Stress Awareness Month: Relax and Recover with Just Move’s Massage Therapy Services
Breathe Deep: April is Stress Awareness Month
Is your jaw clenched? Are your shoulders tense? Does your back seem stiff and achy?
April is Stress Awareness Month, a time to prioritize mental, emotion, and physical wellness. These aforementioned physical sensations are our bodies’ reactions to stress. We carry the weight of stress in our bodies. Yes, stress weighs on us mentally, but we can weaken our bodies by letting stress affect our physical selves.
Everyday stressors many of us face: school, work, family, money, can make us forget about the importance of caring for our bodies. Recovery practices like massage therapy or a stress relief massage are essential, not indulgent. They allow us to relieve the physical impact of stress on our bodies.
At Just Move Fitness, our massage therapy services are a way to support both fitness and stress management goals. During this Stress Awareness Month, explore all of our offerings just outside of Eugene, Oregon, and book a massage to foster mindfulness.
The Link Between Stress and Physical Health
Stress, especially chronic stress, directly impacts physical and mental health. Once you know how stress adversely affects the body, the benefits of massage for stress relief become undeniable.
Immune system
Over time, stress weakens the immune system, our body’s greatest warrior against sickness. A weakened immune system makes us more susceptible to illness, like colds and the flu.
Cardiovascular system
Chronic stress is bad for our hearts. It can lead to high blood pressure and increased heart rate, and potentially contribute to heart disease and other cardiovascular issues, such as heart attack and stroke.
Muscles
Do you ever feel tense in your neck, back, and shoulders when you’re stressed? Stress causes muscle tension, making it difficult for our muscles to heal, especially when we’re engaged in a weight-centric workout program.
Digestion
When you’re stressed, you may feel your stomach churning. Chronic stress can disrupt digestion, resulting in stomach problems, such as heartburn, nausea, and diarrhea.
Sleep
It should come as no surprise that stress negatively impacts our sleep. Do you ever find yourself unable to catch Z’s when you have a looming deadline at work or school? This stress, specifically chronic stress, can interfere with our sleep hygiene, causing insomnia or excessive tiredness during the day.
Hormones
Stress triggers the release of cortisol (dubbed the “stress hormone”) in our bodies. It’s released when we’re experiencing a moment of “fight or flight,” our body’s usual response to stressful situations.
Mental Health
Our mental well-being also takes a hit from chronic stress. While we feel stress’ impact on our physical systems, we might not notice the repercussions of stress on our minds at first. But chronic stress can cause mental problems like anxiety and depression.
For people who exercise regularly at Just Move Fitness, chronic stress’s impact on physical health can take a toll on your ability to get the most from your workout. As mentioned, chronic stress affects the following, which are key to maintaining strong physical health:
Sleep
Hormones
Weight and appetite
Muscle tension and recovery
Since chronic stress can impact the entire body and mind, massage therapy is a powerful tool to break the stress cycle and promote whole-body healing. In fact, massage therapy is often associated with a reduction in cortisol levels. The stimulation of pressure receptors can precipitate decreased levels of the “stressful” hormone, alleviating symptoms of pain and increasing relaxation. Simultaneously, massage therapy can release serotonin, which is dubbed a “happy chemical” due to its ability to reduce feelings of depression.
Benefits of Professional Massage Therapy at Just Move
Just Move’s massage therapy provides not just relaxation and sports massages in Pleasant Hill and Eugene, Oregon, our massages benefit your overall physical health, helping you to recover from the impacts of stress on your body.
Regular massages at Just Move can provide numerous health benefits including: reduced tension and stress, improved circulation, mobility and flexibility, and so much more. Massage provides health benefits for your physical body, your brain and hormonal health, and promotes relaxation during a break from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives.
Just Move offers the following types of massage:
Deep tissue massage – perfect for sore muscles and chronic tension.
Deep tissue massage targets deeper layers of muscles and connective tissue to relieve chronic pain, tension, and stiffness. Your massage therapist applies firm, sustained pressure, with slow, deep strokes intended to help your muscles heal from pain.
Relaxation massage – full-body stress relief, mental reset
Nothing helps us forget about stress than relaxation. This massage is the most effective way to relax, since it lessens muscle tension, increases circulation, and releases hormones. There are various types of relaxation massages, however, they all intend to reduce stress, help your muscles relax, and relieve pain that may have accumulated while facing stress.
Sports recovery massage – ideal for athletes and active individuals
This technique is usually intended for athletes or active individuals to help them during recovery. Sports recovery massage is more targeted than a typical relaxation massage, since it aims to promote healing.
Massage helps improve your physical health, making you stronger and boosting your endurance. Just Move’s massage therapy is part of whole-body health: mind, body, and spirit approach, supporting fitness progress by:
Speeding recovery
Improving flexibility
Preventing injury
Enhancing performance
Book a session today and feel the difference inside and out.
Massage as Part of a Holistic Wellness Routine
You may already exercise or take part in group fitness classes at Just Move. Rest is important for your own growth and recovery so massage therapy or stretching techniques should an equal part, as well. Massage can relieve the physical impact of stress on the body, helping your various systems reset and keep you happy, healthy, and calm.
Massage is an integral part of a holistic wellness routine, focused on mind, body, and spirit. Just Move is a holistic wellness center just outside of Eugene, Oregon, promoting self-care for fitness, as well as recovery and relaxation through massage therapy. At Just Move, wellness goes beyond workouts.
Incorporating regular massage therapy helps build a sustainable wellness lifestyle. Of course, massage therapy helps to fight back against stress, helping your body and mind relax. It’s about prioritizing you and your well-being. You exercise to move your body, gain muscle, improve performance, and boost serotonin in your body. You eat well, picking nutritious foods and those loaded with macronutrients to keep you fueled and satisfied to take on the day. And you can try regular massage therapy to help your body heal and stay ready to keep you going, even through stressful days.
At Just Move, combine massage therapy with our other whole-body wellness offerings:
Strength training
Nutrition support
Group fitness
Mind-body practices (like yoga or Nia®)
Reset Your Body & Mind This April
Massage for stress relief is key to wellness and recovery. Just Move offers massage therapy in Eugene and Pleasant Hill, Oregon, to individuals seeking to reset their body and mind, especially during the month of April–Stress Awareness Month.
Massage therapy is an accessible, impactful tool to reduce stress and improve quality of life. It’s our goal to provide a well rounded fitness center for whole-body health: mind, body, and spirit.
Ready to relax, recover, and feel your best?
Book your massage at Just Move today and take the first step toward a more balanced you.