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The last three decades have seen a huge resurgence in the popularity of massages therapy, and its healing effects on the body. No longer considered something tawdry, the people of America are embracing massages therapy and its various forms, to help them live their day to day lives without pain. Fifty percent of all people who visit registered massage therapists are men, and the most common reason for anyone to visit a massage therapist is for relief from stress.

Our lives in the 21st century are deemed to be the most stressful in all of history. We work longer hours than ever before, endure long commutes to and from work, and then sit in often cramped offices for most of the day. Coupled with this are the effects of our western extravagant lifestyles, it is no wonder that so many of us in the United States live in permanent fight or flight mode. This is why various massages therapy techniques can be beneficial to people's health to get relief from all the stresses.

The United States Department of Health studies on stress and the effects it has on the human body are startling. Unless we learn to relax, stress can and will kill us, and is certainly the biggest factor in heart attacks and strokes. When we spend too long in fight or flight mode, our bodies trigger a release of endorphins that help us fight a stressful situation. When that situation is concluded, our bodies show signs of exhaustion, and then we become stressed again due to our lack of energy.

When we are stressed we begin to breathe small shallow breaths. The result of shallow breathing is not enough air getting to our tissues and muscles. When this occurs we begin to feel tension in our necks, calve muscles, our backs may seem to seize up, and our stomachs begin to ache. While making continued efforts to reduce the stress in our day to day lives by changing our circumstances is terribly important, having a massages therapy can be an immediate way to improve circulation while healing sore muscles.

The most common and widely practiced form of massage given by a registered massage therapist is Swedish massage. This gentle massage is most commonly used for stress related ailments such as a stiff neck, aching back, and to relieve physical pain from emotional problems. Health related studies have proved that when we are traumatized our hearts really do hurt and we can experience genuine heart ache characterized by pains in the chest.

Swedish massage performed by a Massage Therapist is characterized by five deep strokes across our chests. A therapist begins by placing their hands just under our first ribs and applying gentle pressure with the fingertips, they sweep the skin from our ribs in a downwards movement to our waist. This technique is done five times on the chest, before turning to the neck and doing five smaller strokes from the nape to the top of the spinal column, and is then repeated on the back.

If any knots are found in the muscles while Swedish massage is being performed a massage therapist will apply hard pressure with their fingertips to release the knots. This sometimes painful practice is referred to as deep tissue massage and is often used in conjunction with Swedish massage, to help the flow of blood properly circulate through the tissues and muscles to reduce stress and promote relaxation.

About the Author:

Zach Thompson is a Waiora Representative. His clients range from actresses to pro athletes. You can get a free Waiora consultation by visiting their site.

Article Tags: day, massage, muscles