Loving Your Body

Love is psychological appreciation for someone or something. The manifestation of this is showing that one cares. Love for one's body ought to be an obvious endeavor, yet, our society seems to promote this in limited doses. What we eat, the way we move, the amount of joy expressed, our allotments of time and money to our nurturing… these tend to manifest as carelessness and denial. The shift a loving person makes is toward manifesting perseverance and awareness in how one's health is managed.

Each member of your healthcare team sees self-love expressed in a particular way. When you are here for a massage, there are certain considerations that optimize the health benefits of massage. These include:

1. Monitor your posture to minimize stress between treatments.
   
2. Use an ease of motion and with minimal pain at the problem areas.
   
3. Careful self-massage if you can do this without increasing pain or risk.
   
4. Work with gentle, brief applications of heat and/or cold to see how your body responds best.
   
5. Monitor your hydration with pure water.
   
6. Plan for progressive exercise for increased strength once the pain is gone and range of motion restored.
   
7. Work with your physician to change medications as needed.