MASSAGE THERAPY FOR HEALTH

With fast paced lives and the continuous chase to meet deadlines, the tired mind and body does tend to seek out for a stress buster and increasingly so. Some people enjoy a stressful situation and find a rewarding experience in working under stress. Whereas there are people who are bogged down by stress and find stress affecting not only their minds but their bodies as well.



Stress can do that to you. Anger, frustration and depression could lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. How can one get stress out of the mind and body?? Here is a tool that can help you eliminate stress to bring about a relaxed you: Massage Therapy
Massage Therapy, a combination of science and art, provides a relaxing experience by artistic hand strokes on the body to rejuvenate the mind and body and eliminate stress scientifically. The concept of massage is evident throughout history. The origin of the term ‘massage’ can be traced to four sources:

• Greek - masso/massein, meaning to touch or to handle, also meaning to knead or to squeeze
• Latin - massa, lifted from Greek masso and means the same
• Arabic- mass'h or mass, means to press softly
• Sanskrit- makeh, also means to press softly

The practice of massage however has its roots in the ancient Chinese, Greek, Roman, Indian and the Egyptian era. A Chinese book from 2,700 B.C., The Yellow Emperor's Classic Book of Internal Medicine, recommends 'breathing exercises, massage of skin and flesh, and exercises of hands and feet" as the appropriate treatment for -complete paralysis, chills, and fever." Massage one of the principal method of relieving pain for Greek and Roman physicians. Julius Caesar was apparently given a daily massage to treat neuralgia. Egyptian tomb paintings show people practicing massage. Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of medicine, places great emphasis on massage and it remains widely practiced in India. "The Physician Must Be Experienced In Many Things," wrote Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, in the 5th century B. C., "but assuredly in rubbing.. for rubbing can bind a joint that is too loose, and loosen a joint that is too rigid."
Massage was therefore used by early physicians to treat fatigue, illness and injury based on their basic understanding of how the body functions. But massage was not effectively used as a form of therapy in those days due to the lack of knowledge about blood circulation and the therapeutic results a massage can bring about.