Beat Holiday Stress

While the holidays can bring a tremendous amount of joy to the otherwise bleak winter weather, this gift is definitely a mixed blessing. Along with choosing thoughtful presents, decorating our homes, and spending time with family, most of us feel a significant amount of stress during this part of the year. The pressure of creating the perfect day, ensuring family harmony, and keeping everyone satisfied can drain the last bit of energy from the best of us. After the holidays, the anti-climactic let-down and remaining months of winter can lead to seasonal depression. For those who suffer from year-round depression, the constant cheer and festivities can increase feelings of emptiness or isolation. The holidays frequently bring thoughts of parents and other loved-ones who may have passed. While happy memories are comforting to some of us, they can trigger the grieving process in others every year. If you’re feeling down, a massage can offer an all-natural method to lift your mood and ease your stress levels.

Ease Your Stress Levels with a Relaxing Massage!

If you’ve ever had a massage, you’ll probably agree that it’s one of the most relaxing experiences that anyone can ever have. Depending on your preferences, you probably reclined on a padded massage table in a dimly lit room with soft music playing in the background. Maybe, your senses were soothed by the flickering light of lightly-scented candles as the massage therapist gently eased the tension from your tight muscles. By the time the session was over, your mind was at ease and your body was in a complete state of relaxation. Although massage simply feels good, this isn’t the whole story when it comes to stress relief!

Your Body’s Reaction to Stress
As holiday stress takes its toll on our mind and body, we unconsciously react by creating stress-related chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol. Our heart races, our blood pressure soars, and our energy level eventually drops. If the stressors are removed, our system will eventually self-regulate, but who goes even a single day without a stressful event? Out-of-control adrenalin and cortisol can disrupt your sleep cycle, promote weight gain, trigger depression, and cause a host of other physical problems. Massage can calm the body’s stress response system to reduce the amount of adrenaline and cortisol produced. While you may think this would only be effective during the massage, studies have shown that the benefits can last for days. In addition to reducing these stress chemicals, massage also increases serotonin, a well-known mood regulator, and endorphins, our body’s natural opiates that relieve pain and provide us with an overall sense of well-being.

Massage and Depression
A study reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry reported 17 different studies that followed 786 people receiving regular massage made a significant improvement in alleviating depression symptoms. In addition to decreasing adrenaline and cortisol while increasing serotonin and endorphins, massage stimulates production of a chemical known as oxytocin, a trust hormone. In addition to chemical changes, reduced stress levels, increased relaxation, and a little personal contact are all thought to provide relief to depressed individuals.

If the holiday season has left you stressed, depressed, or exhausted, it’s time to claim your own holiday present! Treat yourself to a healthy massage, and you’ll soon feel like a new person. If you’ve weathered the storm without damage, treat a friend, a family member, or your special someone to a massage session. They’ll definitely appreciate your thoughtful gift!