Every day we accumulate muscular tension as a result of stress and the usual rhythm: work, family, obligations, etc. In the end, our health suffers and pain begins to appear that does not seem to go away, but why have we not tried self-massage? Today we are going to talk about self-massages to release muscular tension from different points of our body.
If we add to this the quarantine, in which we have had to stay at home without moving too much and now we start to take up the pace again, we will notice it even more. The daily intensity had been reduced to return now to the usual. Bad habits, too much time sitting, not enough exercise… we have to solve the consequences little by little.
For all this, self-massages to release the tension that we are going to tell you can be very good, but first, let’s talk about the benefits of performing these self-massages.
Benefits of self-massage
Although there are self-massages of practically all parts of the body, those for the shoulders, the cervical spine, the head and the face are particularly important. Thanks to these massages, headaches, contractures or even cervical hernias can be relieved. However, it does not replace the work of a professional. Thus, some of the benefits of these self-massages to release tension are
- It produces a state of relaxation and well-being. By putting pressure on the muscles and relaxing them, you will always feel a sense of relief.
- It increases blood flow, taking away the biochemical substances that cause pain.
- It releases endorphins, so we will increase the tolerance to pain.
- It makes the soft tissues more flexible when mechanical forces are applied to them. It also increases the mobility of the skin and muscle tissues.
- Although it may hurt, the benefits of self-massage outweigh the disadvantages.
Our hands and fingers are all we need to do this, although sometimes it will be necessary to use an everyday object such as a tennis ball or a broom handle. Also, if you accompany the process with slow breathing you will help to obtain a greater muscular and mental relaxation.
Self-massages to relax
Self-massage of the head
Hours in front of the screen, teleworking, then the show you like… screens and more screens. Headaches prevent us from continuing with activities and in 90% of cases the reason for suffering from them is unknown. In addition to hydrating yourself, we recommend that you practice the following:
Place your fingers on your scalp and trace circles from smaller to larger little by little, putting some pressure on each of the circles. Then, massage your temples into eight with your index and middle fingers, with light upward pressure. After a few minutes you will feel a small improvement.
Self-massage of the neck
Neck pain often turns into a migraine. Bad sleeping positions, bad postural hygiene in the office, reading too much, unexpected effort… neck pain can arise from many causes.
The goal of self-massage at this point is to increase blood flow, release endorphins and stimulate the area. To do this, you have to massage the neck also with circular movements, first from the top of the neck making some pressure towards the outside and down. It is also advisable to perform shoulder rotations.
Self-massage of the back
This is a large area that is difficult to access in its entirety, although we will recommend doing this self-massage with a different object.
To perform the self-massage, first start with the cervical area making circular movements and then continue with the lumbar and sacral areas. If the pain is in a place that you cannot reach or simply the hands are not enough, you can use a tennis ball or a hard object to lean on and make it rotate over the area in question, this will activate the muscle.
A clear example of this is the dorsal area, which is difficult to reach with the hands. Therefore, lie down on your back on the ball and move so that the ball puts pressure on the area that causes pain.
Self-massage of shoulders
If the area where you feel pain is that of the shoulders you should do the following. While standing, stretch your arm back by making the shoulder and hand form a diagonal, then bend your wrist to further tighten the shoulder until you feel the muscles stretch (without pain). You should hold this position for about 20 seconds.
As you can see, it’s more of a stretch than a self-massage, but you can accompany it with a neck self-massage to make sure you get rid of the pain.
Facial self-massage
Smiles, scowls, worries… the face always reflects the emotions, and it’s a hard task! Therefore, it accumulates a lot of tension that can be relieved in a very simple way.
From the neck, make gentle circular movements upwards, with some pressure, from the neck. You should use your fingertips, which you can also use to tap very gently around your eyes or forehead.
So, how do you see them? They are very simple and if you practice them from time to time you will surely be able to relieve the tension in some of the described areas.
Anyway, if you stay with us, at Hotel Don Pancho we have a service of different types of massages that will relax you even more.
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