Are you being chased by a bear?
Are you being chased by a bear?
By Carolyn Rankin, LMT
You’re probably the kind of person who doesn’t have any stress in your life …
But if you just laughed out loud at that sentence, you need to keep reading.
Stress reduction is one of the top reasons people seek massage therapy.
Short-term stress is necessary and can save your life. When you find yourself in a threatening, stressful situation, like being chased by a bear, your survival instinct kicks in. Your body needs to find the energy to get you away from that threat as fast as it can.
Your body does this by releasing stress hormones called cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones activate your “fight-or-flight” response to increase sugars in your bloodstream, elevate your heart rate and blood pressure, and keep you on high alert and ready to take action.
In times of stress, the systems in your body work together to give you that immediate boost of energy:
Musculoskeletal system: Extra blood is pumped into your muscles. This allows your muscles to tense up so you are ready to spring into action.
Cardiovascular system: Your heart works overtime, beating faster and keeping up blood pressure to pump that extra blood into your muscles.
Respiratory system: Your lungs work harder to keep extra oxygen in your blood, resulting in shortness of breath and possibly hyperventilation.
Nonessential systems: These are on the back burner so the above systems can do their job. That means that your digestive and reproductive systems slow down.
This is great in the moment. The problem is that human beings keep experiencing stressful situations by replaying them over and over again in their minds.
When your mind holds on to these memories, your body continues to release stress hormones as if you are still in danger. Your heart and lungs will continue to overwork to keep your muscles tense and your digestive and reproductive functions will be chronically suppressed.
Massage therapy communicates to your physical body that you are not in immediate distress by calming your nervous system, warming your tissues, and reducing pain.
Massage also provides a safe space and time for your mind. When you stop thinking about all your stressors, even just temporarily, it signals your body to stop releasing stress hormones.
By working on your body and your mind at the same time, massage can help your bodily systems can go back to functioning properly again.