Your Heart Health and Massage
Heidi Overman, LMT #MT-24997
Heart health is a very personal subject for me. At 50 years old, I had to have open heart surgery due to a congenital heart defect. Throughout my life, I had suspected that I had something wrong with my heart, but when the tests were done, my doctors told me that I had a very healthy heart, I was young, and that I probably just had GERD or heartburn.
After I graduated from the National Holistic Institute Massage School, one of my classmates had given me a massage and afterwards he mentioned that my ankles were swollen and that maybe I had a heart issue. I quickly brushed it off and said oh no, I had been on my feet more, working more, and I couldn’t have had a heart issue. Internally, from my education and what I was feeling, I suspected he was correct. He was.
Heart health is important to your quality of life. The most important behavioral risk factors for heart disease and stroke are unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and harmful alcohol use. The good news is that several studies indicate that massage may be beneficial, both for some of the risk factors of heart disease as well as for treatment for those who have undergone some cardiac procedures. Massage can reduce stress, improve immunological and inflammatory parameters, and has a positive influence on blood pressure.
Throughout the years of being a massage therapist, I have worked on and helped clients with heart issues or conditions that could cause heart issues.
Calming the nervous system can help reduce stress, which can in turn help improve high blood pressure. Trauma, lack of sleep, PTSD, anxiety, a high-stress job, poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle can all lead to heart issues.
Massage can be preventive. A regular massage can help with your quality of life and reduce stress, anxiety, and blood pressure.
A few of the benefits of massage, which pertain to heart health, include:
* Increases relaxation
* Lower blood pressure
* Decreases stress and anxiety
* Increases mental clarity
* Improves quality of sleep
* Increases energy
* Increases a feeling of well-being
Has your doctor told you that you need to bring down your blood pressure? Have you tried regular massages? It is important to understand that regular massages monthly or twice a month help you get the full benefit of massage, improving your quality of life. Be good to yourself, be good to your heart!
Self-Care Is Not Selfish. Take Care of Yourself!
If you are interested in a therapeutic massage, wellness retreats, or acupuncture, please call me for an appointment at 520-639-6987. My website is emptycupwellness.com and I’m located at 10132 N Oracle Rd., Suite 160, Tucson, AZ 85704 in the business park just behind the Fairfield Inn.
Are You Having Difficulty Finding Joy, Peace, and Contentment?
Dr. Rose Bricker
Are you feeling sad, dissatisfied, irritable, stressed, frustrated, and just “stuck” in life? We may not even know why we’re having these feelings. One thing that may be helpful to consider is the health of your nervous system. Are you trapped in the sympathetic nervous system (survival mode) that keeps you in the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode? Did you know you can shift out of the survival mode and activate the part of the nervous system called the parasympathetic? The parasympathetic nervous symptom is responsible for restoring calm, relaxation, and rest in our body. It is essential to finding balance, peace, joy, and contentment.
Tools to Activate Your Parasympathetic Nervous System
* Get a Massage: Massage can retrain your body to move from the sympathetic (fight and flight) to the parasympathetic (calm and relax) nervous system. The more often you get massages, the more quickly your body is able to move into the state of relaxation.
* Meditate/Yoga: Meditation allows you to manage the external stressors in your life by calming your mind, reducing your heart rate, and lowering your blood pressure. This is an opportunity to ground and center yourself, which is very calming.
* Exercise: Movement is extremely beneficial! Walking and hiking are the best way to trigger a sense of calmness and activate the parasympathetic nervous system. Being out in nature gives us an added sense of calmness.
* Increase Your Sleep Time: It really is important to aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep. This amount allows our brain to repair itself. When our brain is deprived of sleep we can experience more flight and flight symptoms.
* Deep Breathing: Use box breathing, which is inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 4 seconds, and exhaling for 4 seconds, and repeating this 10 times. Deep breathing three times a day can calm your nervous system and lower blood pressure, stress, and anxiety.
Are you struggling? Would you like to learn more ways to activate the parasympathetic nervous system? You can have much more calmness, peace, and joy in your life? You have the power to increase the quality of your life.
For more information, please call Dr. Rose Bricker for a 30-minute complimentary meet and greet appointment at 520-820-4079. I’m located at Blue Lemon Therapy, 2252 W Magee Rd.