Massage Benefits Your Lymph and Muscles

       In this edition, we’ll look at the remaining 3 benefits Massage can provide from my original longer list from the previous 2 blog entries.  They are:

•      Improved Lymph Flow 
•      Improved Condition of Muscles 
•      Avoidance of Muscle Injury

       Lymph is an almost colorless fluid, containing chiefly white blood cells that is collected from the tissues of the body and transported in the lymphatic system.  Massage can help greatly to increase lymph flow in our bodies.  As this rate increases, so does the rate at which the body rids of harmful and toxic substances from the tissues.  Massage can also aid in decreasing any swelling you may have in your body.  In general, light massage strokes tend to increase lymphatic flow while deeper pressure strokes increase blood flow.

       Massage can help the condition of your muscles.  Your muscles are controlled by your brain and primitive reflexes within the spinal cord.  There are sensors within your muscles that monitor length and contraction strength.  Sometimes these sensors get a little confused and leave your muscles in a contracted state beyond your level of control.  One example is when your shoulders raise up slightly as a response to stress.  If this contracted state is sustained long enough, it will stay tight without you even trying.

       This unintended tension increase happens all over your body in small ways sometimes because of stress and sometimes because of injury.  Massage can help to reset these sensors by allowing them to relax and lengthen the muscles.  If the level of tension is coming from a feedback loop in the spinal cord, massage can help to reset that system by releasing chemicals in your spine that naturally block those chemicals thereby cutting the circuit that keeps your muscles tight.

       The sensory feedback that you get from massage can help you become more aware of those areas that you may have become unconscious of.  Feeling the hands of the therapist is a great way on a conscious level to relax and let go.

       Massage can help you avoid injury.  Many muscle injuries occur only after muscle has been suffering from tension for many months.   With increased tension, the added load of exercise finally causes the tissues to fail.  Increased tension can also affect other structures like the discs in your spine.  The spinal discs are designed to support the weight of your upper body, but if there is muscular tension in your back, this can increase the pressure on your discs which can in turn bulge.  Although massage can’t help much to heal a bulging disc, it can help remove any tension which can contribute to injury.  

       If you already have an injury, massage is a great adjunct to normal healing of a muscle strain.  Oftentimes, when a muscle is injured, it tightens to protect itself which decreases blood flow to the muscle which makes healing more difficult.  A few days after the initial injury, massage can help to increase blood flow and loosen the muscle which in turn speeds healing.  Although massage can Increase blood flow, reduce tension and make muscles feel better, every injury needs time and gentleness on your part to fully heal.

So Why is Massage so Good For Me? (Cont...)

          Let’s pick up from where we left off the last blog entry where we were discussing why receiving massage is so good for us.  We found that some key benefits of massage include reduced stress, decreased anxiety, enhanced sleep quality and reduced fatigue.   Now, let’s continue the discussion and some other important ones to our massage perks list:

•          Improved Circulation
•          Blood Pressure Regulation
•          Improved Lymph Flow
•          Improved Condition of Muscles
•          Avoidance of Muscle Injury

 A well-functioning circulation system is essential to good health.  Blood, the essential mover of our circulation system, plays a key role in delivering Oxygen and nutrients to our tissues and taking CO2 and wastes away.  Sometimes this system can become inefficient especially when blood stagnates in certain areas of the body. One way this can happen is if you sit too long in one position with very little movement, blood flow slows down (due to muscle inactivity) and gravity causes blood to pool.  The result is less nutrient-rich blood coming to the tissues and less nutrient-poor blood leaving.   

Overworked and sore muscles can also cause blood stagnation because the muscles become hard and less penetrable for blood to pass.  And so once again, the Oxygenated/Carbonated blood interchange is compromised in these areas.  Massage can remedy this situation by acting as a mechanical pump that squeezes nutrient-poor blood out of the area, allowing nutrient-rich blood to flow in its place.  With blood flow increased, the cells are revitalized and more efficient at fending of disease.

Blood pressure regulation relates closely to the circulation system and is extremely important.  Many studies have suggested that receiving massage can treat certain conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure).  This is because massage acts on pressure receptors that prompt action from the Vagus nerve, a nerve that emerges from the brain and is key in regulating blood pressure.  In a 2005 study at the University of South Florida, hypertension patients who received 10 massages of 10 minutes each over three weeks showed significant improvements in blood pressure compared to a control group who simply rested in the same environment without any massage. (http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/09/03/five-surprising-benefits-of-massage.html)

  Well, I think that enough technical jargon for you to absorb for one blog entry!  Next time, we’ll talk about how receiving massage can improve Lymph flow, the condition of your muscles and avoid injury to muscles.

So Why is Massage So Good For Me?

          We all know that unlike going to the dentist, receiving massage is something we WANT to do...Why is that?  Well, because it feels great!...But Why?  Because I can relax....But Why? (I’m sounding like my 2 ½ year old daughter now!)  But seriously, have you ever wondered what is going on a physiological level?  An emotional level?  A spiritual level?  Let’s investigate that...

Plain and simple, on a physiological/mental level, massage can...

•    Reduce Stress
•    Decrease Anxiety
•    Enhance Sleep Quality
•    Reduce Fatigue 
•    Give Greater Energy
•    Improve Concentration
•    Improve Circulation / Condition of your Muscles

          Now, when the muscles in your body achieve a state of relaxation through massage, what is happening as a result are important chemical changes in your body.  First of all, Cortisol in your body is reduced.  An elevated Cortisol level can be very detrimental to important cells for immunity.  So, to keep colds, flues and other illnesses at bay, it’s important to keep stress in check (Cortisol level low).

          As a direct spin-off of low Cortisol levels / low stress, one experiences less anxiety in their life.  The hormone Melatonin continues to be produced and preserved at a healthy level.  Melatonin is what makes the eyelids heavy and brings on a sleepy state right before bedtime.  So, having good sleep time means less fatigue in the daytime and of course, greater energy and greater mental concentration.  Sounds good so far?

          Well, we shall continue our discussion in the next blog with how massage improves circulation and the condition of our muscles....

Other Dessert Cities

(Re-printed from a previous blog in September 2012)

          As you may know, my life in the last 4 weeks or so has been all but consumed by yet another play….and her name is Other Desert Cities. 

          The normal 6 week rehearsal schedule was condensed into 4 weeks of powerhouse rehearsals and a sprinkling of script memorization “speed-throughs” and of course the cast parties (God:  I NEED A BREAK! ).  The ceaseless pouring out of blood, sweat and tears will undoubtedly pay off though as I bear witness to a truly great artistic and professional endeavor of San Miguel theatre being birthed right before my eyes...  Ok, that was a little graphic.  But seriously, that’s what this script does to you.  It makes you look, think and feel deeper about life and it has the power to touch home on so many levels.  Aside from the very rich content of the play, the experience of working with director, Taylor Korobow, and the whole cast and crew has been nothing short of wonderful.

Other Desert Cities, a play by Jon Robin Baitz

Directed by Taylor Korobow

October 17-28

Wednesdays to Saturdays at 8PM; Sundays at 5PM

Teatro Santa Ana

100 pesos, all performances

  

                   What do you get when you cross a politically divided, dysfunctional family with Palm Springs Yuletide Cheer? In the hands of the extraordinary, Pulitzer-nominated playwright Jon Robin Baitz, it's the laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, tenderly gut-wrenching play "Other Desert Cities" and it's coming to San Miguel's Teatro Santa Ana on October 17th.

                   The winner of several awards for its recent Broadway and off Broadway runs, “Other Desert Cities” explores the right we have –  or might not have—to own and reveal our own stories even if it means hurting those we love.  The writing is sharp and poignant with exquisitely drawn characters that one might recognize from one’s own family: A powerhouse of a mother who knows all too well how important it is to keep one’s guard up. Then there’s the Republican father, a former actor who uses his strong veneer to cover his crumbling core. Add to the mix a boozy aunt just out of rehab and a brother who produces reality shows in Hollywood and knows how to keep a flirtatious distance from his damaged-beyond-repair family in order to stay sane.

                   With an incredibly gifted cast featuring New York actor Carrie Haugh (who stunned San Miguel audiences last year as the tortured daughter in “‘night, Mother”) and the brilliantly talented local actor Jill Gottlieb as the sparring daughter and mother. Plus the wonderfully talented Michael Gottleib and David Galitzky. And the magnificent San Francisco actor Jennie Brick, who returns to San Miguel after her breath-taking portrayal of Mama in last year’s production of ‘”night, Mother”.

                   Welcome to Christmas in the desert. It’s a wild ride that is sure to make you think, laugh and thank your lucky stars for any normalcy you might find in your own family this coming holiday season.

                   “Other Desert Cities” is presented by Stray Dog Productions who recently brought San Miguel “God of Carnage” and “’night, Mother” and is directed by Taylor Korobow with scenic design by Joseph Kent. Tickets available at the Biblioteca box office.