Did you slave all Thanksgiving Day baking your turkey to the perfect shade of golden-brown only to gulp down 5 cups of coffee so that you could be first in line at the mall for the midnight-madness sale? Or perhaps you are the one who will wait right until Christmas Eve to rush into the stores and make a crazed dash through the isles like a Santa-Gone-Mad! Either way, you are tired and stressed, perhaps even exhausted and vowing to be the Grinch who will steal Christmas for all future holidays to come. Slow down, take a deep breath and relax. Massage can rid you of all that stress in about an hour!
Did you know that massage addresses a variety of health conditions, the most prevalent being stress-related tension, which experts believe is the pre-curser for 80-90% of all disease? That’s right – stress can be powerful blow to our system and before we know it, little ailments turn in to big ailments and then we find ourselves with a full-blown condition that needs to be treated by a medical professional. Stress has been shown to have both a direct and indirect relationship to a host of physical and emotional conditions, including headaches, muscle spasms, anxiety, depression and more. Clinical studies have proven that massage reduces both heart rate and blood pressure, as well as calms the sympathetic nervous system which is responsible for releasing a multitude of body-busting stress hormones in the first place. So, why not take some time out for yourself this holiday season? Or better yet, make yourself a priority into the New Year!
Massage offers a drug free, non-invasive, humanistic approach based on the body’s natural ability to heal itself and is therefore an important investment in your long-term health and well-being. The goal is to try and maintain balance in an unbalanced world. Having a massage at least once a month goes a long way towards preventative maintenance and keeping that balance. And as a bonus, it just feels fabulous! So, what are you waiting for? You only need to experience a good massage once to know that it is beneficial to body, mind and soul.
Cheers to your health and wellness in the New Year!
Celeste is the EAST|WEST Center's Licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist. Her areas of focus include, but are not limited to:
Musculoskeletal Pain (chronic and acute)
Stress / Anxiety
Depression
Sleep Disorders
Arthritis
Fibromyalgia
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Sciatica
Headaches
