During the winter months, it’s easy to neglect our bodies. We stay in to avoid the bad weather whenever we don’t absolutely have to go outside. The yard is neglected – nothing needs doing in the garden and anything that does can wait until better weather, right?

And don’t even get us started on fitness regimes. Who wants to go for a run in the snow, wind or rain?

It’s fair to say that it’s out of sight out of mind until…one day…the sun peeps out and it begins to feel a little warmer. It’s at this point, before we decide to attack the weeds in the garden, cut the trees in the yard, or sign up for the marathon we always promised we’d do, that we should do some prep work on our bodies to make sure that our attempts at getting more active don’t lead to back pain, sprained joints or worse.

The first thing you should do is assess your fitness and flexibility levels. If you’ve spent since October indoors on the couch, you’re likely to be a bit stiff. Muscles need regular stretching and movement to stay healthy and supple, so if you dive straight in with three hours of garden maintenance as soon as the clouds break, you could find yourself in a lot of fatigue or muscular pain the day after your efforts.

Essential Massage Therapy helps to relax and soften injured and overused muscles, but it can also help to prepare them for events like runs, walks, and sporting competitions. It figures that if you’re going to be using your muscles, tendons and ligaments for the first long period of time in months, a massage will help loosen the tissues up ready for action. Essential Massage helps to increase circulation around the whole body, which means a shorter recovery time after any prolonged activity.

Another reason for a spring massage is that it can help boost serotonin levels. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter – a chemical your body makes in order to help you feel good. Sadly, production can drop in winter months as your brain needs vitamin D to produce it, and to get vitamin D, we need sunlight. A regular massage will really help to boost the levels of serotonin and dopamine in your body, helping you to stabilize your mood and kick away the winter blues.

Plan and book a series of regular massages pre-spring and you will really feel the difference when you start getting out and about in the great outdoors!

To Find a Trusted Massage Therapist consider a licensed massage therapists who is a member of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA). Connie Zoetjes is a NY/NJ licensed massage therapist graduated from the Holistic New Center in Long Island and continues to take courses to learn new massage modalities for today’s clients. Essential Massage Therapy offers a wide variety of treatments from Swedish and hot stone to a tension tamer massage and sole soother. Contact Essential Massage Therapy for your 60 minute appointment today. https://essentialmassagetherapynj.com