Life is too short to not live it well, but while the wellness and fitness movements are reaching new heights, too many people are still letting their own well being fall to the bottom of the to-do list..
In the 12 + years I have worked as a therapist, I have seen many people suffering from the strains and stresses of modern life, and if only they could justify finding that crucial pocket of time to devote to their own emotional and physical health, they could live so much better.
“The question is - with so much going on, what do you do with the amount of time, energy and money you have to devote to your own well being?.”
For most people, this is a long term problem that can’t be solved with short term fixes unfortunately. You might reap some short term benefits, but ultimately a few weeks down the line you will be right back where you started.
They say time heals, but time is not the healer. Time just allows the healing process to take place.
If we do not give the body the right tools to recover, the healing process is going to be ineffective and those small niggling issues - be it a back ache from carrying the kids around, or from too much time at a desk - will get locked into the tissues. A niggle that over the years becomes an ache, and eventually a chronic pain, that could have been treated so much more efficiently if identified early.
So where do we turn?
Massage is still deemed by many to be a ‘luxury’ item, a gift for a birthday or a treat to celebrate that promotion. Massage is seen as a relaxing way to spend an hour before we get caught up in the whirlwind of life again, a brief respite before tackling that ever-growing to-do list.
Yet massage is an ancient treatment form that is designed to help the healing process from all angles, emotionally and physically.
Is it our stiff upper lip culture that is to blame? It’s only a niggle, grin and bear it? Or too many years of marketing telling us massage isn’t for the everyday? Or just the fact that money is for houses, cars, food, and too many people overlook caring for their own bodies, which have to carry us through life and into old age.
The question then is...
When treatments are know to work and are so readily available, why do most only do something about it when they can’t take the pain anymore? This approach is a stark contrast to other cultures who revere massage and incorporate it into their daily routines.
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