What Massage Modality Is Right for Me?
Stress is all too common. In fact, as you just read the word you probably felt your heart beat a little faster and your mind race to your to-do list.
Your body encounters stress as soon as you wake up.
Whether it’s trying to get all of the kids to school on time, working hard to meet a strict deadline or simply trying to decide where to eat, you’ll be subjected to stress at varying levels).
You’re probably thinking, “I know I get stressed! Tell me something I don’t know.”
Okay, here it goes.
Stress affects your body. Nearly 77% of people regularly experience physical symptoms caused by excess levels of stress. Too much stress can lead to muscle tension, chest pain, heart disease, high blood pressure, acid reflux, an irregular heartbeat, depression and worse.
Fatigue
51% of people end up feeling fatigued due to anxiety or worry. This can actually create a snowball effect: you feel fatigued, which leads to not performing efficiently at work. You work longer to compensate, you miss a workout or other stress relieving activity… and so on.
Headache
44% (almost half) of people experiencing stress end up with a headache. Now, this may seem minor, but like fatigue, this can actually affect how you handle your daily workload. Have you ever had a severe headache and tried to do work? Not fun!
Weight Gain
Fat storage can also occur during anxious or stressful times. This can correlate to weight gain, especially in the abdominal area. However, exercising a few a days week can help control the weight gain as well as assist in eliminating stress.
Broken-Heart Syndrome
Called Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, this occurs when part of the heart balloons, causing chest pain and shortness of breath. Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy can be brought on by many different stressors.
We all endure trouble of some kind. A little pressure by itself is not a bad thing. Without it, we would not grow or adapt in positive ways.
It’s only when we are unable to respond to the amount of stress in healthy ways that stress becomes undesirable.
Fortunately, there are many ways to cope with stress, including massage, meditation, exercise and even sharing the causes of your crazy stressors with others.
So take a deep calming breath, take a walk, schedule a massage, and share some quality time with your friends. Stress-busting tools deployed!
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