Pleasure Can Be Healing Too

When most people think of massage in its most basic form, they think of something that simply feels good. While as a massage therapist I know that things like specific techniques, knowledge of anatomy and physiology and other factors can play a vital therapeutic role, even in its basic form, massage as a “simple” pleasure has the potential to be incredibly beneficial for one’s health.

Relieving Stress Feels Good!

Like almost any discussion about massage we have to look at the stress factor, which ties into the physiological workings of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Most of the time, our bodies are engaging our sympathetic nervous system, which is concerned with our basic survival and external health (i.e. getting through the day, dealing with stressful circumstances and events beyond our control).

But when we relax, the parasympathetic nervous system takes over, which is responsible for returning our bodies to their natural state of balance and well-being. The more we engage the parasympathetic nervous system, the more our body is attending to its own internal health needs and keeping us free from stress, and ultimately disease. (Incidentally this process applies to any form of deep relaxation, with one of the most profound being meditation (which I practice daily and highly recommend). Yoga and exercise also help to relieve stress and promote health in this way).

So the basic idea here is that when we are experiencing the kind of pleasure we get from a massage, we are forgetting about our worries – at least momentarily, and that opens the door to relaxation, which leads to healing. It’s not new age mumbo jumbo; pleasure really does heal!

Related Information

Our Advising Physician  Dr. John Melmed talks about using massage to treat stress related pain in one of his video blog entries.

Recent research has shown that just 10 minutes of massage will activate the body’s relaxation response.