To Do It or Not To Do It?—Daily, that is the question

Daily massage — the practice of using your hands to improve your life — bestows benefits to your body, mind, and whatever else you have lurking within you. Yet, many of us don’t massage every day because, well, we’ve never thought of it. Nor has anyone ever suggested we do it. 

Now someone has. 

Just do it!  

Get out your hands and massage your body. Give yourself a daily dose. You probably believe that a monthly massage would be good for you.  A daily massage is better, not just 30 times better. It’s infinitely better.  It will improve your health, lift your spirits, and relieve your aches and pain. And, you can do it. Just whip out those paws and get to it. You will experience mega benefits when you do it daily. Finding some time each day to massage — even 2-minutes — is better than no massage.

Why?

The first question is, why do it at all? 

Here’s Why

According to science, the benefits of self-massage are too powerful to ignore. Studies show that moderate pressure massage improves mood, reduces anxiety, and relieves depression, even postpartum depression. Research shows massage reduces all kinds of pain, including fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis of the knee and lower back, labor pain, migraine headaches, premenstrual syndrome, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, and post-operative-pain. Want more? Ok.

Scientific studies have demonstrated that massage improves focus and attentiveness as well as performance on math tests. Massage facilitates sleep and deep sleep while reducing the stress hormone cortisol. It improves the health of both preterm and full-term babies. It relieves acute pain and improves mood in cancer patients. Clinical studies show that massage reduces disease and helps humans relax. Massage improves immune function by increasing the effectiveness of natural killer cells, the cells your body makes to crush viral cells, bacterial cells, and cancer cells. While doing all this, massage reduces muscle pain and soreness and speeds recovery after exercise. The truth is that science has shown massage does even more but you get the picture. If I could bottle the benefits of massage and sell them in pill form on TV, you’d beg your doctor for a prescription. 

Science Schmience

Scientific studies showing the benefits of massage are irrelevant to almost everyone, especially you.  

The only thing that matters to you, really matters to you, is how massage makes you feel. Did you feel better after a massage than you did before it? Did it relieve your pain? Did it enhance your mood? Did it improve your health? The fact that frequent massage caused pre-term infants to gain weight and be discharged from the hospital sooner is powerful. But it doesn’t mean massage will do anything for you. 

Everyone’s body is unique and everyone, especially you, experiences massage uniquely. To know how a regular massage affects you, you must experience it firsthand. You have to put it to the test. And the best way to test that is with a daily massage. 

How to self-massage 

If you don’t let thought get in the way, you can get right to it. Like sex, sleeping, or eating, self-massage is a basic instinct. Unlike the other three, you can do it anywhere, anytime. Just try it. Start moving your hands over your body. Begin gliding them over your legs, like so. Then try squeezing a part of your body, like so. Then try pressing your hands into your quads, something like this. Now try a little drumming on yourself, like so. You can take those strokes and apply them anywhere on your beautiful  body. If you want more instruction, here’s a link to the full video that will have you massaging like a pro.  

Is it habit-forming?

Yes, daily massage is habit-forming. And that’s a good thing. Doing it every day will do more than create a healthy habit. Committing to a daily massage turns your hands loose to experiment and learn the fundamentals of massage at their own pace. So when you need the benefits, your fingers will know what to do. A daily massage, lets  you learn the strokes and the techniques. As a form of self-exploration, massage will teach you about your body as nothing else can. With daily practice, you will learn to relieve your pain, enhance  your mood, and improve your health. Daily  massage will put a source of self-confidence back where it belongs, in the magic of your fingertips. Within two weeks, you should notice a difference in how you feel. A written record, as described below, will serve as evidence. By week six, you’ll be awed and addicted by the power of your hands. What have you got to lose? Poor health? Bad mood? Muscle pain and soreness? The aches and pains of everyday life? A daily massage is almost certain to improve your life. But, you'll need to make it a daily habit..  

How to Establish a Habit

As with all habits, massage becomes easier to establish when part of your daily routine. Once it becomes a habit, you do it. So how do you change massage from an after-thought to a daily habit?

Here’s How

Decide on a time of day that works for you. The most effective way to turn your massage practice into a habit is by performing it every day at the same time. And the best way to do that is to attach it to another daily ritual. For example, do it before or after breakfast, lunch, or dinner, brushing your teeth, showering, bathing, or working out. Do it first thing when you wake up in the morning or—like me—massage yourself to sleep at night. You can even do it while doing something else that you do habitually, like watching TV, listening to podcasts, or checking the skies for UFOs. Just choose one established daily habit and use it to cue your daily massage. Put a reminder on your phone if you like. Or do it while you’re watching one of our feel better fast videos.  Or sign up for our daily massage email. Whatever works best for you decide on one time of day and stick to it.

Timing

Decide on a minimum length of time to massage that’s right for you. Anywhere from 2  to 20 minutes will do you a world of good. Choose a block of time that feels right for your schedule and needs. Once you’ve decided on a time, repeat it daily. But don’t be afraid to extend it and go longer if your body needs more. Learn to listen to your body. What does that mean? If you’re new to massage, your body’s language will sound alot like gibberish. But over time, with patience, you will learn to understand your body’s language and assess its needs. As days go by, you will discover what amount of time is most effective for you. You’ll discover a time that works for your unique needs and schedule.

The Self-Massage Challenge

Take the self-massage challenge and find out what self-massage can do for you. Give yourself a massage every day for six weeks, just a few minutes a day. Use a 1 to 10 scale (with 1, feeling bad, and 10, feeling great) to judge the effectiveness of a massage. Assess how you feel before your massage and after it, and write it down each day along with the time your massage took You will notice a significant improvement in how you feel. After six weeks of experimenting with massage, recording daily before and after scores, you’ll have proof of how powerful your hands are. Self-massage has made humans feel better for two million years. It will do the same for you.