Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Benefits of Massage and Green Stuff Update

Good Morning!
I apologize It has been a while since I have posted anything other than recipes. This weekend I went and got a much needed massage so I wanted to talk about the benefits of massage. Part of being healthy is taking the time to slow down and pampering yourself. Especially if you work out, your muscles, joints and bones are taking a beating. We also experience stress from work, family, money...basically life...on a daily basis. This causes us to begin to experience pain, problems sleeping and unable to unwind. I am a firm believe in some holistic tactics to help life to be more enjoyable and improve health. I am a big fan of massage. While, I do not get them as often as I would like, I feel much better after I have had one. I personally prefer more of a therapeutic massage rather than a fluffed up spa massage because I find therapeutic massages do more to help my sore, achey muscles. There are endless benefits to massage so I wanted to talk about a few.


  • Pain relief: Massage therapists use specific techniques to address sore, tight muscles and connective tissue. Also some will incorporate pressure and stretching to help loosen you up. When your muscle fibers are tight and "stuck" together, you feel cramped up and pain and need this worked out by a professional. Also massage is known to produce endorphins which is your body's natural pain reliever. 
  • Relaxation: You get one hour or so in a dim lit room with aromatherapy and human contact. Massage is also known to decrease your production of stress hormones, allowing you to calm down, loosen up and be happy :).
  • Relieve headaches: Aside from the reasons above, massaging your scalp and face brings circulation to your head to reduce eye strain, sinus pressure and in turn will help headaches. 
  • Massage has been known to decrease blood pressure and increase your immune system. Massage helps your body to rid itself of toxins which will help these things. 
  • Improves circulation: This allows more oxygen and nutrients to make it to your tissues and organs which is very important for your overall functionality and health.
  • Reduces muscle spasms: If you are an athlete or do repetitive motion you can notice muscle spasms. It could be due to an injury, poor nutrition, dehydration, sitting for long periods of times. Sometimes muscle spasms can lead to muscle tears, so it is important to work these clumped together muscle fibers out. Again circling back to the pain relief.
  • Massage has also been known to help reduce anxiety and depression. Human contact is super important for everybody and these conditions especially and this is a good way to get human contact.  
I always feel so much better after a massage, and with my sore muscles from sitting at a desk all day and my workouts, I often need a good massage to work all that out. I hope you take the time to treat yourself to something that while is relaxing and pampering, has great health benefits. Take advantage of Groupon, Living Social, etc for there are often massage coupons.

My Green Stuff update: This is my fourth week doing it. I have to say I do notice just overall feeling better. The biggest thing I have noticed is my skin has cleared up a lot! I haven't had a breakout since I started drinking it. I have actually had a few comments on my skin, including the girl who did my facial on Saturday! She told me my skin looked great, my pores were all open and she didn't see anything that needed special treatment. She asked me what I did to have great skin, so I told her I really thought it was this smoothie. This week I added a small handful of blackberries to it to spruce up the taste. Also blackberries have a lot of good fiber and antioxidants.


Today's workout was:
HIIT the Ground Running Workout This was about a 33 minute cardio/bodyweight HIIT routine from fitnessblender.

Have a great day! 
Stay Active!
~Mandi


2 comments:

  1. Really needed to see this! Recently I started having anxiety attacks.. Dr prescribed Zoloft but I refuse to take it with the bad rep I've heard..I love your blog and this really gives me some good ideas!

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  2. That makes me very happy you like my blog :) I am a nurse, while many times medications are necessary, I like to try holistic measures either instead or to help. Massages can be pricey, but seriously get a livingsocial or groupon account and take advantage of the frequent coupons for massages. They are half price many times! If you try to go once a month, I think it will help. It's the whole concept of human contact, and de-stressing your muscles. I find I even sleep better. I hope you keep reading my posts! :)

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