2 Your Health: Sleep, Insomnia, and How Massage Can Help You

Heidi Overman, Licensed Massage Therapist, #MT-24997

Do you have stress, anxiety, or just too much on your mind? There are many reasons why you can’t sleep. Health issues, worry, stress at work, anxiety, even the constant news of the day can affect your sleep.

These past few years have elevated our stress levels. Articles and news stories are constantly reporting on how people are more stressed and have more anxiety than ever before. Unfortunately, health issues can arise from this constant barrage and lack of good sleep.

Clients are constantly talking to me about their sleep issues. Sometimes, they wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep. Others are worried about a family member or their own health. Sleep is an issue and countless drugs, apps, strategies can make sleep even more daunting.

So what’s the issue? Your sympathetic nervous system. According to britannica.com, under conditions of stress, the entire sympathetic nervous system is activated, producing an immediate widespread response called the fight-or-flight response. Chronic stress results in long-term stimulation of the fight-or-flight response, which leads to constant production and secretion of catecholamines and hormones such as cortisol. Long-term stress-induced secretion of these substances is associated with a variety of physiological consequences, which can lead to cardiovascular disease or even type 2 diabetes.

What does that mean for you? It is important to find a healthy solution to turn off your sympathetic nervous system and turn on your parasympathetic nervous system. Your parasympathetic system is your natural state of homeostasis.

Regular massage is an excellent way to help regulate your stress levels. When the body is massaged, blood and lymph circulation is increased, moving vital nutrients and oxygen throughout the body to organs and muscles. Serotonin and endorphins, which are essential for healthy mental functioning and decreasing depression and anxiety, are also secreted.

If you are interested in a therapeutic massage, please call me for an appointment at 520-771-1514. My website is www.transformwellnessplus.com and I’m located at Transform Wellness+ 15920 N. Oracle Road, Ste. 170, Tucson, AZ 85739 (next to the Golden Goose Thrift Shop).