The best self-massage technique is your hand. The biggest misunderstanding about massage is, I need to be educated in muscles. If you want to be a massage therapist that would be correct. However, to massage yourself, no so much. What you do need to know is how to do it. In this blog post, I will sahre with you what I teach my clients to help them between appointments.
Understanding the role of the Hand
When I tell most people to massage their arm or leg, they immediately grab it and squeeze like they kneading dough. They move fast and constantly squeeze and let go up and down the limb. This is not a massage that will help your tight muscles. When massaging your body, use your hand as a way for your brain to test each spot for soreness. That means pick a spot press gently to see if it hurts. If it doesn’t press a little harder. If it still does not hurt, go to another spot. Keep doing this all over the area. When you find a spot that hurts, stay there, maintain the pressure, and breathe out to let the muscle relax. Once it relaxes, the pain stops. See more free videos at https://www.youtube.com/musclerepairshop.
Breathing
Breathing is important in releasing the muscles. Muscles are as much emotional as physical. By breathing out as you press on a muscle, you give your body time to relax and allow the brain to release the tension usually brought on by emotion. If a muscle has been hurting for a while, the anticipation of pain will cause the muscle to tighten and you must work through that gently.
The Brain
The brain is key to releasing any tight muscles. Unfortunately, we have all been aught that deep tissue massage is great for our body. Some people swear by it. The truth is, deep tissue massage bypasses the brain. This is why you may have bruising after a massage. When someone presses really hard on your body, your brain goes into the “Fight or Flight Syndrome.” This means, the harder they push, the more contraction your muscles will have to fight off the pain. You may feel tired after the massage and that is why. The “Fluff & Buff” massage is too light and the brain goes to sleep. If you go to sleep on a massage table you basically rent a room for an hour for a nap. Read this blog post, https://musclerepairshop.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2453&action=edit
Conclusion
Massages are awesome and everyone should have one at least once a month. However, due to the emotional stress that we live with every day, knowing how to release your muscles in between sessions can make the massages last much longer and more importantly, help you to deal with the day to day stress in your life. For more information, please contact me at https://www.musclerepairshop.com
