Regular Massage Habit as a Secret for Success

Read the reasons why more and more successful people are now considering a massage habit to be an essential item in their routine and how it helps them perform at the top of their game.

1. Increased mental resilience

Massage can toughen up your mental state. In a study conducted by the Psychological Bulletin, a great deduction in anxiety and depression was found in patients after massage therapy. Resilience to depression and anxiety can give you the strength to respond in a stronger way to challenges that come up rather than to let these challenges drag you down.

2. Increased mental alertness and stronger mental performance

The following factors greatly affect your mental alertness: amount of sleep in 24 hours, types of foods consumed, amount of daily exercise, exposure to sunlight and water intake and hydration. However, studies strongly suggest that massage can be added to this list. One such study conducted by several universities reports that the massage control group showed increased speed and computational problems after massage therapy.

3. Increased mental alertness and stronger mental performance

1. Increased mental resilience

Massage can toughen up your mental state. In a study conducted by the Psychological Bulletin, a great deduction in anxiety and depression was found in patients after massage therapy. Resilience to depression and anxiety can give you the strength to respond in a stronger way to challenges that come up rather than to let these challenges drag you down.

2. Increased mental alertness and stronger mental performance

The following factors greatly affect your mental alertness: amount of sleep in 24 hours, types of foods consumed, amount of daily exercise, exposure to sunlight and water intake and hydration. However, studies strongly suggest that massage can be added to this list. One such study conducted by several universities reports that the massage control group showed increased speed and computational problems after massage therapy.

3. Natural immune booster

Mark Rapaport M.D., a professor and chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University in Atlanta has lead research in the area and has reported that massage boosts the immune system in a number of ways, making you less likely to catch common infections. Not only that but it can also boost the number of your NK cells, which serve to protect the body against more serious infections. Natural killer cells (also known as NK cells, K cells, and killer cells) are a type of lymphocyte (a white blood cell) and a component of the innate immune system. They play a major role in the host-rejection of both tumours and virally infected cells.

4. Deeper, better quality sleep

Massage encourages a much deeper and better quality sleep. It decreases cortisol levels (the hormone that is an integral part of your stress response) and increases seratonin and dopamine levels (the hormones that contribute to happiness and better quality sleep).

5. Increased self-esteem

By the very nature of adding a pleasurable therapeutic habit to your lifestyle you are re-inforcing the subconscious belief that your self-indulgence and health are worth investing in. A NCBI study backs this up by proving that the self-esteem of an experimental group of Korean elderly women was positively affected after massage therapy.

Resources –
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14717648 http://www.academia.edu/13414268/Massage_Therapy_Reduces_Anxiety_and_Enhances_Eeg_Pattern_of_Alertness_and_Math_Computations https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3107905
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17145679

Inspiration – Massage Therapy May boost Immune System
Researcher – The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine