The human nervous system is an exquisitely sensitive instrument:. It responds brilliantly to every kind of experience life can throw at us. As always, from primitive life to modern, a part of that experience involves stress. Short term stress is not only a part of life, it can be quite healthy. Weight training, for example, or a run on a forested path, puts the body under a positive and constructive kind of stress. In this case you are in control of the stress, and you deliberately push your body to its limits. When you make sure to hydrate, replenish, take in nutrients and protein, then your body, your health, your mood, and your quality of sleep are all the better for it.
Modern life however, can inflict a different kind of stress: protracted and chronic, and this is the sort scientists have told us for decades is a literal killer. Anxiety irritates the autonomic nervous system, and puts you in that fight-or-flight mode we hear so much about. Chronic stress, anxiety and worry degrade every system in the body, including the immune system. They also affect your thinking. Rather than expansive, creative and measured, under stress your problem-solving skills narrow considerably. There are many remedies for this, including better management and reduction of the causes of stress, a commitment to exercise, self-care rituals, and meditation or mindfulness practice.
It turns out a talented massage therapist can help! Reduced muscle tension, improved circulation and the reduction of pain all help the body recover from the physical and psychological wages of stress. Most of all, the magic of human touch, and its myriad benefits for emotional and psychological well-being, have an astonishingly positive effect: melting stress and tension from the human mind and body. This is the reason many chronically busy people seek out regular massage. Skin-on-skin contact for as little as ten minutes has been shown to reduce cortisol and adrenaline, and boost those wonderfully healing, calming natural chemicals like oxytocin and dopamine. This allows you to relax again, and step back into your life feeling healthier, more relaxed, and with vastly improved problem-solving ability.
Thank you for tuning in this month! We’ll see you in next month’s newsletter, and please do follow us on social media.
|
