Hello and welcome to part three of your blogs this month, during the second lockdown the UK is experiencing.
Last week I told you that I would talk to you some more about why regular massage is beneficial to your mental health.
Life Responsibilities
How often do you have responsibilities to other people? How often are you in your employee role, your parent role, your employer, spouse, sibling, child roles? When was the last time you were just YOU?
Come for a massage and that is exactly who you are, just you, for one hour. I have covered clocks up to aid the clock watcher worried about his next job. I have chatted random things with people about life in general, never once touching upon their jobs or children, spouses, or pets, because the rest of their life is about those things.
Come for a massage and the whole appointment is about you, not just six minutes that the doctor can give you, not the briefest time other professionals provide their clients. I will not be massaging you with one hand and scrolling Facebook with the other…. this sadly happened to a client of mine visiting another therapist in the Hinckley area!
Come for a massage and talk about things that are on your mind with no judgement. I am a sounding board for many an issue and I am excellent at keeping your confidence. I am not a counsellor at all, and will recommend Kelly Williams at Amukelani Counselling www.facebook.com/amukelanicounselling should you need a professionals help. But sometimes getting those niggling things off your chest, while I work the niggles from your muscles, will help you feel more relaxed than keeping it all locked away.
Add to those things the serotonin and other hormones released during sports massage, and you will feel the benefits mentally as well as physically.
Serotonin release has been researched to effectively boost your mood as well as lower your levels of depression and anxiety, so could be beneficial in combining with a mental health treatment plan.
Mental Health and Exercise
I am also passionate about getting you into sport and exercise, and hope that you take my enthusiasm with you into the outside world and allow it to push you to introduce exercise into your life, or to try the rehab exercises I email to you after your appointment. Movement is exactly what your body was designed to do, and when you do move, you create your own feel good hormones and improve your own ability to heal, which all positively impacts your mental health more than you can know.
Busy Life
But how do you go about introducing massage into your life when you are already so busy? Self-care is important, but it often gets shunted to the bottom of the list after the grocery shopping, the laundry, the job, the cooking, the children… with that in mind, I have some exciting news to impart with you about changes that are coming to Astral Fitness Sports Massage to help you out with staying in a good place both mentally and physically, and never missing out on your preferred appointment time with me, ever.
Check back next week to find out exactly what it is….
Take care of yourself and I hope to see you very, very, soon. In the meantime if you need to get in touch, please do Contact Me.
Chloe