Work Stressing You Out? Your Massage Chair Can Help.

Let Your Massage Chair Help You Manage Stress

Unfortunately, stress is a very normal part of life. That’s the very reason massage chairs were created. Hence, stress relief on the agenda of every manufacturer. Nearly every massage chair comes with functions that allow you to tend to your physical and mental health, based on your stress level and needs. 

Choosing which program can help you the most in any particular situation might sound tricky, but we’re here to help.

Stress: Beat It Back

Stress is everywhere, especially at work, and it can negatively impact your health and well-being quite a bit. Massage therapy has been shown to aid in stress relief on both physical and psychological levels. The Mayo Clinic states, “Studies of the benefits of massage demonstrate that it is an effective treatment for reducing stress, pain, and muscle tension.”

Massage is extremely relaxing. When stress is building up in your muscles and causing tension, the relaxing sensation of a massage chair can loosen things up and boost your feel-good hormones.

Cortisol Cure

Massage therapy can decrease cortisol levels in the body, the stress-related hormone. When your tense and under stress, your body produces unhealthy levels of cortisol. These high levels can cause weight gain, sleeplessness, digestive problems, and headaches.

By decreasing cortisol levels, massage allows the body to enter recovery mode. In controlled studies, oxygen consumption, blood pressure, and salivary cortisol levels all decreased after only 10 to 15 minutes of massage.

While reducing one potentially harmful hormone, massage has also been shown to release endorphins (pain-killing hormones), that boost dopamine and serotonin levels in the body.

On the flipside, dopamine helps to keep the central nervous system functioning as it should, and serotonin, a hormone and neurotransmitter, is involved in several different organ systems. Together, dopamine and serotonin help the body both physically and emotionally. They encourage healing, pain control, aid to calm the nerves, and even relate to feelings of euphoria. They help us feel good. 

And best yet, massage helps our body to produce both serotonin and dopamine.

Best Types of Massage for Stress

Stretch Massage (for low to medium stress)

Mimicking the stretching of light yoga or tai-chi, this massage assists to elongate the muscles by relaxing them and increasing blood flow. This also helps to address the uneven exertion of muscles and is incredible for an evening massage, getting your muscles back into the natural position to reduce aches and pains from stress.

The overall effect is very soothing.

To make the most of this massage style in your chair:

• At the start of the session, set the stroke length to long and the session duration to at least 20 minutes. If a speed setting is available, you’ll want slow or medium.
• Use this setting before starting any other massage to prepare the muscles for receiving other types of massages better.
• If the massage feels like it’s too much, be sure to stop. It can cause muscle fatigue and tire you out instead of reducing stress. If you’re especially stressed and tense, you can repeat the massage, but it may be better to try one of the more vigorous options below.
• After this stretch is complete, you can proceed with whatever massage experience you’d like next. Remember, this massage isn’t suitable after strenuous physical workouts.

Thai Massage (for medium stress)

This massage is part of the healing sciences associated with Buddhist monks. Thai Massage focuses on the body’s central meridian, interpreting, and tapping into the energy networks throughout the body. It’s believed that if all energy is focused on the central meridian, the disruptive forces of the body, the primary cause of stress, can be diminished.

Thai massage is not quite as common as some features of massage chairs, but more and more chairs are including it among their programs. You can trust the inherent settings of this program when it’s in your chair. If it’s not included, replication can be achieved by using the reflexology and compression massage techniques together with moderate to high intensity. This is also meant for a single session at a time.

Swedish Massage (for high stress)

Shiatsu massage chairs, as well as several more, are including Swedish massage more and more often. Swedish can be very helpful when stress is causing serious health issues like blood sugar concerns and high blood pressure. A combination of various massage techniques, this system aims to reduce stress-inducing cortisol and epinephrine, providing some much-needed relaxation.

To customize your Swedish massage to be more beneficial:

• Turn off any additional massages that the chair may be set to carry out with your Swedish massage. This is meant to be applied alone and at a gap of 5-10 minutes from other massages.
• Choose medium stroke length and medium intensity. Start the massage and continue with it for 20 minutes.
• Wait at least five to 10 minutes before the next massage, staying calm and relaxed during this time.
• Carry out other medium intensity massages to ensure each section of your body is addressed.

Massage isn’t just a way to pamper yourself, it’s a way to recover from the effects of stress and help lead a healthy life. It is a powerful tool that can allow you to take charge of your health and wellness. It can provide short-term relief, and regular massage sessions can boost energy, lessen pain, and stimulate you on physical and emotional levels, including assisting with symptoms of depression and anxiety.

If you have any questions about what type of massage chair would be perfect for your needs, check out the Massage Chair Buying Guide, or you can give us a call or reach out through email at info@massagechairplanet.com.

We’d be glad to help you!