Feelings of anxiety and stress can creep into our everyday lives from a variety of places. Whether it’s the stress of work, muscle tension from physical activity, or anxiety from chronic pain, using massage for anxiety may be beneficial. Persistent anxiety, however, may be indicative of a more serious medical condition so it’s important to speak to a medical professional if you’re feeling anxiety for a prolonged period of time.
So how might massage for anxiety help? Today we’re exploring what happens to your body during a massage and how different massage techniques for anxiety may improve your mental and physical wellbeing.
How a Massage for Anxiety and Stress May Help
If you’ve ever had a massage you’ve undoubtedly experienced how calming and relaxing they can be! What makes them so relaxing, though? How do they melt away our worries? A few ways using massage for anxiety and stress may help include:
- Relaxing muscle tension in the body
- Lowering cortisol levels
- Boosting serotonin to reduce anxiety
- Alleviating pain causing anxiety and stress
Relieving Muscle Tension From Anxiety
One of the more noticeable ways massage for anxiety and stress may benefit you is by relieving muscle tension. These two health conditions often go hand-in-hand in a downward spiral as anxiety and stress causes us to subconsciously tense up while the discomfort of muscle tension can lead to increased anxiety and stress.
A therapeutic massage for anxiety helps relieve muscle tension by warming the surrounding soft tissue, improving blood flow, and gently stretching the muscles for greater flexibility. For more targeted muscle tension relief, massage chairs with body scanning technology are able to determine where your muscles need attention in real time and adapt to focus where you need it most. This makes them a great option for experiencing massage techniques for anxiety while relaxing in the comfort of your own home.
Inverse Relationship Between Cortisol and Anxiety
One of the ways using massage for anxiety may be beneficial is by lowering cortisol levels. Studies have shown that massage may reduce cortisol levels, making it a potentially effective method for anxiety relief.
So what is cortisol? Cortisol is a natural hormone in the body that produces fight-or-flight feelings. As the body’s main stress hormone, think of cortisol as your internal alarm system. As you relax during a massage, lower cortisol levels mean your anxiety and stress levels may melt away leaving you feeling better both physically and mentally.
Getting regular massages for anxiety may help continue these benefits. That’s where having a home massage chair is ideal. Many people find one of the primary benefits of owning a massage chair is being able to use it daily without working expensive massage therapist appointments into your already busy schedule.
Correlation Between Serotonin and Anxiety
Another naturally occurring hormone within your body that may benefit from getting a massage for anxiety is serotonin. While most commonly found in the digestive system, serotonin is also found in blood platelets throughout the central nervous system.
Serotonin helps in regulating your mood. This means that lower levels of serotonin are often associated with feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress. As massage for anxiety lowers cortisol levels, serotonin levels increase, potentially helping elevate your mood and alleviate anxiety and stress.
How Massage Helps Chronic Pain and Anxiety
When it comes to massage for anxiety, chronic pain can be a common catalyst. Chronic back pain, leg pain, and other ailments could lead to feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress.
Think about how you feel when you’re in pain. You want to treat it, right? If you’re experiencing chronic pain, however, you may be experiencing anxiety about when the pain may start that day, how to treat it, wondering if you’ll ever be rid of it, or a plethora of other concerns.
Whether you’re seeing a massage therapist or using a massage chair for chronic pain, you may experience the benefits of massage for anxiety, as well. You can take treatment for chronic pain up a notch in luxury massage chairs with bonus features.
For example, using heated massage chairs for back pain can elevate the massage experience to relax your mind and body further as you heal more quickly. If you’re debating on the best massage chair to buy, choosing a zero gravity reclining massage chair alleviates excess pressure from your lower back and is ideal for back pain and sciatica symptoms. The benefits of zero gravity position may also enhance massage for anxiety and chronic pain in other ways, too.
Therapeutic Massage Techniques for Anxiety and Stress
Whether you’re visiting a massage therapist or experiencing the benefits of massage chairs at home, there are different massage techniques for anxiety you may want to try. Therapeutic massage has been shown to be potentially effective for generalized anxiety disorder. Different therapeutic massage techniques include:
- Swedish massage
- Sports massage
- Deep tissue massage
- Shiatsu massage
The different types of therapeutic massage for anxiety make a massage chair worth buying for home use. If you have a high end massage chair you can easily switch between massage techniques for anxiety at will. Feeling like you need deep tissue massage benefits today? You’ve got it! Want your chair to be a shiatsu massage chair? It’s ready at the touch of a button.
Advancements in luxury massage chairs have eliminated the gap between using a massage chair vs human massage, allowing you to experience the top benefits of massage chairs from the comfort of your home without sacrificing quality.
Experiencing anxiety and stress is bad for both your mental and physical health. Now that you’ve seen the potential benefits of massage for anxiety, it’s time to go out and treat yourself! Making a massage for anxiety part of your regular self-care routine can keep you feeling your best. Choose a massage chair and enjoy these benefits from the comfort of your own home whenever you’d like! As always, for persistent feelings of anxiety and stress it’s essential to see your healthcare professional as it may be symptoms of depression or other medical conditions.
Want to learn more about luxury massage chairs and how they can change your life? Check out these resources:
