Massage Therapy is a Great Natural Stress Relief for Kids and Teens
Are your kids stressed out?
Stress is a part of life, we all experience it, but our kids, especially our teens, are more stressed-out than ever.
We are post-pandemic (we hope!) and as we step away from a year of everything turned upside down, our hearts go out to our kids.
The gaps that they underwent in school and socializing alone added stress on top of what most kids already worry about in life—identity, school, relationships, schedules, and the future.
That is a lot for anyone to deal with!
The wonderful news is that we can help our tweens and teens holistically and safely let loose of stress through massage therapy.
Massage is Safe for Kids
A Swedish massage is all about relaxation. There is nothing unsafe in the practice.
Many parents do not realize that massage is safe for kids, but the healing power of touch is great therapy for all ages.
Our bodies respond to the physical touch of massage with a reduction of stress hormones, mainly cortisol, and a release of feel-good hormones, including serotonin, which boosts our body’s ability to fight off pain, anxiety, and feelings of sadness.
Massage is a safe holistic and healing stressbuster for kids!
Research has been completed on children as young as premature babies, which clearly demonstrated an improvement in healthy weight gain.
On the opposite end of this spectrum, babies have failed to thrive without an adequate amount of physical contact.
Emotional Stress and Massage
Ongoing stress can lead our kids to experience anxiety, poor sleep, depression, and more.
Diminished stress hormones and increased healthy hormones through massage help our kids find mental balance, restore sleep, and feel incredibly better both mentally and physically.
Some studies point to the potential that the emotional relaxation induced through massage can also be a useful therapy for attention disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders.
Most family physicians agree that we need all the positive resources that we can get to help our families get through difficult periods.
Massage is generally considered part of integrative medicine. It is not a replacement for medical care for our children…it is an asset.
Teaching Awareness of Stress
There is no doubt that you want to teach your kids how to deal with stress. A seldom discussed benefit of massage is that it can demonstrate to our kids how it feels to naturally relax.
Youngsters often do not realize that they are feeling anxious or stressed. When they experience the powerful benefits of massage, the holistic stress relief becomes clear evidence that they feel better—it creates awareness.
Massage can act as a silent teacher. It can help your child want to take an active role in their health care.
Moms, we know you want this legacy of self-care to continue through generations to come!
Physical Stress
Mental stress leads to physical discomfort in all ages, but it can cause our youngers to feel less than optimal with symptoms of low energy, headache, muscle aches, insomnia, and lowered immunity to colds and infections.
The strengthened emotional state boosted by massage can give your child a healthier stance in all these areas.
The teenage years can especially be physically challenging, as it is filled with major growth spurts spurred on by hormonal changes, as well as increased activities such as sports, all of which can ensue in muscle tension and pain and may innately up the level of emotional stress.
Massage therapy is a proven positive asset to tension and pain.
Massage is especially helpful for youngsters that are feeling the muscular strain from a full season of sports after a long season of being not-so-active during the pandemic!
Touch is Essential
So, touch is essential to a child’s development, and it creates a sense of well-being and promotes good mental and physical health.
Just as a child reaches out for their favorite food for calming comfort, we hope they also learn to love and embrace the soothing benefits of massage.
We want nothing more for you and your family than to feel good!
We want everyone to be pain and stress-free.
If you are in the Austin, Texas area, we are here for you and your family. We want to help you boost your family’s level of self-care and diminish any toxic effects of stress.
