6 Reasons Massage Relieves Stress

26 November 2018 Tissue Issue

Physical Relief = Mental Relief


There’s a lot going on in our lives, and even more going on in our brains. Mental stress will often present itself as physical tension. What our brains are trying to cope with can create serious problems in our muscles. So, if our mental stress can cause tension in our muscles, can muscle relaxation decrease our mental stress? Absolutely!

The opposite of stressed is relaxed.

You can't be both anxious and relaxed at the same time. So, relaxation therapies are of huge benefit here, complementing any other anxiety treatment, and giving the body and mind a chance to rest and heal. 

 Here are 6 ways Massage relieves stress


#1 Physical Relief

Our mental stress causes physical tension, our tension/pain causes more stress, which causes more tension. You get the picture. If we can treat the pain and discomfort you feel in your body, that’s one less thing for your mind to worry about.


#2 Massage creates endorphins

Endorphins are groups of hormones released by the central nervous system for positive effects on the body. They make you feel really good. They reduce pain, relieve stress, and create that euphoric state that you’ve no doubt experienced from a massage. People often use words like “drunk”, “floaty”, “dreamy” to describe how they feel after a massage. That’s the endorphin rush. Hard to feel like that and be stressed out at the same time. 


#3 Dopamine

This is a complex hormone with many functions, but some of the ways it can help reduce stress are by increasing focus, enhancing your sense of pleasure and enjoyment, improving fine motor skills, and generally clearing the fog in your mind. You can sometimes get on top of stress by simply sharpening your focus and getting organized. Dopamine is the boy for the job.


#4 Oxytocin

This is the hormone needed in high levels for pregnancy, birthing, and breastfeeding. Mothers can certainly be stressed throughout all three of those stages! Stress inhibits the production of oxytocin, whereas relaxation through massage therapy raises oxytocin levels.


#5 Serotonin

We need plenty of serotonin to regulate our sleep and our emotions. We definitely understand that sleep and emotions greatly affect each other, and serotonin is the great balancer of both. Stress messes with all of this. Increasing serotonin will improve sleep, mood, and consequently reduce stress.


#6 Melatonin

This is the ultimate sleep and stress-relief hormone, and it is prescribed in pill form to insomniacs. Serotonin can be converted in the brain into melatonin. It’s far nicer to have a massage than to take drugs, and far healthier!

What style of massage should I choose?


A massage treatment aimed at reducing stress will not include a lot of remedial techniques. Of course, if you’re stressed because you’re in pain, you need a remedial massage to sort out that problem, and your stress will naturally decrease. But if you can identify that you’re physically tense because of stress, (maybe over family, work, finances etc), that’s important to communicate to your massage therapist so that you get a suitable and effective treatment.


When you have regular treatment, you can often ask for “the usual.” But as the circumstances in our lives constantly change, so do our massage needs. I will always check your needs each time you come, so that I know what you need from your massage TODAY. Tomorrow your needs may be different. Stress is essentially relieved when you get what you need.