 |  |
 |
 |
 | ||
Spiral Eye NewsletterSummer May-June 2007
How many things that are good for you actually feel good, too? Massage is not just for relaxation and that feeling of well-being afterwards. In this issue, I'm highlighting some of the benefits of massage as described in a recent article posted on CNN's web site. Studies show massage can ease insomnia, boost immunity, prevent PMS, and more. Massage increases blood flow to the muscles, which may help them heal and is especially effective for aches like low-back pain. Massage can slow your heart rate, reduce blood pressure, and block your nervous system's pain receptors. Massage can also ease distress from migraine, labor pain, cancer, and the body tenderness experienced with fibromyalgia. Brain-wave activity stimulated by massage is linked to deep sleep, boosted alertness, and improved attention (although probably not all at the same time). Massage can help to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and PMS symptoms such as pain, water retention, and mood swings. All this in addition to relaxation and a feeling of well-being - massage is good for you and feels good, too! If you'd like to read the entire article, see the text below and soon to be posted on my web site. Namaste, * * * ABMP (Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals) is a national organization whose members believe that everyone deserves a massage. Check out the Massage Finder on ABMP's consumer web site: www.massagetherapy.com * * * "Sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left." - Itzhak Perlman "... The important thing is at any given moment to be willing to sacrifice what you are for what you could become." - Thich Nhat Hanh "Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed." - Mark Twain " No man ever travels so high or so far as he who does not know where he is going." - Oliver Cromwell "Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow - it empties today of its strength." - Cori Tenboom * * * Things Worth KnowingDark chocolate contains more anti-oxidants than green tea. Eating less starch and sugar may help to lessen hot flashes. Setting up a fan in the room will speed up line-drying of clothing and eliminate mustiness. Consuming dairy products may contribute to yeast infections in some women. Sleep-deprivation can increase appetite. If you're watching your weight, be sure to get enough rest as well as exercise. Calories consumed on your birthday don't count. * * * Vacation Postcard My husband and I have just returned from a trip back east to the Philadelphia area and New York City. We had a good time visiting with family and friends and seeing some sights. We spent an afternoon in the historic district of Philly, and the park ranger even invited me "inside the velvet rope" to touch the Liberty Bell. New York was great, and the food was fabulous. Talk about eating our way thru a vacation. Fortunately we walked a lot and didn't gain any weight. We saw Phantom of the Opera on Broadway (what great voices!), took a couple of bus tours, went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum, Top of the Rockefeller Center, Central Park, and generally got a taste of Manhattan. * * * Massage: It's real medicine By Kristyn Kusek Lewis
Having your honey rub your back is sweet, but it's tough to compete with the hands of a pro. A good massage therapist can make you feel like a new person. And now research suggests massage can ease insomnia, boost immunity, prevent PMS, and more. Maybe that's why hospitals are making it a standard therapy. "All of our surgery patients are offered the treatment -- I call it 'service with a smile' -- and it's a mandatory weekly prescription I give myself," says Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., director of the Cardiovascular Institute at New York Presbyterian Hospital--Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and a member of the board at LLuminari, a health-education company. Our advice: Enjoy your hands-on time with your sweetie, but set aside some time for a real massage, too. Here are some feel-good reasons: Goodbye, painIt sounds like a no-brainer, but rubdowns are especially effective for aches like low-back pain. Researchers at the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle, Washington, found that massage works better than common treatments including chiropractic therapy and acupuncture. It's not clear why, but several studies show massage reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol while boosting the feel-good hormones serotonin and dopamine. Those changes slow your heart rate, reduce blood pressure, and block your nervous system's pain receptors. Massage also increases blood flow to the muscles, which may help them heal. A bonus: Massage also seems to ease distress from migraine, labor pain, and even cancer, as well as the body tenderness seen with fibromyalgia, says Tiffany Field, Ph.D., director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Plus, the benefits may last as long as a year after just a few treatments, says Partap Khalsa, Ph.D., a chiropractor and a program officer at the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the agency funding many major studies on massage. Hello, dreamsFluctuations in several types of brain waves either relax you or wake you up. Massage increases delta waves -- those linked with deep sleep -- according to a study at the Touch Research Institute. That's why it's easy to drift off on the massage table, Field says. Nice to have you back, brain powerThe Touch Research Institute study that connected massage to sleep also found that a 15-minute chair massage boosted alertness. "Subjects reported that it felt like a runner's high," Field says. Tests also show that brain-wave activity stimulated by massage is linked to improved attention. Take that, coldsMassage helps ward off bugs by boosting your "natural killer cells," the immune system's first line of defense against invading illness. "We know that cortisol destroys natural killer cells," Field says. "Therefore, since massage decreases cortisol, your immune cells get a boost." Massage even seems to boost immunity in those people with severely compromised immune systems, such as breast-cancer patients. Blues, be goneLess cortisol and more serotonin and dopamine in your system may also mean less stress, anxiety, and depression. "We know that the right side of the frontal lobe of the brain is more active when we're sad, and the left side's activated when we're happy," Field says. "Our studies have observed that massage decreases activity in the right lobe and increases functioning in the left." The well-being people feel after a massage is a big reason why some hospitals offer it to anxious patients preparing for surgery and cancer patients going through chemo. Shove off, PMSA small study of 24 women with severe PMS found that massage reduced symptoms such as pain, water retention, and mood swings. Try it with proven remedies such as exercise (and who-cares-if-they-work solutions like a little dark chocolate).
| ||||||
