Girl(or guy), I hear you. Finding the time is hard. If you’re working, running a home, a parent, a person in this day and age in general. It’s hard! It’s hard to find the time for any self care, let alone lying down for 30-60 mins in a bathrobe for a Swedish. Even though we all know you could reaalllly do with it!

Here’s the science from an ex massage therapist. Massages work to make you feel good. Period. The physical benefits include but aren’t exclusive to:

Reducing tension
Helping muscle soreness
Increasing immunity from lymphatic activation
Helping painful joints.
Circulation increase
Lowering blood pressure

Increasing Libido(ahem)

But what people don’t realize is there is an emotional benefit to getting regular massages. The brain chemical oxytocin is released during the strokes and effleurage. The same chemical released when mothers and baby’s bond, when we get a hug from a friend or a loved one, or when we fall in love.
This chemical is dream drug for resetting your emotional and mental state to baseline, especially in times of poor mental health and physical pain. Massage is the metaphorical mothers kiss to make the boo boo feel better.

That being said, how can we get the benefits without the time commitment? Not everyone has the luxury of booking a spa day every fortnight! The answer could well be… lunch break massages. A shortened version of the healing practice to fit around our lifestyles.

To test out this theory I visited High St Molton brown for a hand massage on my lunch break, it took 15mins, I felt incredible (and smelled like a dream) and had time for a sandwich and coffee in a café afterwards, before I headed back to my hectic life.

There are many different versions of a lunch break massage you can get; if you live in a city there are a plethora of options to pop into, including local beauticians/spas/sports therapists or just sitting your butt in one of those foyer massage chairs for 5 mins will bring you some of the feel goods!

But what if you work outside the city or work at home? I got you there too. A Theragun (along with the air-fryer and dishwasher) is one personal home device, that i contest isn’t the slightest bit gimmicky. I use it after gym use and when sitting for too long. It is an electronic massager with a powerful hit for deep tissue which is compact and perfect for a quick kneading of the muscles.

But there are handy guides for those not wishing to add to their home device collection and prefer the old fashioned way. A simple hand massage can be done by rubbing both hands together and gently pressing in-between the fingers and bringing the pressure up to each fingertip. couple that with some thumb pressing in circular motions, and you got yourself a handy new trick! These motions can also be repeated in similar fashion for the feet for those on their tootsies for long periods.

Joyce Sunada said if you don’t make time for your wellness, your body will make time for your illness, and maybe that’s the excuse we all need to enjoy some R&R on company time. Its mine anyway…. Love K x