Relaxing Swedish Massage
Swedish Massage Therapy is typically a full body treatment which works on your soft tissues and muscles in order to revitalise you and to encourage healing in the body. It also creates a calming effect on the nervous system and shifts your body’s production of hormones, resulting in a v relaxing experience.
I use various techniques; all designed to help soothe muscle tension, increase blood flow and reduce stress:
Effleurage (long, gliding strokes)
Petrissage (wringing, kneading, knuckling, skin rolling)
Tapotement (lively percussive actions, with a steady rhythm that are used to re-energise and break up areas of congestion)
Also:
Friction
Vibration
Hacking
Rotations
What does a Relaxing Swedish Massage feel like?
It feels like heaven :) ♡✷⭐︎✶
Pressure is adjustable according to your preference: it can be soft, gentle, caring and slow. I will ask what feels best for you and I will read your body, gauging your reactions. It will be likely to be very delicate and light, with slight variation ♡ I am passionate about this type of massage! This means the energy during the massage will be very peaceful, enthusiastic and healing.
What are the benefits of a Relaxing Swedish Massage?
Your massage with me will be a relaxing holiday from the pressures and atomisation of modern life!
These are some of the benefits of a Relaxing Swedish Full Body Massage, but it is a non-exhaustive list!
✦ Pain management
If you have a condition like arthritis and are suffering from chronic pain as a result, Swedish Massage is an effective method for managing that pain in a natural way. Talk to me about areas of pain so I can target those areas and use a motion to improve local circulation and reduce muscle tension. A study published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine found that massage therapy reduced muscle pain by an average of 30%. If you're experiencing muscle cramps and spasms, a Swedish massage with attention to your problem areas can help relieve this pain.
✦ Nerve Entrapment
Massage therapy also can help with managing the pain from conditions like sciatica. Headaches (from stress) can arise from pinched nerves. Applying gentle pressure around the affected area may help to relieve tension, and a full body massage can help the muscles to relax, freeing the nerves.
✦ Decreased Stress and Increased Relaxation
People in London are often over-worked and stressed. Stress can manifest in the body with increased muscle tension and sometimes pain. Stress can also manifest in the mind with increased worry or anxiety. Swedish Massages help to clear the body and mind of unwanted responses to stress by calming the nervous system and relaxing muscular tension.
✦ Increased Flexibility & Range of Motion
Swedish Massage can elongate the muscles, open and lubricate the joints and decrease swelling, all of which can ease movement and increase flexibility. By incorporating stretching techniques, Swedish style massages can also create a more fluid range of motion for your body.
✦ Increased Overall Energy
Increased circulation and decreased stress can lead to a general boost of energy.
✦ Improved Posture
Postural imbalances have many sources, including overworked muscles due to repetitive strain, overcompensating muscles to ease stress on overworked muscles, prolonged sitting, or injury. Swedish Massage helps to ease the muscular holding that underlies postural imbalance.
✦ Increased Blood Flow
Massage therapy can dilate the blood vessels and widens the membrane pores, improving your body’s ability to deliver fresh blood to muscles and organs. Massage can also help to increase blood flow and circulation, which can aid in the elimination of toxins from the body. When toxins build up in the body, they can cause inflammation. By increasing blood flow and circulation, massage can help to reduce inflammation. A study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that massage therapy increased blood flow and circulation by an average of 29%. Improved blood circulation helps you to feel more energetic by increasing the flow of nutrient-rich oxygen to the muscles in your body. Additionally, it stimulates the systema lymphaticum, which carries the body's waste products away.
✦ Endorphin Release to Improve Mood
Research shows increased serotonin and dopamine in massage recipients, improving mood and feelings of emotional well-being.
✦ Metabolism
As stated above, massage can help increase blood flow, which can in turn increase the number of calories your body burns while at rest. Additionally, massage can help reduce stress, which is a major contributor to metabolic issues. By reducing stress, massage can help regulate the hormones that control metabolism, such as insulin and cortisol.
✦ Weight Loss
Some studies show that Swedish Massage contributes to fat reduction. If you receive massage in an area with excess fat accumulation, it massage will help to break up the fat stores, making it ready for absorption inside the body. Swedish Massage also encourages lymphatic flow and circulation, which also aid in detoxification and weight loss.
✦ Emotional Healing
Many people experience an extreme emotional release, experiencing mental and energetic shifts, while receiving Swedish Massage. Past experiences and traumas are stored not only in our mind and memories, but in our bodies too. Massage therefore can help release not only physical pain, but also emotional pain. Massages with me are a non-judgmental, trusting and confidential space for you to release and heal.
✦ Improved Blood Pressure
Many people see a drop in their overall blood pressure after they receive a massage. In addition to stress and tension relief, Swedish Massage boosts serotonin, which is the hormone that makes you feel happy. After having one of these stress-reducing and euphoria-producing massages, you will walk away feeling naturally light and “high” - with probably lowered blood pressure.
✦ Supports Healthy Immunity
Increased physical pain can also increase mental stress and an increase in stress from environmental factors can manifest in the muscles. In addition, any stress can lead to an immune deficiency. Because Swedish Massage encourages relaxation and a decrease in body tension and stress, it supports a healthy immune system.
✦ Improves Sleep
Studies show that massage increases serotonin levels in the body, which is a precursor hormone to melatonin production, so you can fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. It is actually more complex than this, read more in the Luna Massage section.
✦ Improves Headaches
Many headaches or migraines are a result of stress and/or poor circulation. Swedish Massage relieves the stress associated with tension headaches and improves circulation.
✦ Releases Euphoric Chemicals
Massage has been scientifically proven to release a range of hormones and chemicals in our bodies that make us feel better, such as oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins and dopamine. A study published in the International Journal of Neuroscience found that Massage Therapy reduced cortisol levels by an average of 31%.
✦ Body Awareness
It is easy to ignore the small discomforts and subtle signals that the body is out of alignment and needs medical treatment. I have extensive knowledge and education about muscles, movement and the biology of how your body should feel and work, and I am trained to notice everything, so I can pick up on anything that is a problem and potentially direct you to a medical doctor at an early stage. Massage is an excellent way to connect to your body and understand why things feel strange; and how they can feel better.
I also love to talk to you about stretching, yoga and products so you can learn to take care of yourself at home.
✦ Bone Health
A 2014 study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science investigated the effects of lumbar muscle strengthening exercises combined with massage on pain, muscle strength, and balance in post-menopausal women with osteoporosis. The study found that the combination of exercises and massage significantly improved pain, muscle strength, and balance compared to the control group. By increasing circulation in the body, massage helps to improve bone health: by delivering essential nutrients to the bones, keeping them strong and healthy.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3770450/
✦ Boosts Physical Appearance
Swedish Full Body Massage helps to keep your skin young, helps to maintain defined contours and elongated muscles. It also reduces cellulite, &c, to ensure healthy fat patterns - by applying pressure and kneading these areas, Swedish Massage may help to break down fat cells and improve the appearance of cellulite.
✦ Moisturises Your Skin
Massage helps to reduce tension in the skin and connecting tissues to allow the blood to access your skin more easily. The dilation of surface capillaries will make your skin glow as blood flows more easily, improving colour and tone. Your skin texture can feel softer and more supple as increasing circulation delivers nourishment and hydration. This nourishment regenerates your skin, enabling it to retain moisture and replace older skin cells with newer and healthier cells. Dry skin becomes vibrant skin :))
✦ Exfoliation: Massage Helps to Remove Skin Impurities
Regular massages help to reduce the accumulation of dead skin cells on the skin’s surface. Desquamation improves your skin’s health and appearance, tightening pores, improving skin texture and giving your skin a brighter glow. Massage assists skin gland production, allowing your skin to sweat away and eliminate impurities such as uric acid. The friction and motion of massage pushes oils out and away from the pores enabling unhealthy elements in the blood to be excreted. Nutrients and moisture from my home-made massage oils can then be more easily absorbed; helping you to look and feel healthier :))
✦ Scar Tissue Reduction
After surgery or an injury, your skin heals by using scar tissue which manifests by rising above the adjoining tissues. Swedish Massages can help to realign scar tissue to run with the skin’s contours and tissue fibres, allowing the scar to join neatly to the surrounding skin. Receiving Swedish Massages during the recovery stage can speed up healing and reduce pain and itching.
✦ Younger Appearance
Stress will make you look and feel tired and haggard :( If the body continues to hold stressful facial poses, wrinkles can develop along the direction of the contracted muscles. Massage can release tension and relax the muscles, reducing the appearance and development of wrinkles. Increased blood flow and waste excretion help cell regeneration, supporting your skin’s resistance to infections and disease – leaving your skin feeling smoother and looking younger.
✦ Tightens Skin After Weight Loss
Massage can help you to bounce back after weight loss by aiding skin regeneration. Massage increases blood circulation allowing nutrients to replenish tired and stretched skin. Stretch marks can heal more easily when dead skin cells are removed and pores are opened. As the cells regenerate skin tone improves and stretch marks reduce.
Studies have shown that the calming effects are so powerful that even simply having a Swedish Massage booked in your calendar - can calm your nervous system and promote well-being, reducing anxiety and depression. It is something to look forward to :))
♦︎ Who should choose a Relaxing Swedish Massage?
I suggest that anyone can start with this type of massage - then we can incorporate other elements according to your wishes :)
♦︎ When and how often to book a Relaxing Swedish Massage?
As often as possible. After a period of stress, after a sedentary time, after a hectic sporting week, before a holiday to make your body glow, after a holiday if you’re sad to be back home, when you have a hangover, when you’re tired. Any time! It can be just a nice way to spend a morning or afternoon! :))
♦︎ Can I mix a Relaxing Swedish Massage with other Types of Massage?
Yes :) Everything is customisable. We can discuss on phone, but there could be, for example, a Relaxing Swedish Massage foundation mixed with segments of Ashiatsu.
