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Massage Helps With Stress
According to The Huffington Post, a small new study originally published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine has shown that regular message can result in decreased levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, increases of oxytocin, the trust hormone, along with an improved white blood cell count. The combination can help to ward off all those nasty bugs and viruses that many of us fall victim to – particularly at this time of year.
The 53 participants in the study were split into two groups and 29 had a 45 minute deep tissue Swedish massage once or twice a week for five weeks. The other 24 only had a light touch massage. The findings seemed to show that deep tissue massage can also decrease the levels of the hormone arginine vasopressin which is linked with rises in cortisol.
It was a follow up to an earlier study in 2010 which had not examined the difference that frequency of massage can make to the hormone levels.
Massage has also been shown to help maintain stable blood pressure and decrease anxiety and depression, as well as the usual alleviation of stiffness and pain.
Massage For Stress-Free Event Planning
A special birthday, anniversary or wedding – these are all events which can require so much organisation that, by the time the day dawns, you’re too exhausted to have a good time.
Many people find themselves suffering with aches and pains caused by the tension of their activities being retained in the muscles of their necks and shoulders. Stress headaches also become common.
Getting Your Head Together
How Massage Can Help Office Workers
Great video from our friends at City Sports Massage which demonstrates why office workers who are bent over laptops and keyboards all day can suffer with bad backs and sore necks and shoulders.
The Benefits of Massage for Arthritis, Stress and Headaches Infographic
Great infographic from Massage Chairs via MindBodyGreen showing the benefits of massage, particularly for patients with arthritis.
How a massage can help with Arthritis
A massage relieves stress and tension and helps to promote flexibility in stiff joints. The worst thing anyone suffering from arthritis can do is to stop moving the offending body part… and yet, in most cases, that is what happens – because it hurts.
Use it or lose it… but worse still, don’t use it and have it stiffen up and become painful, as well as useless. Because if you stop moving, the joint stops self-lubricating, exacerbating your difficulties.
If you’re suffering with arthritis in your fingers, hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, toes, ankles knees, pelvis, spine, your masseur can provide a helpful and restorative treatment. Get those lubricating juices going again.
If you regularly find yourself in a darkened room due to a stress headache, your massage therapist can help to banish these outbreaks.
Give Mike a call on 01702 710531 to find out more about massage therapy for arthritis, stress and headaches
Massage and Work Stress
Very interesting infographic from Workplace Claim via Good Relaxation.
The most stressful jobs in the UK
It would seem that the people who suffer most with work related stress in the UK are women aged between 35 and 54, particularly those who work in environments where there are more than 250 other employees. Health, nursing and social workers, teachers, bankers and lawyers, recruitment and sales staff, even head chefs – they all get a mention as being particularly stress filled jobs.
And the newspapers over recent years have been filled with media coverage of court cases that ensue as a result of some of these professions getting it wrong. It’s not surprising that the incumbents of those posts feel the pressure – even in areas where the job is as much a vocation as a job. So how do massage and work stress relate?
How massage can help with your work stresses
Often the end result of work stresses is poor posture. If you spend all day tensed up over a computer or are walking around worrying as you battle with outcomes and deadlines, what better way to loosen off those stiff sore shoulders than a relaxing massage when you get off the train?
Let Mike help you to leave those tensions behind at the office so you can enjoy the rest of your evening free of the intensity of that pressure.
Calming massage and work stress……dissipates
Calming, soothing, liberating – the toxins and the anxiety just melt away under the swirling movements of his hands. Muscles loosen and soften, your eyes automatically close and your mind and body begin to drift away from the maelstrom that once surrounded you. With massage and work stress there’s only one winner – you!
A recent study at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles addressed massage and work stress. The study involved participants receiving either a 45 minute deep tissue massage or a light massage. The results showed that just one session of the deep tissue Swedish massage decreased the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, whilst the light massage increased the levels of oxytocin, a hormone associated with contentment.
Find The Ark for Massage in Leigh on Sea
Find The Ark – it is a short walk up the cliffs from Leigh-on-Sea railway station. So, if you’re coming back to Southend from the commute to London on C2C, why not stop off and visit us for a relaxing de-stress, or for pain relief from poor office posture.
If you’re suffering with work related stress, book a massage treatment at the Ark with Mike on 01702 710531
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Essex Massage
Essex Massage seems to be a term which covers a multitude of sins but at The Ark we offer a whole range of different types of massage.
From Sports Massage for those knotty, tension-filled stiff shoulders and necks to Holistic Massage, Therapy Massage and Aromatherapy Massage which will help to relax even the most fraught and stressed individuals. For many customers, their symptoms require a combination of all these skills to achieve that state where you leave the treatment room feeling as if you are walking on air… and a couple of inches taller.
There is also Indian Head Massage, Hand or Foot or Hand and Foot Massage, Reflexology and Reiki. All treatments which can address the ailments of the client from a slightly different perspective.
Sports Massage is a unique type of massage that uses trigger point therapy to break down knots in the muscles and increase range of motion. There can be some discomfort involved in that process but the improvements can be felt as soon as you get off the treatment table.
An Aromatherapy Back, Head and Neck treatment can be the perfect Destress Massage, using carefully chosen oils to melt away the fatigue of the life’s challenges.
Indian Head Massage is another relaxing therapy that also gives great benefits to the condition of your hair.
Regular hand and foot massage boosts the circulation to those extremities, nourishing and replenishing the blood supply. Reflexology works in a similar way with the added bonus that specific points on your feet are believed in some cultures to relate directly to the health of other body organs. Sadly, the ASA rules will not allow us to talk more about this as there is no Western medical proof of this link.
Reiki is also covered by the ASA ruling but it too has many fans across the world.
So, Essex Massage at The Ark is not just a cursory once-over with some sweaty palms but a luxurious and personalised reintroduction to a state of relaxation and well being.
Find The Ark for Essex massage
Back Massages and Baby Bath Sets
The Ark regularly gives back massages to new parents who are suffering with acute back pain.
After a lovely relaxing treatment to relieve the discomfort, they walk out of the shop feeling as if they’re walking on air.
However, the following day, it’s bath time as usual and they’re bending themselves in half to support and wash a tiny tot who weighs considerably more than that description implies. This can lead to long-term back problems that could go beyond the restorative qualities of back massages.
There is so much baby equipment today that is designed to take the strain out of parenthood and help to save our backs – as Ashley J Downs reveals here.
Back care professionals everywhere shake their heads at the awkward postures we assume for long periods so as to keep bath time safe for our tiny babies. Even someone with the strongest core muscles is going to put strain on their back bent over at an awkward angle with both hands supporting the weight of a baby whilst, simultaneously washing it – any woman that’s not long given birth will tell you it’s agony and no, you can’t have gas and air!
But, finally, an inspired designer has come up with the solution to all these problems. It’s called a Tummy Tub and it’s an upright bath that is shaped like a womb, holding baby in the familiar foetal position, warm and cocooned right up to the shoulders. Despite this, a standard sized baby bath uses considerably more water, so it is heavier to lift and far less ecologically friendly.
There’s even a stand that lifts it to the perfect back-saving height then turns into a step as baby turns into independent tiddler then a box for them to store their treasures in after that. No wonder it’s won awards, it’s one of those things that makes you wonder why someone didn’t think of it years ago. Maybe because we were all busy clinging to slippery babies then holding our aching backs, huh?
Ashley J Downs has been at the sharp end of parenting for over a decade and is well versed in the joy and pain of childcare. For baby shops online and to find out more about using
baby bath sets
to make bathtime fun for all the family
Source: http://www.submityourarticle.com
Mentholated Crystal
I can remember my Dad ‘inhaling’ Mentholated Crystal and other airway-clearing products with his towel-covered head over a bowl of hot water on the kitchen table.
I did try it once… and hated it. I just got hot and sweaty and uncomfortable. So, when I arrived for my massage and complained about my bunged up nose, I was not very receptive to Mike’s suggestion of inhaling.
However, on the basis that my nose started running within 30 seconds of going face down on the couch, I changed my mind.
Instead of a bowl of hot water, he set light to some charcoal in a bowl and set then added the waxy white Mentholated crystals before placing them on the floor underneath the hole in the bed.
It didn’t take more than a lungful of the pungent smoke to see me rearing up off the bed to try to get away as Mike instructed me to ‘breathe’.
Two more inhalations and I started to notice the benefits as the mucus in my sinuses began to clear.
According to Wikipedia, Menthol has local anesthetic and counterirritant qualities, and it is widely used to relieve minor throat irritations.
I shall certainly be using it again in the future.
The Ark carries a wide range of aromatherapy oils and incense sticks, as well as Shishas, charcoal and Shisha products, including frankincense.