The Healing Power of Touch: Why Humans Respond to Physical Touch and How We Use Massage for Healing
We believe our services are a holistic catalyst for overall health, but how exactly is massage an element of healing? There are many factors that give massage a level of healing power, but it all starts with the natural release of oxytocin in the body.
Human Touch and Oxytocin
Physical health is deeply related to mental health, and mental health is rooted in physical health. What does that mean? For example, when your body is relieved of pain or tense muscles through massage, your mind automatically adopts a sense of calm. When you feel a mental balance between stress and calm, your body is relieved of stress-induced physical tensions and pain. This is where oxytocin comes into play. Oxytocin helps with both physical and mental healing.
What is oxytocin? Oxytocin is a hormone naturally produced by the human body. It works through the bloodstream and nerve branches linked to vital control centers of the brain. Oxytocin is a key hormone that works with other human hormones to produce both psychological and physiological balance.
Studies prove that human touch, especially massage, stimulates an increased release of healing natural oxytocin in the body. This is exactly why people feel that they have been massaged back to life both during and after a massage!
Human Touch and Stress Hormones
Stress is not entirely in your head. When have you felt stressed without any physical symptoms such as aches, pains, and tense muscles? Stress literally begins with how you react to the world, or what is going on in your life, but as your body releases stress hormones it begins to show up and accumulate in your entire physical being.
The body responds to physical touch with a reduction in stress hormones, with cortisol sitting at the top of that list. Cortisol is your body’s main stress hormone. It takes part in the regulation of blood pressure, blood glucose, inflammation, as well as sleep, and energy.
As your body is relieved both physically and mentally from an influx of stress hormones in your nervous system, the process becomes energy-giving as you breathe, think, and sleep better. Your immune system also receives a boost. Better yet, you no longer must work so hard to feel calm—your body is tuned into physically and mentally experiencing calm as it responds to the physical touch of massage!
Mayo Clinic reports that a 60-minute massage can lower cortisol by an average of 30 percent. When cortisol levels decline, serotonin—one of the body’s anti-pain mechanisms—increases by an average of 28 percent after receiving a massage. By lowering cortisol and increasing serotonin, you boost your body’s ability to fight off pain, anxiety, and feelings of sadness.
Massage for Healing
Our goal is to create calm and help you live a better, healthier, and more balanced life. Healing can take time, change, and experimentation with different types of massage. Our licensed therapists ensure that our bodywork is suited to your personal health and restorative needs.
You may seek a relaxation massage that helps to relieve tension, headache, muscle stiffness, stress, and minor pain. Remember that release of cortisol through massage? Yes, that! A healing relaxing massage that fights off pain, anxiety, and boosts the immune system.
You might need a deep tissue massage with a more targeted release for chronic or intense pain to address sore muscles, strains, or injuries. In addition to the increase in pain-fighting hormones, and the reduction in stress hormones, you receive the benefits of more blood flow to different parts of your body through deep tissue massage, and a release of toxins from your muscles. Your body loves this, let responsive healing begin!
We want you to feel good!
We want you to be pain-free!
As the world’s anxiety levels go up, we want to see yours go down!
