What to Do Between Your Incline Village Massage Visits: Part 1
Getting a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly massage therapy session is great; as I often say, it’s one of the best practices you can do for your body alongside eating well and exercising. However, let’s face it: it's highly unlikely to make time for massage therapy daily (not that I'd recommend daily massage except under certain circumstances). Therefore, it’s likely that you’ll need a little boost in between your weekly, bi-weekly or monthly massage visits.Over the next two weeks, I'll be covering a two-part series on taking care of yourself between massages. I'll cover what you can do, how you can do it and why you should take advantage of these at-home therapies.
What to Do Between Your Incline Village Massage: Restorative Yoga
Kicking off our series, we bring you the advantages of restorative yoga between your massage therapy sessions. Similar to other forms of yoga, restorative yoga combines traditional yoga poses with the use of props, such as bands, pillows, blankets and blocks in order to achieve deeper, longer stretches.Lisa Sandquist, a restorative yoga instructor in Chicago, is a large proponent of the benefits that come with restorative yoga. “The goal is to promote deep physiological relaxation, a state where the body is at ease physically and the mind is not stimulated,” writes Sandquist. When individuals practice the various poses, they activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for natural body functions and movements. Doing so can help alleviate soreness, depression, anxiety and more. “In this mode, our bodies are able to absorb nutrients and digest food, repair injured muscles and tissue as well as ease fatigue, relieve stress, recover from illness, build energy, and allow for reproduction,” writes Sandquist.Practicing restorative yoga between massage therapy sessions can further the relaxation and stress-relief benefits of massage, as well as help you exercise in new ways. For a large selection of restorative yoga poses and instructional videos, head over to Yogaglo, an informational and useful online resource.Check back with San Soma next week to learn about the power of epsom salt when relaxing between massages!