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Writer's pictureSarah Galliford Calm Therapies

How can Therapeutic Massage support you?

How can I, as a therapist, support you?


My specialism is relaxation. The reason for this is because I have experienced and studied how feeling tense affects the mind, body, and soul. In today’s modern world we are so far away from being able to switch off and relax. We are bombarded with information and our senses are overloaded.


I am now aware of how my job as a specialist public health nurse has affected me over the years. I have lived trauma through other people and have listened to horrific stories and witnessed abuse. When it is part of your job the expectation is that these things become normal, and you are often told to detach to protect yourself. We are all human and if that was possible, we probably would not be human anymore. I also believe that it does not make for a compassionate practitioner.


How has your experiences affected you?


How have you felt recently, particularly after the Covid pandemic? Humanity was deeply traumatised. It wasn’t an individualised trauma but was shared by the world. Suddenly people felt out of control, isolated, and scared. Covid has caused ongoing stress and exacerbated the feelings of not being able to relax.


How often do you relax? Is this something you prioritise? Is this even something you know how to do?


Sometimes it’s just the therapist laying a hand onto the body giving it permission to calm. A therapist can feel a change in the energy in the room when a person has fully relaxed.


Why is relaxation so important? A greater body and quality of research is showing how stress and tension is manifesting into the physical body and presenting as symptoms. These could be headaches, tummy pain, neckache, a feeling of being run down, exhaustion, chronic illness, etc...


Take a moment to notice what it is like being in your body right now.


The symptoms can affect daily life. How are you in relationships? How’s sleep? How are you generally functioning, is this affecting work, family life or your ability to appreciate retirement?


My aim is to support you to achieve your goals, whether it’s a better-quality sleep, feeling calmer and more relaxed around the family or reducing pain and tension. Ultimately gaining a better quality of life for you and your family.



I want you to feel that as soon as you walk into my treatment room you can take a deep breath and feel calm. The time is for you, for you to feel nurtured. To walk away well rested and start to notice how you feel when you have entered the state of deep relaxation.


A massage works on the nervous system. We want to activate the parasympathetic nervous system which control’s the body’s ability to relax. Opposed to this is the sympathetic nervous system which is the ‘fight/flight’ response in stressful situations. Negative outside influences keep the body in a constant state of adjusting, readjusting, compensating, and re-balancing.


The sympathetic nervous system is important, but it is not healthy to be in this prolonged state of high alert. The body’s posture, soft tissue, temperature, pH and blood can all be affected by this constant attack. By being in the parasympathetic state we are conserving energy to allow our body to do what it needs to do, focus on regulating all body systems and promote healing. In a healthy body the systems work together to keep your body in balance. After an episode of stress on the body the parasympathetic nervous system steps in to return things to normal.


Massage promotes homeostasis which is the monitoring and maintaining of the body’s internal environment. This supports to maintain a balanced and healthy state. A big factor affecting homeostasis is stress which negatively affects the body’s ability to combat and adjust to the everyday challenges.


With regular treatments, massage is showing to be an effective medicine. It’s certainly worth prioritising. You are important!


#health#wellbeing#massage#theapeutic#practitioner#priority#treatments#stress#tension#relax#calm

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