Exercise is not just important for your physical health. Research shows that exercise is just as important for your mental health as it is for your physical body. Exercising causes the body to produce chemicals, such as serotonin, which make you feel good. This can help people who struggle with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
 
Exercise has also been shown to reduce feelings of low self-esteem and social withdrawal. It relieves tension and stress and is an effective way to boost your mood when you are feeling low. It is particularly important to continue exercising throughout the winter months. Shorter days = less sunlight, which means less access to natural sources of vitamin D. This can cause fatigue, something which exercise can help to combat, as well as helping you to get outside and expose yourself to that much needed vitamin D.
 
Make 2022 the year you take control of your health. And, as you now know, exercise is a great place to start looking after your body and your health.

Exercise is an extremely important part of daily life. Physical activity strengthens your heart and improves circulation. Proper circulation is important for ensuring enough blood and oxygen are continuously flowing throughout the body, allowing your organs to function at their best. This helps wounds heal faster and keep your brain sharp and active.
 
It goes without saying that your heart is a vital organ and without sufficient circulation, the heart must pump harder to get enough blood and oxygen around the body. Exercising also delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues, giving you more energy throughout the day. Without it, you may find you don’t have enough energy to carry out simple tasks.
 
More seriously, not getting enough exercise can be potentially life threatening in the long run. It can lead to heart disease, even if you do not have any other risk factors, as well as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity and type 2 diabetes.
 
Exercising can have many positive long-lasting effects. Osteoporosis, a condition which occurs when the bones are weakened, can affect people as they age. Weight-bearing exercise, such as running, hiking and jumping, can help keep bones strong and is an important preventive measure against Osteoporosis.

(To be continued...)

Massage therapy encourages a chemical reaction to take place, as the therapist applies pressure to your muscles and increases the neuro-hormone known as serotonin. This chemical release makes you feel happier and also sparks your body’s natural use of melatonin, which actually regulates your sleep cycle (check out the blog below on sleep). So by choosing a massage as your form of self-care you can reduce your levels of stress as well as turn off your body’s fight or flight (stress) response which is probably what’s keeping you awake at night.

​The benefits of a good quality of sleep are widely publicised... But if you’re aware that you’re not sleeping well, what can you do? Well, massage therapy a wonderful way to promote a high-quality of sleep, as well as treat insomnia. Massage therapy almost forces you to take a moment away from screens and social media and just focus on relaxation. Relieving pain and discomfort, whether it’s from a sports injury or a chronic illness, a regular massage will help you to feel more comfortable when it comes to bedtime. 

​To develop self-awareness, you need to be in-tune with your body and this can be difficult, especially if you’re a bit of a workaholic. While your mind is occupied with a magnitude of tasks, it can be all too easy to forget to invest in self-care and check in with your physical self. At North London Massage Therapy, we can uncover poor posture, muscle fatigue, and tension by applying pressure to alleviate acid build-up in the muscles.
 
During a massage, your therapist will be able to identify whether you are tense and if you are, where stress accumulates in your body. Some people are prone to slouching and arching forward, whereas others can start to tense their jaw and suffer from Bruxism which can cause pressure and strain on the muscles around the head, neck, and upper back. Your therapist will be able to guide you on whether you are struggling with poor posture and how to correct these issues moving forward.
 
Taking time to access your physical health through massage therapy, you can improve your life and enhance your mental and physical health.

Massage therapy can help you to develop a new level of self-awareness and improve your mental and physical health and well-being. By being aware of how you hold your body, how your daily routine can take its toll on your mind, and how stress can physically and negatively impact you, is important to leading a happy and healthy lifestyle.

You have probably indulged in a massage during a day at the spa, and if so, you have experienced the positive effects it has on your body, mind, and soul. Why, then, are massages so often reserved for special occasions, considered luxuries rather than incorporated into our regular wellness routines?

Massage is every bit as important to your health and well-being as diet and exercise. Every part of your body is interconnected, and physical or psychological stress can have damaging effects on the many systems of your bodies and your overall well-being.

Whether you are a serious athlete or work a desk job, the first thing you must consider in respect to your health and mental wellness is your posture. We all know that we should strive for good posture, but not many of us take it seriously, unaware that the curvature of our spines affects far more than our appearance. 

The truth is, in addition to creating aches and pains in your upper body, poor posture limits the brain’s ability to communicate with the rest of the body, thereby contributing to the decline of your nervous system and causing migraines, high blood pressure, heart disease, reduced lung function, stress, anxiety, gastrointestinal pain, and more. All of these health issues make it nearly impossible to live out a normal life, let alone an active one, but unfortunately, poor posture is an all too common occurrence. 

Part of the reason why so many people have issues with their posture and suffer consequent health problems is because the position in which they sleep puts stress on the spine. Whether you sleep on your side, back, or stomach, there will inevitably be gaps between your body and the mattress, which throws your body out of alignment, resulting in pain when you wake up. Sleeping position is not the only culprit, however. Sitting at a desk chair for hours on end will ultimately cause you to slouchy our shoulders, become tight through your lower back, and experience grueling back pain over time. An active lifestyle may seem like the easy solution, but that does not come without its own risks; if you are not working out correctly or regularly integrating exercises to improve your posture into your fitness routine, then you will be strengthening the incorrect muscles and throwing yourself out of balance. 

Whether you are an athlete, office worker, or anything in between, your poor posture ultimately boils down to bad habits, most of which you probably aren’t even aware of. Muscle imbalances will naturally cause you to slouch your shoulders, and much more severe health issues will arise from this simple issue. That is why massage is so imperative for your health and wellness. The holistic treatment does not only relax the body, relieve areas of pain, and help realign the spine; it relaxes the mind and soul as well.

Massage will not only improve your posture and save your nervous system; its healing properties also help manage existing malaises, including anxiety, headaches, soft tissue injuries, sports injuries, and more, making it an essential aspect of your fitness program. The wealth of benefits have yet to be utilized by many who still consider massage an indulgence to enjoy on special occasions. North London Massage Therapy will help you tap into the healing powers of massage by customising a treatment to suit your individual lifestyle. 

​Ever heard of the lobster theory? 
No?
... Enjoy.
 
Everyone at some point will go through some level of stress, whether a child needing attention, adolescence going through college and exams, to adults and all the stresses that come from that, but… not all stress is so terrible.
Take our humble lobster… we can learn a great deal about stress from these creatures. For a lobster to grow and develop, they must go through copious amounts of stress and pressure.
Inside the shell of a lobster is a mushy animal, now whilst they may be mushy on the inside, their shells stay the same.
Now as the lobster grows it become confined, uncomfortable and pressure starts to build within the shell.
So, what do they do?
They release their shell and hide under coral formations so not to be eaten. Thank goodness we don’t have THAT kind of stress… talk about being vulnerable.
Whilst they are hiding, they form their new shell, but, in time that shell too will become tight and pressure once again will start building up.
Lets say now, the lobster could go to the doctor and pick up some stress reliving medication, they wouldn’t ever feel stress or feel the need to ditch their shell.
The idea is that in times of adversity, stress and feeling uncomfortable, we can learn, create and develop a better self-awareness, so that we too can grow through times of adversity.

When the body is physically or psychologically stressed the body shifts its energy resources in fighting off what is a perceived threat and we go into what is known as our fight or flight response and this has different effects on each of our systems in the body to which there are:
The nervous system -
 stress on the nervous system signals to the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol, these hormones make the heart beat faster, raise blood pressure, change the digestive system and boost glucose levels in the bloodstream, once the crisis has passed usually the system returns to normal.
The musculoskeletal system –
Under stress, muscles tense up, the contraction of muscles in extended periods of time can trigger, headaches, migraines and other variety of conditions. Therefore, it is important to make sure that we stretch before and after any workout routines, whether at the gym, swimming or running. This is one of many reasons as to why massage is important, to have a therapist that can manually assist In the relaxation of the muscles, tight muscles pull on bodies skeletal structures and create compensations within the body, Yoga and Pilates are also good ways of keeping the body supple and soft as well as creating strength.
The respiratory system –
stress can make you breathe harder known as hyperventilation, which can bring on panic attacks in some people and of course the total opposite is when we are scared/nervous and for those who have anxiety tend to hold on to our breathe which in turn creates the contraction in the muscular system. therefore, is it so important to remember to breathe, an take nice slow controlled breathe, in through the nose and out through the mouth… this is something that can be practiced and within time can become second nature… you might have even heard therapists or instructors asking you to breathe… why not try it now take a nice slow full breathe in through the nose and slowly exhale out through the mouth, try this a few times and see how you feel.
Cardiovascular system –
we call this acute stress, and it is momentary, stuck in traffic, waiting for an important phone call, generally making life’s little tough decisions, and what this does is increase the heart rate, creates stronger contractions in the heart muscles and dilates the function of heart. In turn it increases the amount of blood pumped to the part of the body. Repeat episodes of acute stress can cause inflammation of the coronary arteries and thought to lead to heart attacks. Which is why its so important to breathe.
Endocrine system –
So the endocrine system essentially is the part of the body that releases hormones and chemicals, we are going to talk specifically about the liver and the adrenal glands. When the body is stressed, the brain sends signals from the part of our brain called the hypothalamus, causing the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol and the adrenal medulla to produce epinephrine, this is otherwise known as “the stress hormone” and when these hormones are released from the liver it produces more glucose into our bodies, which gives us the energy for this fight or flight response, do we need the energy to run or do we need it to fight, and if ever you’ve been in a heated argument and notice you might be shaking or trembling, this this why.
Reproductive system –
In men, excess amounts of this stress hormone (cortisol an epinephrine) can affect the normal functioning of the reproductive system, chronic stress can impair testosterone, effecting sperm production and cause impotence.
In woman stress can absent, cause irregular menstrual cycles or more painful periods, it can also reduce libido.
Gastrointestinal system –
This is everything from your oesophagus to your stomach and your intestines (bowels).
Stress can have a knock on effect to our maladaptive coping mechanism (habits) it may prompt us to eat more  OR less than we usually would, if you’re a smoker you may increase your cigarette intake or if you tend to enjoy a drink once in a while it may increase your level of alcohol intake, these things may make you experience things like heartburn or acid reflux.
With stress come the “butterfly” feeling we get in our stomach or in some cases nausea, as we travel further down to our bowels, stress can effect then the digest of the food we process and to which your intestines absorb the nutrients, regarding our “fight or flight” response. You may find that you have either diarrhoea or constipation.