How To Improve Your Yoga With Sports Massage Treatments

You get discomfort in your neck, back or shoulders and you go for a deep tissue massage treatment to try to alleviate the problem but very few people think to go so that they can improve their yoga flexibility. However, done properly, sports massage treatments can really help if you want to achieve some of those deeper postures.

Most clients are already in pain or suffering from some sports-related injuries before they turn to massage, but why does everyone let it get to that stage? It is far more sensible to take regular massage as a preventative measure so that such injuries do not occur and to increase your overall sense of wellbeing for optimum physical and mental performance.

Evidence for the therapeutic and clinical benefits of massage, from both research studies and patient reports, has always been extremely strong and many sports injury specialists say massage is very effective in treating and reducing soft tissue injuries, improving muscle conditioning and fluid movement, improving general athletic performance and enhancing a state of wellbeing.

The power of healing in massage is the energy that flows through the therapist's hands in touch to refresh, regenerate and revitalise. There are several forms of massage on offer, and it can be confusing to know what will work best for a particular ailment or condition. Some full body massage concentrates more on relaxing the client whilst others will work more deeply at repairing damaged muscle tissue.

Sports Massage

Sports Massage is often used to alleviate stress and aid relaxation as well as to relieve pain and to facilitate healing from injury. A sports massage uses powerful techniques and trigger point work on specific muscles and areas of the body to invigorate and refresh. Sports massage is a part of many cancer care programmes and is used for premature babies, infants, young children and older people. It also plays an important part in sports therapy in the prevention of injuries.

Deep Tissue Massage

Deep Tissue Massage is a powerful form of remedial massage that focuses on the deeper layers of muscle tissue used to treat chronic pain and restricted mobility. It is also useful in recovery from sporting injuries and treating repetitive strain injury, osteoarthritis and lower back pain or spasms from poor posture or incorrect lifting.

Deep tissue massage focuses on the deeper layers of muscle tissue to reach the deep sections of thick muscles, specifically the individual muscle fibres. Movements are generally slower and the pressure deeper and more focused on specific areas of tension and pain.

Once experienced, many people continue to choose deep tissue massage over lighter styles for the increased degree of relaxation, alleviation of pain, and the generally longer lasting benefits that it provides. Massage is believed to stimulate skin receptors and the nervous system, triggering the release of 'feel-good' chemicals, known as endorphins, which help us relax. It is known to help 'block' pain signals.

Therefore a massage after yoga can also help alleviate issues that have arisen during your practice such as muscular tightness or any inflammation.

In order to learn how to stand up straight after developing a dowager's hump, Ashley J Downs discovered yoga and has been practising for several years. Find out how you can learn yoga at the Yoga Centre in Leigh on Sea
Shambhala Studios, 11 Leighcliff Buildings, Maple Avenue, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 1DJ
01702 478924

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Relieve Pain and Improve Functioning in Fibromyalgia Patients Through Yoga

Unhealthy lifestyles and hectic schedules has led to many health problems. One such problem is 'Fibromyalgia' (FM). This is a disease in which the body is in an incapacitating condition. In the United States of America approximately 11 million people are affected by this disease. This is the number for US only. The cost of curing this disease on an average is $20 billion annually. The drugs for this disease are only up to 30% effective and improves only 20% of body's functioning.

In spite of this huge expenditure you only get a partial relief from this ailment. Besides it is not easy for one to spend 20 billion dollars every year until the disease is cured. What is the solution for this then? Will one suffering from this will have o live with it forever? No. YOGA, as usual helps FM patients overcome this illness and improvise their health to a great extent.

Dr. James Carson, at the Oregon Health & Science University said,

"Although yoga has been practiced for millennia, only recently have researchers begun to demonstrate yoga's effects on persons suffering from persistent pain. The Yoga of Awareness program stands in contrast to previous multimodal interventions with FM patients in that it integrates a wide spectrum of yoga-based techniques, postures, mindfulness meditation, breathing exercises, application of yogic principles to optimal coping, and group discussions....the findings of this pilot study provide promising preliminary support for the beneficial effects of yoga in patients with FM."

FM is more prevalent in females. Approximately 80% of Fm patients are females. This is why mostly women were included in this research. Out of the total 53 women patients participating in this research 25 women were included in 'Awareness of Yoga', program while others were subjected to the standard treatment.

The yoga program, is designed in a way that it targets and cures, pain, sleep disturbance, fatigue & emotional distress caused due to Fm. Each session under this program, has approximately 40 minutes of stretching, 25 minutes of meditation, 10 minutes breathing exercises, 20 minutes of theoretical explanation and last 25 minutes involves group discussions regarding practice of this exercise.

After the completion of program when both the groups were analyzed for improvement, the yoga group showed greater signs of improvement. They experienced a more pain free life, fatigue free and greater coping strategies.

Thus, the research proves that yoga can dilute the effects of FM and thus helps these patients live a better life.

Carmela Turner is an expert in Seva Yoga who have taken Yoga Teacher Training. She knows different type of yoga which helps in keep your health good.

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