Massage Therapy for Parents
When you are introduced to the safety features on a flight, the flight attendant instructs you to first put on your oxygen mask before helping your child. The reason for this order of events is simple; you must care for yourself before you can care for your child.
Parenting is the most important job you will ever do and to do your best, you have to be your best. The challenge of newborns, schedules of school-aged kids and difficulties of teenagers can deplete your energy levels and deprive you of sleep. This lack of sleep can cause you to be irritable and lethargic, ultimately affecting the way you make decisions, your ability to get things done and your patience. That’s why many parents turn to massage as a healthy, safe and effective alternative to replenish energy and restore the vitality essential to raising children. One hour of massage is the equivalent to the rest you get from seven or eight hours of sleep per night.
Massage also helps you:
- Enhance your immune system by stimulating lymph flow. You stay healthier longer by being able to more effectively fight off colds and infections.
- Lessen the effects of anxiety and stress often associated with a busy schedule or sleep deprivation.
- Improve oxygenation and nutrient flow throughout your bloodstream and to your brain boosting cognitive processes and helping you to think more clearly and effectively.
- Release endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, to relieve head and body aches brought on by stress.
Massage is more than pampering yourself at a spa. It is recognized in the medical field as a viable and effective treatment in taking control of health and well being. Massage helps eliminate the short and long-term effects of stress, which left untreated, can result in:
- High-blood pressure
- Increased pain
- Heart disease
- Digestive problems
- Sleep problems
- Depression
- Obesity
- Immune system deficiencies
- Skin conditions
Massage diminishes the short and long-term effects of stress by decreasing anxiety, enhancing quality of sleep, improving concentration, increasing circulation and reducing fatigue. For example, massage can boost your immunity by decreasing a hormone called cortisol in your body. Cortisol, produced when you are stressed, kills cells important to your immune system. Studies that have measured the amount of coristol in patient’s saliva before and after massage found a dramatic decrease after the session. When massage reduces stress, it also diminishes coristol, which may help you better fight off colds or other illnesses.
Massage is no longer just indulgence; it is an important tool in keeping yourself healthy for you and your family. By incorporating massage as integral and frequent part of your health regimen, you will have the energy and vigor to fully participate in your children’s lives.