Did you know that your mental well-being/stress levels can have a physical effect on your body?
We all have a physical-mental connection even if we don’t know it or recognise it.
The physiological responses to stress (“fight and flight”) can include:
- Your muscles tense up ready for action
- Your breathing and heart rate quicken to pump blood and oxygen around your body quicker
- Your digestive system will slow down; digestion isn’t a top priority for your body if you need to run away from danger
- Your pupils dilate
- Sweat glands activate
- Blood is redirected away from your skin so you may look pale
- You may get a dry mouth – again digestion isn’t a priority when you are stressed
- Your immune system is supressed
Massage can have a de-stressing effect and reverse these actions. It can offer relief to people who are in physical pain or who have emotional stress and tension in their lives and bodies.