Benefits of Bodywork

Why do people love bodywork? Why does it feel so good? There are many reasons, yet they can all be distilled down to one common thing: Bodywork helps the mind and the body function more smoothly. In our natural state of ease, life is relatively effortless, our bodies move freely and our minds operate with clarity. It's a joy to be alive. Under stress, however, this wonderful flow of energy gets restricted. If the stress is allowed to persist, and accumulate, we begin to feel it in our bodies in the form of tension, pain, and fatigue. And it takes a toll on us mentally and emotionally as well.

Good thing we have massage therapy! It's often all we need to get back to that place where we "feel like ourselves again." Here are some of the specific benefits that bodywork provides:

• Softens and relaxes muscle tissue, providing greater ease, less pain, and more energy.
• Improves circulation, which brings more oxygen and nutrients to the cells, and carries away more toxins, all of which translates into more energy and vitality.
• Assists the functioning of the lymphatic system, which results in improved immune response, as well as detoxification. Toxicity can be responsible for irritated nerve fibers, headaches, joint pain and inflammation.
• Stimulates the internal organs, improving digestion, assimilation, and elimination.
• Helps the autonomic nervous system get out of its stress-induced sympathetic mode (the "fight-or-flight response"), and return to its parasympathetic mode (the "relaxation response"), resulting in improved digestion, circulation, immune response, and hormonal activity.
• May release stagnant emotional energy, which the body has been guarding with muscular tension. This release can bring greater clarity, lightness, and joy.

Overall, bodywork helps the body and mind remember how to operate with ease. And the more ease we feel, the more enjoyable our lives become.