massage 3000 years ago, while in the Americas, there is evidence of the use of massage an unspecified time ago, by various Northern Native American tribes as well as by the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans of Central and South America. The people of the Polynesian islands developed a unique from of massage which has seen a revival (and an introduction to the rest of the world) since the 1970s, specifically in its Hawai’ian form, Lomi-lomi massage.

Therapeutic massage has been a universal human practice for millennia. It might be the oldest healing practice still in existence.

Quite recently, the quantifiable benefits of the therapies I use in my practice have gained recognition in Western orthodox medicine. The American National Institutes of Health (NIH) established a National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, which covers massage therapy, reflexology, and reiki in its ambit. Professional research studies have confirmed that these therapy techniques can promote physical and emotional health by substantially reducing a client's levels of clinical anxiety, stress, and depression, alongside the obvious relief of muscle tension and strain resulting from massage treatment. Clear evidence of massage therapy’s effectiveness in strengthening the human immune system has also emerged.

In summary: In my own practice, I have seen, time and time again, how chronic pain is alleviated following a massage treatment (in cases of substantial injury, several successive treatments over a period of a few weeks may be required to achieve full relief). I have also witnessed healing on the mental and emotional level following massage treatments. And, on other occasions, my clients have simply needed an opportunity to achieve deep relaxation, and have had that need met.