4 Things you can do between massages for self-care

1. Use a foam roller or massage ball for gentle muscle relief at home.

Short Answer: There are dozens of tools out there that will let you massage yourself in small areas for care on those chronic sore spots that pop up every day. Some tools you already have laying around your house!

More details: Between your regularly scheduled massages, sometimes small aches and pains pop up. Especially if certain spots are chronically sore often, rushing off to get a massage for every small ache isn't always necessary. Foam rollers, massage balls, and other rehab or exercise type tools are readily available for purchase in many places. Barring that, simple items around the house can also be used in a pinch: tennis balls are excellent massage tools - just roll the ball on the sore area, or lay/sit on it with the ball directly on the sore area and wiggle your body as the ball works it's magic. Frozen water bottles are great for inflammation especially for things like plantar fascitis. Rolling pins and soup cans can also be used. Just get creative!

2. Take warm baths with Epsom salts to relax muscles and ease soreness.

Short answer: Epsom salts are a great way to keep your body calm and relaxed. A warm bath with salts can help draw out excess inflammation and nasty stuff, while the warm water relaxes muscles, and the minerals in the salts give your body a boost of benefits.

More details: Our bodies are basically giant sacks filled with water. With that water, lots of other stuff is also floating around in there, so putting the body into water can be very helpful and beneficial. Our skin's porus nature lets toxins and inflamation pass out of our body into a larger body of water through osmosis, and likewise, the healthy minerals in salts such as magnesium and calcium can get absorbed into our bodies easily. Plus, warm water loosens muscles so that movement and stretching is easier and feels better on the muscles.

3. Maintain good posture, especially if you sit at a desk for long periods.

Short answer: One of the biggest issues Massage Therapists see are “computer back” or “text neck” from staring at devices for too long. Make sure you check how you are sitting and move often to avoid freezing up.

More details: When I have clients who complain about pain in the neck and shoulders from sitting at their desks all day, I usually ask them if they have a good set-up, which can help immensely. Some good set ups include the monitor at a good eye-level hight so you don't have to look up or down to see it clearly, having the mouse and/or keyboard at a height that doesn't cause the wrists to bend at uncomfortable angles, and a chair that isn't too low, high, soft, or hard to allow you to sit comfortably but with support. Another thing I recommend is to get up and move throughout the day. Experts say to take a break every 20 minutesor so, but I've worked in an office - I know that 20 minutes isnl't always realistic, so I recommend once an hour. I suggest getting an egg timer or kitchen timer - something that dings or makes a noise that isn'mt your phone. I don't like using phone timers because we are programmed to ignore the millions of phone notifications that come in every day, so a timer is just as easy to ignore. Once an hour just push back from the desk, roll the shoulders, get up and stretch, walk to the water cooler - just do something to snap yourslef out of the "zombie zone". Your body and your brain will thank you.

4. Get quality sleep, as rest is essential for muscle recovery and stress relief.

Short answer: High-functioning people or lots of stress force us to “get by” on less and less sleep, but sleep does more than let us rest. Sleep is when the body heals in more ways than we realize, so don’t skimp on the zzzs.

More details: The last time I saw my doctor, she told me "If the decision comes down to taking more time to exercise or more time to sleep, get the sleep". Sleep is so important and very underrated. Some people need half a day's worth of sleep to function while others "get by" on significatly less. If we have personalities that are very driven or we have lots on our plate, it is easy to dismiss extra hours sleeping as "wasted time". However sleep not only forces you to rest, it helps your body recover and rebuild everything you depleted during the day. Chemicals and hormones rebalance, muscles heal and repair, the brain synapses re-conect and get stronger. So much happens when we sleep, if we don't let our bodies get enough, those repairs don't fully happen, which make you more susceptible to injury, illness, and more.