By Women Fitness Magazine -

How Often Should I Get a Massage?Massage therapy is a very old practice, dating back thousands of years. However, unlike a lot of ancient healing techniques, massage has yet to be discredited. Science is finding that it may have some of the health benefits the ancients claimed.

Perhaps you’re one of the many people who might benefit from massage therapy but aren’t sure how to go about it. If you’re wondering so you’re not alone.
The good news is that we’re here to help. We’ll give you some advice about how often to get a massage in the paragraphs below.

1. Know Yourself When asking how often should I get a massage, it’s important to understand your own body. We’re not going for anything deep or philosophical with that statement, though. It’s simply a matter of figuring out why you need a massage.
   Is it simply a wellness routine to help you stay healthy and adjusted? Are you an athlete hoping to improve your game? Perhaps there’s an injury you’re trying to get over.
   You should have one at least monthly to maintain your health. This may climb to a few times per week for treatment or athletic purposes.
2. Financially SpeakingWhile your body says one thing, your wallet may say another. Many of us would love to start massage therapy, but don’t feel that we can afford it.
   Thankfully, there are options that are a little more cost-effective. The days of exclusive luxury spas and retreats, where treatment could cost hundreds of dollars per session, are over.
   Luxury massage and spa facilities still exist, but they aren’t the only place to get a massage. In some places, the price comes to less than $100 per month. Independent practitioners don’t even expect a tip, unlike most massage parlors.
   If you happen to live in the city, you may have access to massages for less than $50 per session.
3. Types of MassageBefore you commit to any sessions, you should know what kind of massage you need. You’ve probably heard of some of the more common massage types.
   Swedish massages use light pressure, long strokes, and circular motions to help release tension and ease pain. Deep tissue massages are designed to help treat injury and manage stress, and they use more pressure to do so.
   Another massage technique draws from the principles of Ayurveda. Ayurveda is an ancient system with roots in India. The jury is out on whether or not ayurvedic medicine is a viable school.
   The system does use certain natural substances that are recognized as beneficial. It also uses ingredients that might have healing properties, but haven’t been extensively studied.
   Others point out that roughly one-fifth of Ayurvedic medicines purchased are dangerous. Supporters argue that this has more to do with a lack of regulation than Ayurvedic medicine itself.
   Regardless, it is not only harmless but also very relaxing. It may be the best choice for those who just want to relax and forget themselves for a while.

How Often Should I Get a Massage:  A Beginner’s GuideThis question is asked by many people who are just starting their journey into the world of massage therapy.
We’ve mentioned a few factors that may help answer your question in the paragraphs above, but there are others. We encourage you to do more research if you’re interested.

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• MASSAGE Magazine
• • Issue 283
  • Massage Practice Articles
  • Online Exclusives
  • Research Published in 2019
  2 minute read

Anxiety improved equally among palliative care patients who received massage either with or without aromatherapy, according to a recent systematic review.The review, “The effects of aromatherapy massage on improvement of anxiety among patients receiving palliative care,” focused on three randomized controlled trials. These three studies involved a total of 160 participants receiving palliative care at home, in palliative care centers or in outpatient aromatherapy clinics.
In order to be included for review, each study had to feature anxiety as a main outcome measure, and the research had to compare massage with aromatherapy to massage without aromatherapy. The massage without aromatherapy consisted of massage with a carrier oil, and the massage with aromatherapy consisted of massage with essential oil.
Roman chamomile oil was used for the aromatherapy massage in one of the studies, whereas Roman chamomile oil combined with a sweet almond carrier was used in another. The third study employed Santalum album oil combined with sweet almond carrier oil for the aromatherapy massage.
Each study lasted at least three weeks, with participants in the control groups receiving massage without aromatherapy and participants in the intervention groups receiving massage with aromatherapy. Follow-up assessments were conducted anywhere from one to 12 weeks after the massage intervention had ended.
Results of the analysis showed improvements in anxiety among participants in both the intervention and control groups, with no significant difference in improvement between those who received aromatherapy massage and those who received massage without aromatherapy.
“Our summarized result showed no significant [mean difference] between the intervention and the control groups. Thus, we inferred that the improvement in the intervention group was mainly caused by massage,” state the study’s authors.
“This result should be interpreted with caution because of the limited number of trials available for review. Additional [randomized controlled trials] are warranted to adequately assess the effect of aromatherapy massage on patients receiving palliative care.”
Authors: Chia-Hsien Hsu, Ching-Chi Chi, Pei-Shih Chen, Shu-Hui Want, Tao-Hsin Tung and Shih-Chung Wu.
Sources: Department of Public Health, College of Health Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Dermatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan; College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Department of Dermatology, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research and Education, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; and Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Originally published online in March 2019 in Medicine, 98(9).
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 By New Europe
The European political newspaper


Promoting muscle regrowth after injury, helping premature babies become strong enough to leave hospital, improving sleep quality and creating social bonds. The power of massage is far more wide-reaching than you ever imagined, say the experts at Aspria
Most people see massage as a way to ease aching muscles, to unwind and to promote better sleep – but in fact, there are many other reasons to have a massage that you’ve probably never heard of before.

shutterstock
#1 – Massage can stimulate muscle regrowth
Massage can boost the regrowth of muscle tissue after an injury, by stimulating protein production in cells.
This in itself is an interesting finding, but it gets even more intriguing. According to the US researchers behind this study, if you injure a limb and it cannot be massaged, you can still benefit from this muscle growth phenomenon: they found that when the opposite, uninjured limb was massaged, muscle in the other leg – that is, the injured, non-massaged limb – also grew faster.

shutterstock#2 – Massage can boost growth in premature babies
A 2015 study found that twice daily 15-minute massage therapy sessions, over a period of two weeks, significantly increased weight gain, height and head circumference in premature babies. The number of bowel movements also increased, and infants were discharged sooner from hospital.
Indeed, the findings were so significant that the study authors recommended all NICU nurses be trained in massage therapy techniques, so all pre-term infants could be given this treatment.

shutterstock#3 – Massage can improve sleep
You’ve probably experienced for yourself how a relaxing massage can promote a great night’s sleep, but there’s research to show particular benefits for specific groups.
Daily massages for full-term newborn babies, by their mothers, has been shown to improve the sleep patterns not only of the infants, but also of their mothers.
Similarly, for autistic children, studies have shown how massages given by parents before bedtime can improve the children’s sleep – they go to sleep faster, stay asleep for longer, and wake less during the night.

shutterstock#4 – Massage is medicine
The above are just a handful of the many hundreds of studies reporting the extensive benefits of massage. The list of goes on and on…. lower blood pressure among those with hypertension and pre-hypertension; improved perceptions of self-efficacy among multiple sclerosis patients; reduced labour pain among women giving birth; improved movement in Parkinson’s sufferers; a positive impact on lung function among asthmatic children…
One could even go so far as to say it’s a form of complementary medicine – one that offers an unparalleled range of proven health benefits for the whole of society

 By Seema Prasad

The most sought after treatment for chronic pain is prescription
 opioids, inevitably turning into an addiction in some people. Risk of suicide and overdosing are amplified by opioid medication. In fact, according to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), the country accounts for 80 percent of pain-related medication taken worldwide. 

Unsurprisingly, the majority of 2,000 patients suffering from chronic pain in the U.S. admitted they were on potentially dangerous opioids in response to a survey. Furthermore, research found that chemicals in the brain caused emotional upheavals, negativity and desperation after providing temporary relief for up to three months.
Chronic Pain In U.S. Soldiers
A study published this October in the Journal of General Internal Medicine analyzed the health records of about 140,000 returned army soldiers suffering from chronic pain. The military veterans had served the crises in either Iraq or Afghanistan between 2008 and 2014. Dr. Esther Meerwijk, a suicide researcher at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, a service that offers health care to veternas in California, led the study. Her efforts were combined with another study.  
The Substance Use and Psychological Injury Combat Study (SUPIC) is the biggest observational study till date on the returned soldiers from the aforementioned regions, led by Dr. Mary Jo Larson, senior scientist and lecturer at the Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Meerwijk joined the team in 2016. 
"Given my research interests in suicide and suicide prevention, it was suggested we look at suicidal thoughts and attempts as outcomes. Given SUPIC's interest in substance use, specifically opioids, we broadened the analysis to serious adverse events related to opioid use and chronic pain," Meerwijk explained the purpose of merging the studies, as stated in the news release.
  00:13 / 00:15TOP ARTICLES3/5READ MORECan Intermittent Fasting Make You HealthierThis 2020?Acupuncture Twitter
Natural Remedies Reduced Suicidal Risk
During deployment, the soldiers received natural remedies to reduce chronic pain such as massage therapy, cold laser therapy, exercise therapy, acupuncture, osteopathic spinal manipulation, electrical nerve stimulation and ultrasonography, among others. The military personnel were compared and contrasted with soldiers who did not take non-drug therapies for chronic pain. Also, the link to long-term adverse consequences were examined.
The study revealed that those who received non-drug therapies for chronic pain had 35 percent lower chances of inflicting self-injury compared to those who did not use natural remedies at the military camps. They were also 17 percent less likely to attempt suicide and 8 percent less likely to abuse alcohol and drugs. 
Best Natural Remedies
Some of the non-drug options for pain relief that ordinary people benefit from are as follows: 
Acupuncture
A study in 2010 said found acupuncture stimulates receptors that suppress pain while simultaneously increasing the production of the neurotransmitter adenosine. It calms the mind, reduces hyperactivity in the brain and causes drowsiness. 
Massage
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 67 studies analyzed the impact of massage therapy on relieving fibromyalgia, spinal pain, bone and muscle pain and headaches, among others. The results were positive and showed that massage reduces pain when compared to people who did not  receive any treatment at all. 
Exercise
Motor control exercises (MCE) help the muscles around the spine coordinate better with each other  to provide better support to the back. A systematic review showed that quality of life had in fact improved since MCE reduced pain and disability for these participants.  
Relaxation Techniques
Deep breathing or other mindful breathing techniques, meditation with guided imagery and other methods of relaxation are known to reduce body pain. They are easy to do since clinicians are not needed to guide patients. 

Written By: Martin Kelvin

 Have you at any point thought about what the recuperating advantages of a therapeutic massage are? or then again what the fact of the matter was of getting one? When you wrap up this article, I ensure you’ll need to call a massage therapy specialist and set an arrangement for an extremely invigorating, unwinding restoring, and reviving recuperating therapy.
Here are the main 10 advantages of a helpful therapeutic massage:
1. Improves Circulation.It’s an obvious fact that the movements involved in therapeutic massage truly helps increment your stance. If you have an office work or household work, you may discover this particularly accommodating pain as it lifts a portion of that worry off from your head till toe. Make certain to get a physical therapist who is licensed to offer therapeutic massage. Through massage and particular movements who can improve your local circulation.
2. Upgrades healing and wellbeing.This is an extraordinary method to deal with your disorders or pain and get it back to that overall fitness, with some fundamental mending and bending of your muscles and joints. When a specialist uses their hands on you with specific pressure to release pain from all over affected areas by accelerating the healing process.
3. Improves ROM.There is something in particular about getting a therapeutic massage that gives you the range of motion and diverts you from all the little pain you were experiencing in life. On the off chance that you are particularly dependent, a therapeutic massage is an incredible technique to get settled.
4. Expands Self AwarenessThis is additionally another approach to expand your mindfulness. It’s OK to get a therapeutic massage to take a break and spotlight on YOU for inside. There is nothing amiss with it. I prescribe it to everybody that you should at least go for a massage to relieve stress mentally and physically by getting knowledge about body mechanics and how it can help you improve your self-awareness.
5. Expands true serenity.As we said before, about mind quieting. This is practically something very similar, yet critical. How might you work in case you’re worried about such an extent? How might you appreciate LIFE at it’s fullest with all the restrictions? It may even lead to work injuries if your presence of mind is not there. So why take the risk and limit yourself?
6. Reduces scar tissue formation.Short shallow breaths can leave you feeling tired throughout the day and you simply don’t want to work as you don’t consume enough oxygen. Though a more profound way to avoid getting scar tissues and leading to painful conditions, it’s better to get yourself appointed with therapeutic massager who will help you do breathing exercises too.
7.Improves MoodThe mood is the only thing that develops from the time you wake. It can depend on how your sleep was and how you woke up. The mood can help you improve or reduce your performance. So why not work on enhancing the mood with the right therapy through consulting a physical therapist. As you think positive and reduce all your stress and anxiety, the mood is automatically improved.
MOST READ:  Here is How Physical Therapy Helps in Dealing With Arthritis8. Increments and advances joint mobilization.Tight joints and muscles? throbbing back? Will scarcely move? At that point, a therapeutic massage may do only the secret to extricate you up and make you feel vastly improved! This happens as the therapist will gradually release stress muscles and helps you move your joints with little force to ensure no pain and improve mobility.
9. Lessens Anxiety.Do you invest a great deal of energy agonizing over the seemingly insignificant details in life to an extreme, or only life by and large? Pursue it away with an unwinding and alleviating therapeutic massage. Anxiety enters your body when you are extremely worried about unwanted things or for something which is not in your hands. Tell me something. Can you change anything that’s not in your control? Be honest with yourself.
10. Diminishes swelling and inflammation.Nodding off at work isn’t generally the best thought, except if obviously, you are the chief! A massage will invigorate you so much that ideally, your pain won’t occur any longer! Mainly for arthritis and sports patients who suffer from inflammation and swelling disorders due to the neurological system, which can be improved through regular massage.
An individual who gets helpful of all these 10 benefits can additionally encounter better wellbeing and wellness through strength improvement with circulatory, strong, skeletal, apprehensive, and lymphatic frameworks. Contingent upon what explicit medical problems the patient has, there is likewise other physical therapies that are useful for muscle issues, migraines, and spinal activities. Weight Point Therapy is additionally another strategy for kneading that assists with certain wounds, sleep deprivation, tension, various headaches, and muscle pressure, and dissemination issues. Sports therapy for competitors additionally helps with loosening up muscle spasm that gets from various repetitive movement games.
An authorized physical therapist can help with the conditions referenced above, just as joint inflammation, asthma, carpal passage disorder, stomach related issue, myofascial torment, the restricted scope of movement, sensitivities, discouragement, sinusitis, and TMJ.
As can be seen, therapeutic massage helps with enhancing wellbeing much more than individuals figure it out. In addition to the fact that they are unwinding and pleasant to get, they advance better wellbeing all through your body and are a major piece of better health and wellness.
Ottawa Health Group in ON is an incredible outpatient physical therapy clinic with an excellent recuperating and helpful exercises. They are experienced and prepared to give therapy at a minute’s notice but after evaluating your whole body. At times you might have the option to discover a therapy specialist near you, that will have the option to do a house call. An expectation that this arises your sufferings and you take action!

It might not be easy to prevent, or once it occurs, it may take time to cure, but relief isn’t difficult. No, the answer isn’t pharmaceuticals. Drugs destroy other parts of your body to cover up the pain.

Low back pain is one of the most common reported pain symptoms reported to health care professionals. It’s reported that 80% of the population will suffer from back pain at some time in their life. That’s 4 out of 5 people suffering from the same complaint.

That’s huge!

With so many people in the mix, having similar pain, the cure should be known by everyone. So let me ask you. What’s the solution to lower back pain relief?


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4541834#ixzz6AO83WPLm

Naz Beheshti 
ForbesWomen​

On-site stress management program

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GETTYHealth and wellness programs and benefits will continue to be a significant way for employers to stand out from the pack in the coming years. Offering progressive and innovative programs and benefits not only gives companies a competitive advantage in the increasingly tight war for talent. It is also a lever by which employers can foster greater engagement and resilience and reduce stress and absenteeism.
A suite of surveys by the Society for Human Resource Management offers a glimpse into how employers in the U.S. are thinking about corporate wellness. Health and wellness benefits increased more than those in any other area in 2019. Beyond traditional offerings, this also included initiatives around financial wellbeing and flexible work arrangements.
Mental health benefitsThe SHRM survey reports "slow but steady" progress in increased workplace support for mental health. The authors see a growing recognition among employers that "long term stress and anxiety can negatively impact employees in many ways, including deteriorating health and productivity."
Today In: LeadershipThe report notes a promising 13% increase in on-site stress management programs and an 11% increase in mindfulness or meditation programs. 
Mental health is a particularly pressing problem for young workers, whose issues with anxiety and related disorders often begin in college or earlier. Young workers are more open about these issues, which is forcing a change in how they are dealt with in the workplace, says Dan Schwabel, author of Back to Human: How Great Leaders Connect in an Age of Isolation. "People in today's world want to bring their full selves into the workplace, and their full selves include mental disorders. Therefore, leaders have to be more empathetic and supportive of people going through tough times mentally because it's more common than you think.


Technology and personalized wellnessAnother trend that is sure to accelerate in the upcoming decade is the use of technology to create personalized and, in some cases, virtual health services. The SHRM survey finds a 10% increase in so-called "telemedicine" services. Amazon recently launched a virtual clinic for its Seattle employees. 
Another tech-driven trend is the use of genetic screenings to detect future health risks and develop preventative care proactively rather than reactively. Apple now offers Silicon Valley employees free screenings at its on-site health clinics. However, the use of genetic testing is fraught with concerns about privacy, discrimination, and over-diagnosis. Regardless, it will be an interesting trend to watch.
Holistic wellbeingCompanies are slowly but surely waking up and viewing their employees' health through the broader lens of wellbeing. "The big thing in the HR world is that the industry is sort of rebranding, if you will, from wellness to wellbeing," says Sarah Sardella, senior director for global benefits at Akamai Technologies in Cambridge, Mass. "There was this initial focus on health and fitness—physical health. Now everyone is saying 'What about financial wellness, emotional wellbeing, and mental mindfulness?'"
Harvard Medical School professor Jeff Levin-Scherz concurs. "There has been a migration from traditional wellness programs to programs that actually have more facets and hopefully address the needs of different employees at different places in their lives."
Two trends noted in the SHRM survey indicate a growing commitment to making the workplace itself a healthier place to be. The use of standing desks has increased by 7%, and the availability of on-site massage therapy has gone up 13%. 
Financial wellnessWorry about personal finances is a significant contributor to stress and anxiety, and a drag on productivity. According to a Bank of Merrill Lynch study, 56% of employees are stressed about their financial situation—and of this group, over half say such concerns interfere with their ability to focus and be productive at work. 
Encouragingly, the SHRM survey finds a growing number of employers stepping up to the plate on these issues. More than half (56%) provide tuition assistance, and 36% offer non-retirement financial counseling. 
This commitment to addressing employees' financial wellness is going to have to grow even stronger, especially for younger workers. According to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, 71% of Millennials say their financial stress has increased over the last twelve months. 
"We foresee critical issues for organizations if the root causes of this financial stress are not addressed," the PwC report concludes. "While some studies show upwards of 80% of employers having a financial wellness program in place, our results show that a majority are still traditional retirement education and planning programs lacking focus on the key areas causing employee stress."
The bottom line is that business leaders must keep expanding their ideas about health and wellness. When viewed through a wider lens, almost everything relates to wellbeing. For example, another promising trend noted by SHRM is a modest but significant increase in benefits associated with caretaking (most frequently child or elder care). The survey cites research showing such benefits reduce stress and absenteeism, increase employee retention and productivity, and also improve workplace diversity and inclusion. 
Any forward-thinking initiative around employee wellbeing will have similar ripple effects. In the 2020s, smart business leaders will actively expand their vision of employee wellbeing and capture the numerous competitive advantages of doing so.

Sieeka Khan

A new study that was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine based on Veterans Affairs health records shows that non-drug therapies that are given to military service members that have chronic pain may reduce the risk of long-term adverse outcomes, such as drug disorder, alcohol and self-induced injuries like suicide attempts. 
Pushing for non-drug therapy
The researchers of the study concluded that service members that have chronic pain who got non-drug therapies while they were in the military, like acupuncture or massage, had shallow risk in VA of new-onset drug disorder or alcohol disorder, barbiturates, poisoning with opioids and related narcotics, sedatives and suicidal thoughts and attempts. The team did not study death by suicide. 
A statistician and suicide researcher at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in California, Dr. Esther Meerwijk, lead her team to review the VA health records of 140,000 Army soldiers who had chronic pain following their deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq from 2008 to 2014. The most common kind of chronic pain was back and neck issues, joint discomfort, and other issues that involved the bones or muscles. 
Meerwijk stated that chronic pain is linked with adverse outcomes, like suicidal thoughts and behavior and substance use. It made sense that if non-drug treatments are good at managing the pain, the effect will go beyond only pain relief. But she said she was surprised at the results of their analysis, despite their attempts to prove them wrong. Often enough in research, significant results disappear once you start controlling for variables that can affect the outcome of the study. 
The researchers controlled for length of a service member's care in VA, whether they had been exposed to non-drug therapies and the number of days they received opioids. They also checked to see if the veterans who received non-drug treatments were healthier, to begin with and if more of them who received non-drug therapies died before any of the adverse outcomes occurred. 
Meerwijk explained that it is possible that the soldiers who received non-drug therapies did not have to rely on opioids as much for their chronic pain, and they are, therefore, at lower risk for adverse outcomes. She stated that they may also be seeing a genuine effect of non-drug therapies that happens regardless of whether soldiers use opioids or not. If non-drug treatments make chronic pain at least more bearable, people may be more likely to have positive experiences in life. That can make them less likely to have negative thoughts such as suicide or to turn to drugs. 
Meerwijk's research is a part of the Substance Use and Psychological Injury Combat Study or SUPIC, which is the longest and largest observational study to date of behavioral health conditions and pain management in Army service members returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. VA has participated in the study, which is led by Dr. Mary Jo Larson of Brandeis University in Massachusetts. 
Meerwijk added that when she joined the team of researchers, one of her goals was to study the long-term effects of non-drug treatments for chronic pain received in the military. Given that her research interests in suicide and suicide prevention, it was suggested that they look at suicidal thoughts and attempts as outcomes. Given SUPIC's interest in substance use, especially in opioids, they broadened the analysis to serious adverse events that are related to opioid use and chronic pain. 
Managing chronic pain
Chronic pain is usually managed with prescription opioids. With higher doses and longer length of use, opioids have been linked to a greater risk of substance use disorder and self-inflicted injuries like opioid overdose and suicide attempts.  

By Outside Online

17 surprisingly easy steps to a happier, less strung-out life—starting with your vagus nerve


Activate Your Vagus NerveIt’s

the secret to calming down
Activate what now? Stick with us: The vagus is the largest and longest of the 12 nerve fibers emanating from your brain. It branches out to reach every major organ in your body, making the mind-body connection a literal one. Researchers hypothesize that the vagus is part of what’s known as the microbiota-gut-brain axis, and John Cryan, an Irish neuroscientist, has identified the nerve as one way that microbes in your gut send signals to your brain. Which, as he likes to say, proves that what happens in vagus does not stay in vagus.
Why should you care?
Because the vagus nerve is a link to your parasympathetic, or “rest and digest,” nervous system. When stimulated, it slows down your heart rate, switches off your fight-or-flight response, and relaxes you. Things like yoga, deep breathing, massage therapy, and moderate exercise can activate it, which might help explain the positive feelings we get when we do them. 
In an effort to trigger my own vagus nerve, I began searching for a quick and effective technique. Beyond stimulation therapy, in which surgeons implant a device that sends electrical impulses to the brain, there are no other FDA-­approved methods to get the health benefits. “I’ve yet to find a piece of scientific evidence that doesn’t get extrapolated well beyond where it should be,” says Mike Tipton, a professor of environmental physiology at England’s Univer­sity of Portsmouth.
I ruled out any method that required surgery, hiring a specialist, chanting, or gagging (the vagus nerve is connected to the throat muscles), as well as long-term investments like changing the composition of my gut microbiota or developing more meaningful friendships. The technique I kept returning to was cold-water face immersion. A number of experiments have shown that dunking your face in cold water reduces your heart rate and blood pressure. Even Tipton agrees that it’s “a legitimate way of stimulating the vagus nerve,” but notes that the therapeutic benefits are currently unproven.
A group of scientists in Luxembourg recently tested wearable devices that cool the vagus nerve via a patch of skin above the clavicle, but you don’t need to buy any new gadgets. Simply submerge your face in cold water for a few seconds. I tried it for several days, using water at about 55 ­degrees, and found the experience refreshing and, after the initial shock, somewhat calming. Even a quick splash can work. Ahhhhh. Feel that? That’s vagus-nerve stimulation. —Peter Andrey Smith

Quick Fix: Sleep OutdoorsIt helps to reset your circadian rhythm and provides a sense of well-being, whether you’re in your backyard or on a mountaintop. Or glamp it up in a beautifully sited tent just outside a national park with Under Canvas, a company with locations from Zion to the Smoky Mountains.
Do NothingJust go outside. That’s it.
The crux of Jenny Odell’s argument in her book How to Do Nothing is that a narrow definition of productivity, which plays out on devices and social-media platforms, has monopolized our minds. Her solution? The 33-year-old Stanford lecturer urges us to pay attention to the natural world wherever we are—whether that’s the wilderness or the middle of the city. We asked Odell what that looks like. —Molly Mirhashem
“I don’t spend time outdoors to think about myself. It’s not about self-improvement. It’s about fundamentally refiguring your relationship to everything around you.”
“My book isn’t anti-technology. I teach digital and internet art, and there are amazing things online. But within the attention economy and social media, time feels very stunted. You’re trapped in an endless urgent present. When I think about how it feels to go for a walk around the block and just look at things, it’s almost the direct opposite.”
“I use the crowdsourcing app iNaturalist to help identify local flora and fauna. It works well in places like the Bay Area where there’s an active community of users. And I find it heartwarming to know that someone else is paying attention to the same thing as me and cares about it.”
“I considered myself to be in conversation with the outdoors as I worked on the book. Whatever environment I was in played an active role in how I formed my thoughts. It sounds cheesy, but I considered parks a collaborator, just like if you had a partner on a project who you talked through your ideas with.”


(Photo: Hannah McCaughey)Quick Fix: Break the RulesBinge-watch Netflix. Eat pizza. Take that tequila shot. Not every day, but some days. Because a little indulgence is liberating.

Learn a New SportIt’s good for your brain
Each time we acquire a complex skill, our brains spring into action, shifting gray and white matter around in a process sometimes referred to as activation-dependent structural plasticity. To use an analogy from running, it’s like trading a steady 5K jog for a series of high-intensity sprints. It might be painful at first, but it makes your brain stronger. Even more appealing, developing new abilities may make us less stressed.
I reminded myself of this one morning last fall as I stood on the deck of the Wild Pigeon, a J/24 keelboat with a jaunty red hull owned by the Manhattan Yacht Club—which, despite its name, is located at Jersey City’s Liberty Harbor Marina. I was here to learn to sail, but also to explore the broader upside of doing so. In instructor Krista DeMille, I had an encouraging role model. She started sailing only a few years ago. A classically trained dancer and actor who also led river-rafting trips, she was a walking advertisement for the polyvalent self. 
With the metallic clang of nearby construction as a backdrop, DeMille kicked off the two-day intensive course by guiding me through sailing’s dizzying multitude of terms. I struggled to keep up with the flurry of hanks and clews and halyards, my Scrabble arsenal expanding by the minute. Next we moved to knots: square knots, slipknots, figure-eight stopper knots. To teach me the bowline, DeMille used a little story of a rabbit and a tree. Then she had me raise the jib and mainsail and fix the trio of tensioners, each with its own dynamics. It felt like doing a full-body workout while standing on a balance board.
This dockside training was a tonic for my brain, suggests Denise Park, director of re­search at the University of Tex­as’s Center for Vital Longevity. There is “some evidence,” she says, that engaging in “cognitively demanding tasks over a sustained period of time” keeps our brains sharp as we age. The ideal task is something “intellectually challenging and preferably novel.” As much as the brain likes a mental workout, it also likes physical exertion: exercise has been shown to enhance cognition. 
DeMille took us into New York Harbor, one of the world’s busiest, filled with a staggering array of large vessels, most of which seemed to be bearing down on us. “Raise the jib!” she shouted. I clambered toward the bow and began hoisting. The sail unfurled a few feet and then refused to budge. DeMille took a look. “Sailing,” she told me, “is about problem-­solving.” Eventually, she found that I’d shackled the line not only to the grommet (correct), but also to the forestay (incorrect).
Once that was sorted, she handed me the tiller, and all that previously abstract instruction became very real: we were a crew of two, and the winds were robust. Sailing demanded all my attention. This itself, in an age of endless distraction, has benefits. While at the tiller, I couldn’t reach for my phone or think about the sources of anxiety in my life (bills, story deadlines, middle school application forms). No surprise there. But the fact that I was also learning a new skill provided its own form of stress reduction. As a recent study in the Journal of Applied Psychology on stress in the workplace suggests, learning gives us powerful psychological tools to combat job stressors, building our feeling of competence and enlarging our sense of self.
In my case, I’d studied several things at once: knots, nav­igation, the wind, the etiquette of the sea—the 100-question certification test I took afterward (I passed) only scratched the surface. Ultimately, sailing seemed like a metaphor for learning itself: something that takes you to new places and uses the power of nature to make you feel better. —Tom Vanderbilt

Quick Fix: Take NotesJust don’t call it journaling. Research shows that a daily ritual of writing down your feelings is one of the best stress-management tools.
Put Down That EspressoIt isn’t making you happier
Caffeine is the world’s most popular psychoactive substance—Americans alone spend $72 billion on coffee each year. But surprising research suggests that it doesn’t work the way we think it does. According to Jack James, former editor of the Journal of Caffeine Research, if you’re a regular coffee drinker, caffeine doesn’t make you sharp, improve mood, or perk you up. And some of the world’s leading drug researchers, including David Nutt at Imperial College London and Peter Rogers at the University of Bristol, have confirmed that caffeine doesn’t boost wakefulness above baseline for those who are dependent on it. They explain it this way: You feel fatigued as your first espresso wears off, and you start going into withdrawal. So your next jolt is really just bringing you back to normal. “That’s pleasant and encourages caffeine consumption,” Rogers says, “but it’s not providing a net benefit to functioning.” Given that, and the fact that caffeine can cause sleep disruption and elevate blood pressure, it may be time to wean yourself. Life really is possible without it. —Peter Andrey Smith

Quick Fix: Swing in a HammockHang time is easy and portable with the Eno Double­Nest. It’s small and light enough to bring on any adventure, easy to set up, and roomy enough for two.

Rein In Your Digital LifeThree simple steps 
Jennifer Stewart is a cofounder of Gateway Productivity, which coaches business owners on how to be digitally organized. She shares the core principles that help her clients. —Abigail Barronian

(Photo: Hannah McCaughey)
1. Focus on one thing at a time.Multitasking is a myth, Stewart says. She recommends that you turn off all notifications except texts and phone calls and consider installing an app and website blocker like Freedom, which forces you to choose when you digitally engage.
2. Put all your to-do items in one place.“We hold everything in our head, and that causes stress,” says Stewart. “Pick a place where all those things can go. That way your brain can relax.” Things 3 is a simple management tool that allows you to sort and schedule your chores. 
3. Account for your time.Wonder where the day went? Try Toggl, a piece of time-tracking software. You record how you spend your work hours. After a few days, you’ll have a clear sense of where your energy is going and how you can adjust.

Quick Fix: Try a StaycationAvoid the stress of airport lines and delayed flights and be a tourist in your own town.
Hit SnoozeYou need more sleep
I’ve always been a morning person. I set my alarm for before dawn and head to the trail or gym when most people are still asleep. Then I shower and sip coffee while I catch up on the news or sift through e-mail. But a few months ago, I started to feel sluggish during those sunrise jogs, and I watched my mile times slow. As I yawned through the day, I wondered whether I was a morning person after all.
It turns out a lot of us feel tired. According to a Gallup poll, 40 percent of Americans report getting less than the recommended seven hours of sleep per night. The fewer z’s we get, the more our bodies and brains are compromised. “You might see a significant decline in physi­cal performance over a period of three or four days,” says W. Christopher Winter, a sleep researcher, neurologist, and author of The Sleep Solution. “And you’re likely to make three times as many mental errors.”
So I vowed that for two weeks, I would sleep in. I reset my alarm from 5 a.m. to 6:30, kept my regular bedtime of 11:30 P.m., and meticulously tracked how every day went.
It didn’t go well. Each morning, I woke up before my alarm and forced myself to close my eyes again. When the alarm went off, I’d bolt upright, race to the shower, and start my day feeling unprepared. That frazzled state stuck with me as I hurried to meetings. 
Yet I did notice that I was more engaged at work and made fewer mistakes. I started running in the evening and shaved five seconds off my mile time. While sleeping later isn’t for me, it confirmed that my body feels healthier and my brain sharper when I’m getting at least seven hours. So I’ve set my alarm for 5 a.m. again, and I now have a second alarm that chimes at 10 P.m., telling me to go to bed. What I needed all along was to get more overall rest, something a lot of us could use. —Abigail Wise

Quick Fix: Get Your Hands DirtyExposure to biodiverse soil is good for your microbiome, which has been correlated with improved mood. Plant a tree, start a garden—or dig in at the Many Hands Peace Farm in Highlands, North Carolina, where guests learn and practice regenerative agriculture.

Take to the NeedleWant to relax? Try knitting. Seriously.
Last winter, bucking gender stereotypes and the derisive looks of my 11-year-old daughter, I became a proud knitter. But let’s back up. It all started as I was preparing for a podcast interview with Cal Newport, the author of Digital Minimalism, a bestselling book that examines the pitfalls of our screen-addicted lifestyles. My work project quickly evolved into a self-help mission. Newport’s book described a litany of bad habits—tuning out the world with music, mindless social-media scrolling—that sounded eerily familiar. So I decided to commit to his prescribed “digital declutter”—30 days without recreational screen time. 
Newport is careful not tocall his plan a detox, a word he worries implies a short-term break rather than the trans­formation of one’s relationship to technology that he’s promoting. “One of the things I’ve noticed is that the people who succeed actually took advantage of the 30-day break to think seriously about what they really want to do with their time,” Newport told me. “You have to have a positive thing to replace this with.” In other words, you need a hobby—something you value that can fill the time you once spent scrolling through your Instagram feed when the monthlong moratorium expires. 

(Photo: Hannah McCaughey)That’s when I picked up knitting, essentially by default. It was February, so gardening and other outdoor hobbies werea no-go. I love reading, but I knew my passion for dense nonfiction would inevitably be overrun by the lure of Twitter’s more snackable nuggets. Woodworking sounded cool, but I have few tools and zero carpentry skills. Knitting? That seemed doable, perhaps even easy. I picked up two pairs of needles and two balls of yarn, recruited my wife to join me, then briefly broke my digital fast for a quick YouTube tutorial. 
For the next month or so, we set aside our phones and plopped on the couch for nightly sessions of knit one, purl one. As soon as I had the basics down, I found that the repetitive, mindless task was relaxing and meditative, helping me to decompress from office life. Turns out research backs that up. In 2013, British well-being coach and knitting advocate Betsan Corkhill teamed up with an occupational-therapy researcher to survey more than 3,500 active knitters from 31 countries. Their conclusion: people who knit more than three times a week report improved moods, reduced anxiety, and less stress. 
When the weather improved and the days got longer, I confess I put away my needles. But I plan to be a knitter for life. Winter is here, and there’s a yard-long stretch of stitches in my closet yearning to become a scarf. —Christopher Keyes

Quick Fix: Spend Time with GiantsThe scent of trees relaxes us. Skylonda Lodge, an hour south of San Francisco, has four-to-seven-day retreats that include strolling among redwoods reaching 300 feet.

Embrace Your InjuryRest is an opportunity for reinvention
No one likes getting hurt, but sometimes the forced pause leads to much needed downtime and an opportunity for introspection. Last May, professional ultrarunner and coach Megan Roche ruptured her hamstring when she stepped into a prairie dog hole while training near her home in Boulder, Colorado. Initially, the prognosis was that she’d never compete at the same level again. But Roche found a surgeon who told her that a reconstructed tendon could make her stronger than she was before. She had surgery soon afterward. 
“It was a crazy moment in my athletic career, because I fully contemplated what my life would look like without having that competitive outlet,” 29-year-old Roche says. “I went through every stage of the grieving process before ultimately getting the news that I should be OK.” The episode made her acutely aware that she didn’t want her identity wrapped up in something that could vanish in an instant. Roche, who also has a medical degree, says that her injury woke her up to the fragility of her career and inspired her to go back to school to pursue a Ph.D. in epidemiology.
Roche also points out that an injury often leads athletes to come back to their sport with a more well-rounded training approach. She appears to have found a middle ground: her research centers on bone health and the genetic predictors of sports injuries, and she plans to continue to coach and run. —Martin Fritz Huber


(Photo: Hannah McCaughey)Quick Fix: Walk the DogThere’s solid research on the stress-reducing benefits of having a pet. Meanwhile, Harvard researchers recently noted that walking is one of the healthiest forms of exercise.

DecelerateThere’s a reason tai chi has been around hundreds of years
I’m a skier, biker, and climber with a full-time job, which means I obsessively cram my free time with as much high-impact activity as possible. But lately, recreation has felt less like fun and more like an urgent invitation to beat myself up, so I decided to slow things down. Which is why, on a sunny Friday afternoon, I find myself standing at the back of a martial-arts studio, relearning how to walk. 
Jill Basso, a tai chi instructor for more than 20 years, comes over to correct my form. I’m moving forward too much, she says. Which until now I considered the primary goal of walking. Tai chi, however, isn’t really about getting anywhere.
The ancient Chinese martial art has been steadily growing in popularity in the U.S. over the past decade, boosted in part by support from the medical community. Research about its potential to build strength, balance, and stability, particularly in older practitioners, has led doctors to prescribe it to their patients. But those benefits probably extend to young people as well, explains Elizabeth Eckstrom, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University who has been studying tai chi in a clinical setting for nearly two decades. The practice can improve sleep, teach mindfulness, and help athletes advance in their sport. “It’s a good partner for all the things we do,” says Eckstrom.
A typical session involves a slow series of movements. In Basso’s class, the mostly over-60 students move fluidly and confidently through side steps, lunges, and sweeping arm motions. Without the goal of getting faster or going bigger, I learn about smaller limitations: my ankles are rigid, my quads allow my knees to bend only so far, my hips catch with certain movements. My limits are internal.
I have a complicated relationship with exercise. It’s deeply tied to my sense of self-worth, and if I haven’t gotten my heart rate somewhere near 180 in a few days, I can get manic. It’s something I’m trying to change, healing my relationship with physical activities that are supposed to be enjoyable but have become a form of self-flagellation.
Tai chi, on the other hand, kept my heart rate around 80. It plugged me into a welcoming community of people who are tending to their bodies like a slow-growing garden. I started going to class twice a week, moving as deliberately as my body would allow. I learned that my sports habits and tai chi actually have the same goals—­mental calm, physical strength, and overall well-being. And tai chi doesn’t put me at risk of broken bones or a bruised ego. —Abigail Barronian

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BY ROBERT JAY WATSON

   With an ever-growing body of scientific research showing the benefits of massage therapy for people of all ages, there has never been a better time to try this alternative to medication. With Americans increasingly aware of the danger of resorting to addictive opioids for managing pain, massage offers a low-risk solution for relief by stimulating the body’s ability to heal itself.
For many people who work in sedentary desk jobs and spend a lot of time in the car, neck and back pain are some of the most common complaints. Today, we’ll look at some easy ways to treat these problems with massage.
1. Use a Tennis Ball to Relieve Back Pain
Illustration – Shutterstock | fizkesIt’s hard to believe that such a cheap piece of sports equipment could be so powerful in treating pain, but tennis balls can become your back’s best friend. Many people who suffer back pain have poor posture as a result of sitting too much. Others have jobs that require lots of bending over and lifting, which can also cause problems.
Regardless, with just two tennis balls, you can give your back a break.
1. Lie on your back on a yoga mat or supported surface like a rug.
2. Bend your knees and put your feet on the ground.
3. Lift your hips straight up in the air.
4. Slide the two tennis balls under your back, shoulder blades, neck, or under whatever spot is in pain.
5. Let your hips down and relax your weight onto the floor and tennis balls for at a least a minute.
You have the option of rolling the tennis balls around under your body to massage the areas that are in pain.
2. Use a Hot Towel to Relieve Pain
Illustration – Shutterstock | Prostock-studioJust like the tennis ball trick, you don’t need to do anything fancy to find a quick solution for pain. Either at the gym, at home, or even at the office, you just need a towel and a way to warm it up.
1. To begin, take your towel and twist it until it becomes braided.
2. Grasping each end of the towel with your hands, put it behind your neck.
3. Keeping your head straight up, begin rubbing the towel around the base of the neck.
4. Depending on the level of pain, you can try different amounts of pressure.
3. Stretch and Self-Massage
Illustration – Shutterstock | Dragana GordicWhile the advantage of having a professional masseuse work on you is clear, there’s a great deal that you can do yourself to relieve pain.
1. Stand up tall with your spine straight.
2. If you are right-handed, put your left arm over your neck and push down on the trouble spot. If you are left-handed, try your right hand.
3. Once you find your pressure point, apply consistent pressure with your hand for at least 30 seconds.
4. Moving your hand around the area, if you come across other places where you feel pain, repeat the procedure.
While all the above options have the advantage of being able to do them yourself, sometimes you need to call in a professional. Here are some massage techniques that you can look into for relief for back and neck problems.
4. Shiatsu
Illustration – Shutterstock | imtmphotoWhile shiatsu massage is a Japanese practice, it derives from ancient Chinese medicine. Just as acupuncture seeks to relieve blockages in flows in the patient’s “qi,” or vital energy, so shiatsu, which means “finger pressure” in Japanese, tries to do this with the masseuse’s hands. But it’s not just fingers; the shiatsu masseuse can also use thumbs, feet, and palms on pressure points.
5. Hot Stone Massage
Illustration – Shutterstock | UfaBizPhotoA common treatment in many spas, this form of massage involves using smooth river stones that have been heated up. Stones are usually warmed to 110 to 130°F (43 to 54°C) in a specially designed device. Depending on the areas of where the person is feeling pain, a masseuse will place the stones in the necessary areas.
They can either leave the stones there, press them down, or move them across the skin using techniques derived from Swedish massage. The heat from the stones helps tensed muscles relax, which means the massage can be more effective.
6. Ayurvedic Massage
Illustration – Shutterstock | Lucky BusinessDeveloped in India as part of an ancient system of medicine that emerged over 3,000 years ago, Ayurvedic massage focuses on specific energy points within the body and uses essential oils to help in relieving stress and maximizing relaxation. Masseuses may also use tuning forks, which vibrate at particular frequencies and can help release tension.
Ayurvedic massage differs from many other techniques in that it views the patient as a whole person. The massage is not just physical; it also eases the emotional burden that leads to tension building up in the first place.
7. Thai Massage
Illustration – Shutterstock | KotinVery different to other kinds of massage, Thai massage uses movements similar to yoga to ease pain and restore well-being. The masseuse will stretch, pull, push, and rock the person being massaged to help get rid of the pain they are experiencing. There will not be the usual rubbing of the muscles found in traditional massage. By putting the person in different positions, the balance of compression and release will help remove any blockages in energy circulation.
8. Deep Tissue Massage
Illustration – Shutterstock | Aleks GudenkoThis last technique is fairly self-explanatory. Advocates believe that by using lots of sustained pressure, they can work their way into the areas beneath the skin where the pain and discomfort originate. Whereas traditional massage uses light to moderate pressure and focuses on the skin level, deep tissue can be momentarily uncomfortable as the masseuse delves into the muscle area.

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