You had a massage, now what?
Speaker 1 00:00:04 Hey, beautiful. My name is Angelica Artis, and in this podcast, we're focused on bringing together wellness and God's will to create a strong foundation for every aspect of life, body, mind and spirit.
Speaker 2 00:00:29 Hey beautiful sunshine.
Speaker 1 00:00:31 Today's episode we're talking about what to do after your massage. Now some questions I get about massage or what to do after massage. Include stretches to do and techniques for work type stretching. So if you are one of those people that sits at a computer all day, you need to stand up. Why? Because the muscles in the front of your thighs. Those are your quads. Your quadriceps. We call them quads for short. They are shortened. The entire time you're sitting there not working. We need them to work. Okay. Your hamstrings shortened. They're not working. If you do not put your body through movements that use the range of motion that you have, you're likely going to be stiff and achy. Okay. Stretching is not just for after your massage. All right, friends, stretching is something you should do every day.
Speaker 1 00:01:36 But if you're not doing it every day, do it after your massages. The goal is for you to be consistent with your massages. So if you're gonna get it every month, every two months, every three months, if you can live a spoiled and bougie life and get one every week or every two weeks, great. Do your stretches consistently. This helps your body. This literally helps your muscles readjust to the work that's been done. I'm talking gentle, slow stretching like think RESTful and restorative yoga. Stretching? Nothing all that intense. I wouldn't personally add any weight to those stretches. Just simple body weight and resistance. Because a body in motion that is well cared for has less aches and pains. Taking the time to care for your body well, especially after a massage, can have beautiful, beautiful benefits. Keeping in mind that after your massage there really isn't much to do but rest. Now for my busy bodies if you must. If your massages in the middle of the day, stay hydrated.
Speaker 1 00:02:54 While massage doesn't push the toxins from your body, it does help stimulate your lymphatic system. What does your lymphatic system do? It supports your immune system and it helps your body clean out waste. If you are not hydrated, you may feel like yucky. Okay after your massage because your body is doing the work to move the waste out of your body and it doesn't have the fluid, it needs to do that. How do we get rid of waste? We pee it out and we poop it out. We don't drink enough. Our immune system doesn't get to do the work it needs to do as adequately. And sometimes that also means you feel sick and yucky after your massage. If you're hydrated, you're less likely to have that issue. Okay. Now, the best thing in my professional and personal opinion to do after your massage is rest. That means go home, have your giant cup of water, get some fruit, eat your dinner and go to bed. Get a full night's sleep. I do understand that not everybody is getting their massage at the end of the day and able to go home and climb in the bed.
Speaker 1 00:04:18 So if you're having your massage in the middle of the day, Take the time to hydrate. Don't go out here and function without hydrating. Take a few minutes to make sure that at the end of your massage, you're not rushing to continue your day. You just took this 60 minutes, 90 minutes to rest. So continue to rest. Try to schedule your massages on days where you do not have to rush immediately after your massage. It kind of negates some of the benefits of relaxation, if that's what you choose to do. Now, I do understand some people are coming in for sports medicine, massage, or for specific treatments for acute or chronic pain. Do what you have to do. Be mindful again. Hydrate. Rest. Now, I have had a client who came in and got a deep tissue massage. This particular client then immediately went back to the gym to work out which is normal for their activity level. It's not a new exercise, size, but because her body had just been put through a deep tissue massage when she finished her workout, she did not feel great, right? She actually felt worse than she ever had before post-workout because immediately after massage, your body is going through a beautiful reset phase.
Speaker 1 00:05:49 It needs the time to recalibrate. if you've heard it before. Cool. If you have it, here's a piece of information. You're supposed to wait at least two days between massages. Now, realistically, who's getting a massage every day? No one. But my point is, if you are not giving your body the time it needs to readjust before you put it back through strenuous activity, you're going to feel it. And I don't mean in the good way either. All right, so a walk after your massage, cool dinner after your massage. Understood. If you have to go back to work. Be mindful of the way you're sitting. Because most of us work at computers, that means that you sit down and your posture is kind of awful. Sorry. Yeah, I said it. Fix your posture. It affects how you feel. Don't do all of the effort. Go through all of the effort to get your massage, and then waste it on poor posture and be back in the same position two days later.
Speaker 1 00:07:09 Okay, so your action step for today. Guess what? Go get a massage. Schedule your massage. I know you have been thinking about scheduling that massage for the last three weeks and you haven't done it, so take the time and do it now. And if you're not going to go schedule your next massage, go do some stretches. Love you. Bye.
