Can Massage Help With Anxiety?
Yes. The End.
If only it was that simple.
A Common question I get from potential clients is “Will massage help with anxiety?” or a similar iteration of that question anyway. I always say yes, immediately, here’s why…
Since anxiety is quite interconnected with the stress & fear of the future, the giant what ifs of life, you could quite easily assume that the mind is not present in the here and now and is in fact in a distant land where everything is horrible or in this case, potentially going to be horrible for all eternity…what do i do, I’m not prepared for that, and what about my friends and family? The planet ROTATES? SANTA WAS NEVER REAL? Millions of thoughts coming at the person at a million miles an hour, all quite distressing.
Massage bridges the gap between the future and the present through your body. Thoughts will drift and the mind does still continue even while you receive a massage, but it slows and slowly the focus becomes internal rather than external. If there was a word for the magical moment when a very chatty client stops talking because they have drifted away peacefully, I would shout it from the rooftops because it would probably be a damn good word… but you know, there’s something to that. The speaking mind, the racing thoughts & the jaw were at one point all working together in “places” that were not really present. Eventually, and I do mean eventually……. it stops. The person receiving the massage stops talking, this is not rude or because I’m a bad therapist, but because they have begun to focus inward on them and their body, not their external life. What feels good, what feels bad, oh gee I feel tired, I feel wiped, I need a gatorade etc.
This is important because while you are there in that place, thinking of how you are and how you feel, you are not in the place of worry and anxious feelings. The future will always be there, but to sacrifice yourself in the present to worry about things that may never happen later down the line is something to avoid. If you feel anxious, a massage may be the best damn thing you could get.
You cannot relax and unwind, so I will make it happen for you and allow a natural unwinding of your own. It’s just that initial push you know? To still the mind for you.
Often, when clients leave me after a long session, they look like they are glowing and radiating because of the sheer relief they feel, no pain, no tension, everything is looser, their thoughts have been processed and everything is just calm. The stillness allows respite and in respite, rejuvination of the body, mind and soul.
To book in a session of massage therapy feel free to get in touch or book in via our website.
