The benefits of massage have been recognised for around 3,000 years in human civilisation, and are repeated throughout the animal kingdom. This is because of the instinctive nature of touch.

Effects of a stressor
Our autonomic nervous systems are programmed to instinctively rub a muscle that aches, to crave a comforting hug when we are upset… A stressor to the body can relate to a person’s emotional or physical state, and very often we don’t know that we are affected as our body learns to adapt to the stressor.

When we are stressed our sympathetic nervous system cuts in, an evolutionary device which prepares our bodies to fight danger or to run away from it. This is commonly known as ‘fight or flight’.

It shuts down any non-vital bodily processes such as digestion and skin circulation to focus its energies on tensing muscles, raising our heart beat and breathing rate to feed our muscles with more fuel from the blood and heightening the inflammatory immune response in case of injury ‘running away’.

You can imagine then how prolonged stress can take its toll on the body leading to further related problems. This is especially damaging in today’s age since stressors are increasingly emotional and the body is not required to ‘fight’ a stressor – so the body remains firing on all cylinders, waiting for the physical exertion.

Effects of massage
Soothing touch stimulates the skin’s nerve endings, which send a message to our brain to reverse the effects of the sympathetic nervous system. Nerves contracting the muscle stop, blood pressure decreases, breathing slows, digestive functioning returns and endorphins (the body’s feel-good hormones) are released into the system to negate any areas of pain and make us feel happy.

Using a variety of massage techniques, stretches and visualisations, I break down muscle knots, referred areas of tension, invigorate the circulation to any sluggish areas, calm the mind and return my clients to a healthier and stronger functioning state from which they can maintain a better physiological and psychological balance.

Please note, there are some conditions in which massage is not beneficial to the body. Please do make me aware of any medical contraindications you know of ahead of booking a treatment and I will happily advise if massage is suitable.