Studies have shown that physiological and psychological changes can occur from massage in as little as 10-15 minutes.
Changes such as decreasing your heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen consumption and salivary cortisol levels.
These physiological responses decrease feelings of stress and anxiety and increase the neurotransmitter Serotonin.
This increase in serotonin boosts production of melatonin which has a positive influence on the sleep stage of your circadian rhythm.
This can help you spend more time in deep sleep, which is the restorative stage of sleep in which the body barely moves.
A study on back pain, published in the International Journal of Neuroscience, demonstrated that in addition to a decrease in long-term pain, subjects receiving massage experienced improved sleep and an increase in serotonin levels.
Studies have also shown massage can improve sleep patterns in all types of people including children, adolescents, and adults that suffer from insomnia, cerebral palsy, fibromyalgia, migraines, and stress-related sleep disturbances.
Yours in health,
Katherine Messinis
