Western Medicine, is just beginning to “mildly” acknowledge some of the benefits of massage. This is an almost “reluctant” acceptance of the possibility that this method of health improvement, which has been used in almost every known civilization and culture for thousands of years, “may” have some connection to being healthy.
This attitude is not surprising, since the traditional view of health fitness held by Western Medicine is a “piece-by-piece” view of the body, rather than a whole body, or holistic approach which is the focus of most natural healing systems such as:
• Holistic Medicine;
• Massage Therapy;
• Acupuncture;
• Acupressure;
• Meditation;
• And Yoga.
Looking at the body as being “connected” in every way, on every level makes complete sense, and total body healing is the goal of most every natural healing method.
Western medical research, on massage therapy has shown that just a few of the benefits of massage include:
• Pain relief;
• Reduced anxiety;
• Help with depression;
• Improvement in sleep disorders;
• Reduction in blood pressure;
• Improvement in blood circulation;
• Increased flexibility;
• Improvement in health fitness.
“Speculation” by Western Medicine as to why there are noticeable results such as these using medical massage therapy include:
• Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps stimulate the release of endorphins and serotonin (beneficial nerve and “feel good” chemicals normally released by our body during activities such as sustained sports, working out, meditation etc.);
• Preventing fibrosis or scar tissue;
• Increasing the flow of lymph (our natural body cleansing system, and a way to “detox” ourselves);
• Improving sleep disorders.
Comments