Brittany Lee-Anderson
3 minute read
What “should” you do right after a massage?
What I recommend is relaxing. Going for a walk, take a nap, do some gentle yoga, go out or food etc. Just have fun and live your life! A huge contributing factor of pain is stress and any practice that reduces stress will ultimately reduce pain.
Don’t do exercises that includes high impact movements or quick reactions. You are not going to be at the top of your game and you are at risk for an injury because your reaction time will be reduced. Plus who wants to suck at their game, that will most certainly be a hit to the ego. A massage after exercise, sure, just not before.
Ultimately, you are an adult, you can do whatever you want. The reality is, as an adult, you will also have to experience whatever consequences will come your way due to whatever choices you have made so far. So good luck! If you choose to go do cross fit after a massage, just know what you are doing and what could happen.
What about in between sessions?
MORE MOVEMENT! Any movement, other than aggravating movement. Lack of movement is one of the primary causes of chronic pain. Moving more can help facilitate your body’s ability to heal. If you are someone who moves all the time, just check in with yourself once in a while and make sure you aren’t performing movements that are inhibiting or harming to you and modify, modify, MODIFY!
Watch this video! It is awesome!
I am sure you have been told from your doctor, your physical therapist, your family members, your friends, and even complete strangers what you SHOULD be doing in order to be “healthy”. Good luck with all of that information, because life is really stressful and you do not have enough time in the day to get all that done, let alone get enough sleep!
Part of why you are getting a massage is because you have not created enough time during your week to fit in restorative practices that will help reduce and counteract the daily onslaught of stress. Doing a stretch I told you to do may not be the answer.
Really you are the best advocate to knowing what changes you need to make in between sessions to improve your daily life. Just make sure you make it fun and and enjoyable because you are not going to stick to whatever changes you make if it feels like a chore. So make it happen! You do you! And we will be here when you need to relax! Check our REAL TIME OPENINGS