Massage therapy can help you get better sleep

Modern times give people instant everything. It gives them instant convenience, instant solutions and instant results among so many others. But, amidst all the advantages it gives to people, it also brings a lot of stress that hinders them to get better sleep.

Studies show that the most common cause of todays health problems lack of sleep that can be caused by too much stress. Aside from improper diet, and unhealthy life style, prolonged periods of stress subconsciously affect many systems of the human body, lack of sleep may lead to possible health problems such as gastrointestinal disorders, heart disease, memory loss, and decreased immune function.

One of the most popular stress-reduction techniques being practice nowadays is massage therapy apart from using stress-relieving tablets and capsules. By definition, massage therapy is a hands-on manipulation of the soft tissues that include muscle, skin, tendons, and associated fascia, ligaments. Massage therapy also concentrates in treating joint capsules in the body. Apart from decreasing muscular tension and increasing the removal of metabolic waste, massage therapy also promotes nutrient delivery to healing tissue caused by extended periods of stress and will eventually help a person to get better sleep.

The wonders of massage therapy

Indeed, massage therapy has become a significant part of general health care for many people living in todays stressful world. Numerous professionals and even traditional healthcare systems throughout the world recognizes that massage therapy can play an important role in treating chronic ailments can and contribute to a higher sense of general well-being since it greatly helps people get better sleep.

Considered as the modern antidote for stress, massage therapy helps combat stress by trying to reduce the tension build up in the muscles. Aside from boosting the bodys immune system, massage therapy prevents the decrease in circulation and nutrient delivery to tissues. Known as one of the ultimate stress reducers, more professionals are advising their patients to include massage therapy in their health care treatment plans.

People, especially those who live by the rule of stress and dont have enough sleep, find massage therapy very helpful in so many ways. Among the extensive benefits of massage therapy, most people consider the therapeutic affect of the treatment on their bodies. Since massage therapy causes diverse physiological effects due to the therapists hands moving over the body, its therapeutic affect is proven to improve health by acting directly on the muscular, nervous, circulatory and immune systems.

Aside from aiming to develop, maintain, rehabilitate, or augment physical function, massage therapy also relieves or prevents physical dysfunction and pain. Massage therapy also relaxes tight and tense muscles while improve circulation, recovery time, and immune system function, which reduce overall stress. And with the continuing research on the beneficial effects of massage therapy, its effectivity was also discovered in controlling chronic or acute pain.

Concentrated in creating different movements that can physically stretch muscles, ligaments, tendons, and fascia, massage therapy also encourages the circulation through the tissue, inhibit muscular spasms, and be either sedating or stimulating to the nervous system.

But, far from the common conception, elementary knowledge of massage therapy is not enough for ordinary individuals to practice it. Being a regulated health profession, massage therapy requires professionals who have completed hours of education at accredited schools and have extensive knowledge of anatomy and physiology, assessment, bodywork techniques, and pathology to know when massage therapy is or is not suitable.

With the array benefits massage therapy offers to peoplespecially in stress reduction and in helping them get better sleepit is no wonder that a wide patronage of it will increase energy and will improve peoples outlook on life.

Detox- Cleansing the Body Inside Out

Detoxification has been a lengthy discussion ever since. Whether to detox or not, is up to you.

Even though you are ‘healthy’ this does not mean that you don’t need to detox. Sure our body does this on a continual basis, our kidneys and livers are constantly working by cleaning out all the pollutants (smoke, caffeine, chemical-based products etc) in our body. Detox strengthen our organs back to optimal function.

Basically, this is done through fasting, therefore resting the organs and stimulating the liver by pushing away the toxins from the body. Nourishing the body with healthy nutrients is also done to maintain optimum health. It has been practiced for centuries around the world by different cultures.

Although a lot of people want whole body detoxification, some wants to have a detox on a particular organ only, such as the kidney, liver or colon. During kidney cleansing, herbal supplements and juices are used to dissolve and wash out kidney stones; particular foods are consumed in liver cleansing causing the gall bladder and liver to remove fatty deposits and toxins out of the body. Colon cleansing on the other hand, gently flushes the colon with water providing a pathway for the release of toxins.

There are also techniques used in whole body cleansing such as:

Fasting. Water or juice fasting is applied for a period of time to lessen toxic loads in the body causing the body to heal itself and nourish inside out.

Parasite cleaning. Right amount of pills or tinctures made out of bitter herbs are consumed to build an unreceptive environment for the parasites inside the body.

Contrast Shower. The contrast among hot and cold water enhances circulation, helps in detoxifying thus having a stronger immune system. This also helps by bringing oxygen, nutrients and immune cells towards damaged and stressed tissue and flushes metabolic waste and other toxins.

Sauna, yoga, exercise, raw food dieting and dry skin brushing also enhance the body’s natural cleansing process.

Other Detoxifying aids

There are a number of safe products that helps in the cleansing process such as cleansing supplement packages (with easy-to-follow instructions), detox foot patches, commercially prepared detox teas, Epsom salts, high-class multivitamins for daily intake and antioxidants like Q10 and E that can be found at health food stores.

Before and after side effects:

As the procedures differ, so do the benefits.

During the detox, you’ll most likely feel the side effects that take place during the first few days such as headaches, feeling weak, sore muscles, cranky moods and unable to sleep soundly.

There are also a number of positive side effects days after the cleansing process. You will feel energetic, mental clarity improved, skin is clearer, improved sleep, and have a positive attitude in life for a fresh start.

Detoxification is safe and beneficial for our health. It is suggested that each one should at least have a short detoxification program yearly. However, children, nursing mothers, and patients with cancer, chronic degenerative illness and tuberculosis should consult their physician first for approval and supervision or find someone who is familiar with detox.

If you decide to award your body with holiday, find a nutritional therapist who is familiar with detox.

Here’s how:

You can call your friends who are into health foods and alternative medicines, ask them for a person who they can refer. Another way is to search in the yellow pages under nutrition or by looking for ads in health publication in your locality. Get the name of someone you found whose name appears in more than one place and check for his profile, like from which school he/she attended the training and if it’s an accredited one. Also ask how long he’s been in practice.