For many of us that goal will have something to do with our physical and/or mental health. It might be to:

Treat yourself better - get more sleep, do more exercise, eat more healthily

Find more me time - make time to take a deep breath and relieve the stresses of your daily life

Get fit - Start walking everywhere, use the stairs instead of the lift, try couch to 5K

Get fitter - Go to the gym more regularly, start a new sport, go further, go faster

Run a marathon - Write up a training plan, build up the miles, learn to push-through

Do a triathlon - Improve your swim, bike and run, learn to sea swim, perfect your T1 and T2

Whatever your goal, it’s worth knowing that regular massage can transform your body and mind, increasing you productivity and motivation. 

Here are 14 impressive benefits that massage can have on your physical and mental health:

Positively impact your mental health and well-being

It is important to take a holistic approach to mental health. There is no one-stop solution or magic pill that can instantly make everything better, but learning to slow down, take care of yourself and find balance is a great beginning. Regular massage, as part of a well-rounded health and wellness focus, can make a world of difference. 

Reduce stress and anxiety

Cortisol is the “stress” hormone. When you’ve got high levels of cortisol racing around your body, you feel exhausted, anxious, and tense. Long-term stress and elevated cortisol levels can lead to a host of other health problems. Massage has been proven to reduce cortisol levels by as much as 30 percent, in turn helping your body to battle anxiety naturally.

Naturally Increase your body’s production of happy hormones

Scientists have discovered that massage can boost both serotonin and dopamine by about 30 percent, giving you a natural mood boost. It also helps release oxytocin, also known as the ‘love’ or ‘cuddle’ hormone, promoting deep feelings of wellbeing, ease, and comfort.

Relieve Symptoms of Depression

Researchers analysed 17 clinical studies to see if massage therapy can help ease symptoms of depression. Every single study concluded that massage had positive results in relieving some of the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Please note: If you do suffer from depression massage is just part of the tool kit that can help you. Please make sure you get professional help and advice to find out what other tools are available to you on your healing journey.

Calm Your Mind

Along with the physical changes that massage can induce, the simple act of taking a break from your workload, can help reset your brain and let you take a deep breath. The opportunity to step away for a moment can help give you perspective, so you return to your tasks with a calmer mind and body.

Improve Your Sleep

Getting plenty of regular sleep is an essential part of any wellness routine. Without it, we are more susceptible to a range of physical and mental problems. The effects of increased blood circulation, lowered heart rate, and relaxed muscles can help you sleep more easily, and for longer, when your head finally hits the pillow. 
 

Help you Feel Fresh and Energised

When your mental health is suffering you can feel constantly drained and exhausted. Because massage improves circulation, It can help you feel more energised and focused, banishing those feelings of fatigue and lethargy.

Relax and soften tired, overused and injured muscles

Overused and injured muscles contain adhesions and minor scar tissue between muscles and the surrounding fascia. These tensions and adhesions can impair your range of motion, leading to abnormal movement patterns that can cause overuse injuries. Massage relaxes tense muscles and removes any adhesions and scar tissue.

Help avoid injury

Regular maintenance massages are a great way to maintain overall muscle health and to identify any problem areas before injuries occur. A qualified remedial massage therapist will be able to highlight any areas of weakness of tightness and provide you with strengthening and stretching exercises to rectify any imbalances.

Help speed up injury rehabilitation

Massage enhances tissue permeability, allowing oxygen and nutrients to reach your muscle cells faster and remove waste products. It aids the break down of scar tissue and can optimise your muscle fibres orientation following muscle remodelling and hard training periods.

Reduce pain and tension

Deep tissue massage relieves pain and tension in several ways, including relaxing painful muscles, tendons, and joints, relieving stress and anxiety, and helping to “close the pain gate” by stimulating competing nerve fibres and impeding pain messages to and from the brain.

Stretch tight muscles, Increase flexibility & range of motion

Massage helps reduce muscle tightness and increase flexibility and range of motion by increasing tissue elasticity. Massage applies pressure to muscle fibres, stretching and elongating them. A good sports or remedial massage will use stretches and advanced massage techniques such as Soft Tissue Release and Muscle Energy Techniques to soften and lengthen your muscles.

Improve posture

By carrying out a postural analysis, a massage therapist can identify any musculoskeletal imbalances that are contributing to your posture. Massage therapy can then reduce muscle tension, loosen joints and allow you to move more freely, encouraging good posture. A therapist will then suggest lifestyle changes and exercises that will help correct any imbalances or weaknesses.

Help you train harder

Sports massage speeds up the healing process in your soft tissues and rebalances your musculoskeletal system, allowing you to avoid injury, optimise your training and maximise your performance.

Sources

Cortisol decreases and serotonin and dopamine increase following massage therapy - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16162447/

Treatment effects of massage therapy in depressed people: a meta-analysis - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20361919/

Effectiveness of massage therapy on shoulder range of motion - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28265175/

Lower back pain is reduced and range of motion increased after massage therapy - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11264915/ 

Therapeutic Massage for Pain Relief - https://www.health.harvard.edu/alternative-and-integrative-health/therapeutic-massage-for-pain-relief

Effect of sports massage on performance and recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis - https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000614/?