If you have been following along with our blog posts, you know there are numerous benefits to manual therapy including stress relief, lower blood pressure and better sleep quality. But do you ever wonder how exactly massage works? For those of you who are skeptical about the process, Ula Katsoulis is here to set the record straight.
Ula Katsoulis is a craniosacral therapist in Manhattan who has been refining her techniques as a manual therapy practitioner since 1994. In this blog, she’ll provide you with a breakdown of the physiological changes that happen in your body during massage so you can better understand the process.
During massage therapy, your body goes through two types of physical reactions – relaxation responses and mechanical responses. As a highly trained craniosacral therapist in Manhattan, Ula Katsoulis will shed light on what they both mean:
Relaxation Response
- During a massage, the soft pressure from your massage therapist encourages the body to relax.
- As your body relaxes, your heart rate and breathing slow, your blood pressure goes down and the production of stress hormones reduces.
- Levels of serotonin – a neurotransmitter often associated with happiness and well-being – can also increase during massage.
- Once your body has experienced the relaxation response, physical effects of stress – such as hypertension, digestive disorders and fatigue – may also decrease.
Mechanical Response
- During a massage, blood and lymph circulation is increased.
- Soft tissues (muscles, tendons, connective tissue ligaments etc.) are also relaxed and normalized.
- Increased circulation can promote oxygen and nutrient distribution to the muscles. This makes your tissues healthier and function better.
- By relaxing the soft tissues, painful tension and muscle contractions are released and the nerves are no longer compressed.
- Well-functioning nerves can send the correct messages to and from your brain to keep your muscles and organs working properly.
Contact A Manhattan Craniosacral Therapist
Now that you are more familiar with how massage therapy works, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and schedule an appointment with Ula Katsoulis today. She is the craniosacral therapist in Manhattan who will listen closely to your story and design a treatment plan just for you. If you want to learn more about Ula and the services at Stillpoint Holistic Studios, call 646-645-5207 today.