Massage Therapy Benefits: A Personal Story

Danielle Argent suggests massage therapy can work on much more than muscles:

Summer is the season of expression and creativity. Celebrate summer’s abundance and increase your capacity for joy and playful vitality. Summer is the chance to soften up your upper body tension, open and heal your heart and connect to your inner strength and power. This summer, let your massage therapist help you to refresh and replenish yourself, boost immunity and feel revitalized.

Massage Therapy for More Than Just Muscle Aches

“I first went to Danielle over five years ago when I was looking for a massage therapist, what I found was much more. Not only does Danielle give the most amazing massages but she has a multitude of knowledge and skills, techniques and gifts which she uses to treat the whole person.

During my pregnancy I continued to see Danielle, having massages and reflexology, which I found very beneficial. My waters broke at 36.5 weeks and so I called Danielle to come to the hospital and aid the delivery of my baby with a very much needed reflexology treatment. As most mums find for the first 18 months of my son’s life, I found little time for myself, so the treatments went by the way side.

When my son was about two I felt quite lost and somewhat unsettled and unhappy with my little world. I decided I needed to get myself back on track and contact Danielle. It was the best thing I could have done for myself and my family (happy mum = happy dad and kids).

We talked, I cried, I talked, I cried and Danielle listened with empathy and then gave me some useful tools to help me see the glass half-full again. I had massages, reflexology and chiron. I felt amazingly different after my first session. I was more grounded, stronger, calmer and healthier.

I see Danielle every 6 weeks. We talk. I tell her my worries openly and honestly. I feel totally relaxed in her presence, knowing she will guide me in the way I need to heal myself.”

I believe that your power to heal comes from within; I just provide you with the tools and advice. I treat each person as an individual, addressing their health issues on an individual basis whether they are physical, emotional or spiritual. My aim is to empower and encourage each person I treat to take responsibility for, and thus make more, positive choices about their own health and development.

Author – Danielle Argent is a Wanaka massage therapist.

Make Massage Part of Your Life To Maintain Health

Steffi Rethwisch suggests therapeutic massage should be part of life not a treat:

Regular massages, more than just wellness? Regular massage is an excellent way of maintaining health by addressing imbalances before they become serious and need other forms of treatment.

People comfortable with touch, need little persuasion to consider regular massage with all its benefits. Massage is often perceived as an indulgence rather than a treatment, yet it often provides instant relaxation and increased physical and emotional wellbeing.

Benefits of Professional Therapeutic Massage

For those more reluctant ones, skilled and professional therapeutic massage has measurable benefits:

Pain relief: Muscular tension is a main contributing factor in pain conditions such as repetitive strain, headaches, back, neck and shoulder pain. Unevenly tensed muscles pull on the skeleton, causing painful misalignments, uneven wear and loss of balance that is compensated for by more muscular tension. Release of muscular tension, or combined with gentle skeletal realignment, is often enough to allow the body to re-establish its balance, eliminating the cause of pain and heal itself.

Massage can increase performance. Tension uses muscular power that becomes unavailable for work. So relaxation actually increases strength.

Massage promotes circulation. It pushes blood through capillaries of the skin surface and underlying tissues. Sufficient blood supply is a pre-requisite for the transport of immune cells, antibodies and anti-oxidative enzymes into every area of the body. Cells of the immune system prevent invasion of viruses and bacteria by eliminating them locally before they can spread via the lymphatic system and bloodstream. Anti-oxidative enzymes prevent tissue degeneration from oxidative stress that can be seen as a factor in aging. Maintaining good circulation can be seen as an efficient means of delaying the aging of body tissues.

Massage removes small blockages and deposits. These are reconnected to the bloodstream and transported away to be metabolized and eliminated. This prevents inflammation and maintains elasticity of skin and tissues, keeping them younger and healthier.

Regular contact with a medical professional can mean early detection. A therapist trained in medical issues can point out early signs of skin and tissue changes and recommend that the client seek medical advice. This means that more serious health issues can be addressed early and treated more successfully.

The Value of Touch

Young babies fail to thrive and grow in the absence of touch and human contact. It is also likely that humans beyond the early development stage also need touch and massage to maintain tissues in good health.

Stress is known to be a contributing factor in many diseases, including cancer and circulatory diseases. The increase of emotional wellbeing and reduction of stress can be seen as a preventive measure against many such serious diseases.

The survival rate after a heart attack increases if the patient has a loving partner. Regular touch and massage might also be able to contribute in similar ways, especially for those who live alone, have separated or lost a partner.

Emotional experiences and habits often manifest themselves as patterns of muscular tension. By releasing those patterns of tension, it can help to resolve those experiences and issues, sometimes where words have failed.

Do you need more convincing to feel good about booking an appointment?

Author – Steffi Rethwisch is a Wanaka massage therapist 027 313 5114 or feel free to email her