A relaxing massage is a massage that will work without pressure by using the sensory organ skin to influence the brain through sense perception.
A variety of movements, applied through painting different shapes onto the skin and change of speed of the movements will distract your brain activity from its habits. This way you will forget your usual thought processes and give your spirit a chance to reboot. The longer the session, the more profound the influence.
This way of applying a massage is especially suitable for nervous, anxious and stressed people, who have a hard time letting go and finding relaxation. Any essential oil that feels comfortable to you can be used and you’ll be able to choose before the session.
This way of applying a massage is especially suitable for nervous, anxious and stressed people, who have a hard time letting go and finding relaxation. Any essential oil that feels comfortable to you can be used and you’ll be able to choose before the session.
The skin is a sense organ. It receives information through touch, passes it through microscopic nerves into the nervous system that sends it on, processes and responds.
Essentially, for our protection, the skin gives us information about the external temperature, but also about the texture of something so we understand if it’s sharp or smooth, if it’s hard or soft for example. The brain processes the information and compares it to information previously stored and imprinted on our memory so we can react upon the information.
Furthermore, human touch has the power to regulate the nervous system of another human being. Over the last few years increasing research has been done upon the discovery that human touch has the power to regulate another human’s stress response by provoking a feeling of connection, security and compassion.
The sense of touch is wildly underestimated!
I bet you have never heard anyone say they are afraid to lose their sense of touch. In fact it is essential to the survival of the human race. We need to have the sense of touch in order to understand our environment and regulate our stress response accordingly.
In recent years science has discovered a new kind of tiny nerve in the skin, the CT fibers, which react upon gentle touch. CT fibers specifically process a certain kind of touch: it has to be gentle, not too fast, not too slow, applying a certain range of pressure at the optimum temperature of 34 degrees (that of your fingers). Scientists assume that it is by the transmission through these fibers that the brain responds with the information of relaxation and pleasure. Endorphins are released and fill you with an experience of wellbeing. As a result your heartbeat regulates, your muscles relax and your breathing becomes balanced.
This happens when humans give each other the gift of a hug, gentle stroking, and are touched compassionately. A relaxing massage does this to your organism.
Some additional information about your brain and the connection of brain cells:
Your brain cells are connected through little roots or string-like connections, the synapses. The special thing about them is that the synapses have the capacity to connect and disconnect between brain cells, depending on what connections are needed. They also remember their connections in order to reconnect quicker after a certain chain of receiving – reacting has been “learned” and memorized and they can grow these synapses together in order to keep reoccurring needs established and process the information with maximum efficiency
Your brain cells are connected through little roots or string-like connections, the synapses. The special thing about them is that the synapses have the capacity to connect and disconnect between brain cells, depending on what connections are needed. They also remember their connections in order to reconnect quicker after a certain chain of receiving – reacting has been
“learned” and memorized and they can grow these synapses together in order to keep reoccurring needs established and process the information with maximum efficiency
These pathways are only given up one by one, even if you stop playing for a long time, the memory will stay with you throughout your life, provided you haveplayed a substantial amount of tennis at some point in time.
This is a good thing if you want to play tennis.This is a bad thing if instead of tennis, you experience stress, trauma and pain, because just like for the tennis game, the brain will establish and stabilize any connection that is repeatedly accessed.
In order to dissolve unwanted connections you have to feed different needs and information to the brain so the neurons will need to reconnect and establish different pathways. The longer a certain lifestyle repeats itself, the more persistent you have to be in order to dissolve the connections.
To come back to massage therapy: through sense stimulation of the skin and creating a response of wellbeing and relaxation, brain cells will re-create synapses between them. If you repeat the process you will learn to remember to reconnect to this state of being, because your brain learns to recreate these connections quicker and if you continue to be a relaxed person, the synapses
will establish a permanent connection. This works also if you regularly practice meditation or any other relaxation exercise. It gets easier and easier to reach your desired state of being through repetition and consistency.
The more you are in a certain state of being, the easier it is to find it again and stay there. So don’t expect miracles, but be consistent in your approach and you will be able to change your state of well being entirely.
is a documentary that sums up the results of different research on the subject of touch.
