What people forget to do after having a massage

At the end of a treatment, I’ll ask my client if they can chill out for the rest of the day. After all, if a person has paid well-earned money for a massage, I want them to reap the full benefits of the session where all of my attention is on there wellbeing and recovery.

Sometimes, however, I’ll get responses where that person is… going back to work, off to the pub, going to a band practice, or just not wanting to be too sleepy afterwards.

It’s not to say you can’t go and do these things, and if that’s you- crack on.

It’s just that you’re missing out on half of the benefits of what you’ve just paid for.

Did you know that the benefits of a massage go beyond just skin, muscle and joints? During and for a time after the massage, a whole sweep of restorative physiological changes is underway: circulation of blood and lymph, strengthening of the immune system, regulation of hormones, the nervous system, breathing, and digestion.

A number of these changes are as a result of ‘turning off’ the body’s stress response within the brain and providing the signals it’s waiting to hear that allow it to switch to its ‘rest and repair’ mode.

When we throw ourselves straight back into the throes of life, we miss out on this precious recovery time our body needs to help keep us healthy.

Sometimes, it can’t be helped, and there are things you just have to do: play taxi, walk the dog, cook dinner, put the bins out.

However, have things been busy recently? Do you notice your body feeling more fatigued, a residual tightness in your shoulders and your patience just a little thinner? Perhaps these signs are worth listening to in that your body is telling you it needs rest.

So, if you can, I would encourage anyone who books themselves in for a massage to protect the time afterwards as ‘your’ recovery time, and kindly ask the other person to take care of things for the night.

Go for an amble, go watch the sunset, go listen to your ‘go to’ artist, put on your favourite film, have a hot bath and read an enjoyable book.

Go do what feels selfish, entirely satisfying and without expectation, because when else have you recently?