If you’re studying and preparing for exams you are probably feeling the side effects of sitting for long periods, stressing and not sleeping well. Learn four ways massage can help you through your exams.
Massage eases muscle tension
Most people know that massage is for muscle tension. However, more often than not, I see people that don’t realise just how much muscle tension they have. Be it from poor posture, over use or lack of exercise, massage can help alleviate the tight bands of muscle and the trigger point pain. Trigger point pain can lead to things like headache and referral pain in the arms, hands as well as other areas of the body. Furthermore, massage can alleviate the pain that may be distracting you from your studies.
Massage reduces stress
Nearing the end of your school years, considering tertiary education or a new career. It’s a big change in your life. Not to mention the load of work you’re under and often pressure from family, teachers and peers to do well. Exams are always a stressful time whatever stage of life you’re in. Massage is a great way to allow some self-care time, in a healthy way. After exams you can let loose but for now, do things that are good for your body and soul.
Science supports the use of massage as stress relief. Serotonin is an important chemical and neurotransmitter in the human body. It is believed to help regulate mood and social behaviour, appetite and digestion, sleep, memory, and sexual desire and function. Massage and positive touch helps release the ‘feel good’ hormones like serotonin. During stressful times we can be overrun by stress hormones like cortisol and lacking in serotonin. Low serotonin levels have been linked to depression.
Massage can help improve poor posture
Stuck at the desk all day. Reading in bed. Bent over. Eyes straining. Teeth grinding. Any of these sound familiar while you’re hitting the books hard?
One of the four ways massage can help you through your exams is to improve your posture. Deep tissue massage helps relax the overworked and sore muscles that result from bad posture and allows your body to relax into a more natural position. This subsequently allows the body to use more natural, less painful, improved range of movement . This can be one of the most beneficial aspects of massage therapy.
Massage can also alleviate muscle tension from teeth grinding. A sign of stress, teeth grinding can lead to jaw pain, tension and headaches. Massage through the jawline, face and scalp can help ease headaches and give you more range of movement in the jaw and be a very relaxing treatment.
Massage helps improve sleep
Spending long days studying and long nights stressing is not conducive for effective study. Sleep is known to be crucial for learning and memory formation. What’s more, scientists have even managed to pick out how the brain consolidates specific memories during sleep. Massage increases serotonin, as a result increases melatonin and helps circadian rhythms to reset. Enabling a deeper, more restful sleep.
So an hour out of your week of study, getting a massage, can only be good for your body and mind. And subsequently help improve your study.
