“Get a Massage” is part of a monthly column of mental health articles by Karen Munson. Read the previous month’s article, “Get Adequate Sleep,” at the link.
We’re smack dab in the middle of the holiday season with Halloween and Thanksgiving just behind us and Christmas upon us. Although Christmas is still a couple weeks away, we have been getting retail messages since October on how to be prepared. This can be the most inspirational yet stressful season of the year with all its incumbent expectations. Here is one idea of how to relieve some of that.
Massage can lower stress levels and feelings of anxiety. It can improve mood and relaxation while increasing confidence and self-image. If you experience depression or anxiety or feel overloaded with extra stress, massage can be an effective answer.
Physical and Emotional Benefits
Massage reduces stress. In one study performed at Chang Gung University in Taiwan, participants’ cortisol levels (the fight or flight stress hormone) decreased significantly during the massage, and the effects continued for up to 18 hours afterward.
Massage improves sleep. Sleep deprivation weakens our immune system and causes anxiety and depression. Utilizing lavender, peppermint, and Roman chamomile during a massage increases relaxation and improves sleep.
Massage reduces pain. It is difficult to enjoy the festivities if you are in pain.
The Massage Therapy Foundation’s research showed a significant decrease in pain levels after giving thirty-minute massages several times a week for patients experiencing pain. The study also showed increased relaxation and improved healing and sleep patterns.
Massage detoxes your body. Nobody wants to be sick during the holidays. After receiving a massage, drink a great deal of water. The water flushes out all the waste products and impurities stored in your lymphatic system that massage releases. The massage will also improve your blood circulation.
Massage is a healthy and drug-free way to promote calm. If booking with a massage therapist doesn’t fit your financial or time budget, you can give yourself a massage.
Ayurvedic Self-Massage
As an alternative to getting a massage from a therapist, consider an Ayurvedic self-massage known as Abhyanga or warm oil massage. It involves rubbing a warm oil into your skin from head to toe. Using specific massage strokes on your joints and muscles, this type of massage can help lower stress, improve your sleep, and enhance your overall wellness.
You can choose from several fresh oils. Common choices include sesame oil, olive oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, and almond oil. You can also use herb-infused oils that are available online which are customized to balance your body’s energies.
You will want at least a half cup of oil. It can be in a small squeeze bottle placed in hot water until it is warm to the touch.
Instructions*
Remove your clothing and step into your bathtub or sit on a towel. Dedicate a specific towel for this purpose as it is difficult to remove oils in the towel.
Start at the crown of your head and massage oil into your scalp, rubbing through your hair and fully massaging the scalp. Progress to your temples, forehead, cheeks, nose, and upper lip using a circular motion. Rub your earlobes and around your outer and inner ear using the tips of your fingers.
Add more oil as needed.
Use long downward strokes on your neck.
Firm long strokes help to move lymph to flush toxins and provide grounding for the body.
Progress to your hands and fingers first, then the arms using long strokes toward your torso and circular strokes on the elbows.
Massage one arm and then the other.
Use broad, circular clockwise strokes on the chest. This releases toxins and helps keep the tissue healthy.
Reach around to your back and bottom, rubbing with circular strokes as far as you can reach.
Take your time working the oil in with slow steady strokes.
Starting on the right side of the stomach, use circular motions across the right side of the abdomen to the stomach and onto the left side. This follows the pattern of digestion. You may use the palm of your hand if you prefer.
As with the arms, use long strokes up your legs towards your torso with circular motions on the knees.
Use circular motions on the feet. Pay special attention to the sole and individual toes. Feel the difference between your feet after you finish one before doing the second. Once you have finished both feet, your full body massage is almost complete.
Afterward
Now that you have applied warm oil to the entire surface of your skin, rest. Take some deep breaths and relax. Allow time for the oil to absorb into your skin. The longer you wait, the more oil will be absorbed.
When you are ready, rinse off in a warm bath or shower without soap or a mild one.
Cautions
Be careful about slipping as the oil will make your body and surfaces slippery. Using a bath mat or towel will help you stay safe.
Massage before eating rather than afterward as a full stomach could be uncomfortable getting massaged.
I used olive oil for its healthful properties. The first time I did this, my skin soaked up the oil quickly and I needed to apply more on each new section. My body went from brittle to supple. It felt as though I had engulfed myself in an enormous warm embrace.
Christmas is often equated with gift-giving. Whether you opt for a massage from a massage therapist or try the warm oil self-massage, this treatment can be a gift you give yourself to make the holidays more relaxing and enjoyable.
*For more information or demonstrations about doing this yourself, try searching “Ayurvedic self-massage” or “Abhyanga massage” on the internet.
– by Karen Munson
Karen M. Munson – Escalante
Karen is an associate editor at The Byway. She is fascinated and fulfilled by all things involved with writing. After graduating from BYU, she taught English at Escalante High School for three years. She pursues opportunities to write and support others in their writing. Karen has published three books with four more scheduled to be released in 2024. She and Reed are the parents of ten children and the grandparents of 35 grandchildren.
Karen is the author of the New Twist on Mental Health column in The Byway.