Therapeutic massage can ease more than muscle aches. Sometimes it unleashes a cascade of emotions. It may surprise you that a basalt hot stone massage, sports massage, or another soothing massage could leave you unexpectedly emotional, but it’s relatively common. Our massage therapists have witnessed people laugh or cry from release, sometimes both. However, if you experience an unexpected mood shift during or immediately following a massage, there’s no need for concern. Letting your massage therapist know may help you work through the feeling.
Where are all these feelings coming from?
There’s no argument that massage taps into emotions similar to the way an old song can. Why, however, is another matter. Some people believe it’s an emotional release due to muscle memory others say it’s due to the hormonal response.
How we feel emotionally can also affect how our muscles respond. You’ve heard the body doesn’t forget? There is an intrinsic link between emotions and muscle pain and subsequent physical and mental healing. Sensory experiences, like a therapeutic massage, can unlock your body’s memory the same way that certain smells or movements will prompt memories of events or just emotions.
Can’t you feel it, physically and mentally?
Our language reflects this connection between your psychological and physical state. Are you familiar with any of these phrases? Pain in the neck, pain in the butt, shouldering responsibility, sick to one’s stomach, legs like jelly, frozen stiff with fear. All refer to physical displays of emotional experiences.
Traumatic experiences, workplace tension, the stress of a modern lifestyle, and relationship woes can contribute to muscle tension and other physical ailments. Consequently, a basalt hot stone massage that loosens physical tension might also trigger areas of the brain that hold these feelings. Just as the emotions resulted in pain in the body, the release of the tension may trigger the reverse.
Massage positively impacts hormone release.
Studies have shown that massage reduces stress hormones and elevates dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin, and serotonin. These hormonal changes result in an overall happier state. Regular massage therapy can help alleviate anxiety, depression, and stress, in part due to hormone changes.
Regardless of the cause people who have experienced it report, the feeling is emotionally cleansing, and they are better for it. Self-care, including healing treatments like hot stone massage and sports massage cupping, is a great way to improve your mood, promote wellness, and clear pent up feelings. Contact us now to book your wellness treatment at one of our top-rated San Diego wellness spa locations.