One thing that we promote strongly is office massage, as it can be extremely beneficial to employees. We have discussed how workplace massage can be unobtrusive to the general set-up of an office, and how it can help diffuse stressful work environments (see our post here). But office massage is even more important today than before, given the nature of modern office work and its effect on a critical physical feature: posture. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘relaxation’
Office Massage Therapy Can Help Employee Posture and Well-Being
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011Exploring Massage Therapy: Acupressure (Part II)
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010Last week I wrote about acupressure, defining the modality and describing its benefits generally. This week I want to examine the specific benefits acupressure provides, as detailed in recent scientific research.
The first study comes from a 2010 issue of the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which demonstrated acupressure’s ability to decrease pain levels in patients suffering from chronic neck pain. (more…)
Exploring Massage Therapy: Acupressure (Part I)
Thursday, December 2nd, 2010Acupressure is an intriguing modality of massage therapy as its methods and potential benefits are extremely expansive. It’s also hard to get a precise definition of what acupressure actually is, which is what we will try to do in today’s blog post.
Simply put, acupressure is the placement of pressure on pressure points of the body. (more…)
Massage Therapy Decreases Stress and Increases Well-Being, Reports The New York Times
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010This just in from The New York Times: Massage therapy has been shown to decrease levels of hormones that cause stress and increase levels of hormones that cause contentment and well-being.
While we’ve written about the proven stress-busting abilities of massage therapy, as well as its ability to improve mood, it’s always nice when the leading source of information in the world backs you up. (more…)
Exploring Massage Therapy: Lomi Lomi Massage
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010This summer’s issue of the Massage Therapy Journal includes a detailed look at Lomi Lomi massage, a modality that originated in Hawaii and has since been “westernized”, gaining recognition among massage therapists in America. The specifics of the modality are pretty interesting as there are many differences, and some similarities, between Lomi Lomi massage and a traditional Swedish massage. (more…)
Massage Therapy: A Healthy Alternative
Monday, September 6th, 2010Pain is something that we all experience, and it is also something that massage therapy has been shown to counter and prevent (click here). In fact, surveys have shown that people choose massage therapy in part because it helps reduce pain and generally increases their wellbeing (click here). The fact that massage therapy is an effective, non-invasive way to deal with pain and stress while improving one’s wellbeing makes the following trends in America, described below, all the more troubling. (more…)
Massage Therapy’s True Power
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010Often, especially when writing about massage, the human angle of the benefits that massage therapy provides can be lost. This blog is surely guilty of this crime, extolling the proven virtues of massage therapy by noting the publication of studies or work of professional organizations.
But then stories like this one from the Arizona Daily Star come along and remind you exactly what the proven benefits of massage therapy translate to: an improvement of the human condition.
Therapeutic Massage Therapy in More Ways than One
Friday, April 30th, 2010Every couple of months we try and pull together a list of the many benefits of massage therapy (click here or here). We do this because, while writing individually about different benefits of massage therapy week in and week out, it is easy to forget the impressive collection of benefits that massage therapy provides.
Fortunately for this week’s report, another writer has pulled together a pretty thorough list of massage therapy benefits for us. (more…)
Wintertime Blues and Massage Therapy
Monday, March 1st, 2010As the East coast shovels out from yet another brutal winter storm, and places as far south as Florida see snow, many of us are left to wonder exactly how much longer winter can last. The shorter days and limited sunshine can leave people depressed, lethargic, and illness-prone, looking for something to give them a boost that will carry them to the longer, warmer, sunshine-filled days of spring and summer. (more…)
Adolescents, Aggression, and Massage
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010Last week I wrote about a study posted on the Touch Research Institute’s Web site about the effect massage therapy and touch can have on infants (massage therapy, according to the study, was shown to improve responsiveness among infants. Click to see my post).
This week I want to focus on a different study, also posted on the Touch Research Institute’s Web site, but available, for free, online as well (click here). This study focuses on massage therapy’s effectiveness in decreasing rates of aggression among adolescents.