The Pursuit of Happiness as a Teacher: Step 3
The Pursuit of Happiness: Massage Therapy
Positively changing your lifestyle and making healthy choices is wonderful, but taking on too many changes too quickly can result in burnout, injuries, and emotional setbacks. As teachers, we already have a FULL schedule before, during, and after the day is over. We try to “keep our heads above water” ALL YEAR LONG!!! However, there’s another solution to help ease our “teacher brain” and reset when needed. You can create a lifestyle plan that works for you no matter what your goals are, whether it's nutrition, exercise, or even scheduling a much needed massage.
Mark the Calendar
Creating goals, marking the calendar, and making a plan is critical to keep your new training regimen. Without a plan, it is easier to give up when you encounter difficulty, resistance, or obstacles. However, what about a plan to help you relax, unwind, “reset” as needed? Teachers in particular are FULL GO once the day begins. The feeling of burnout, exhaustion in REAL all before noon (sometimes earlier).
Create a plan to achieve your health goals which includes rest and recovery. Consider the challenges you may face along the way and how you may overcome them. If you know what you want to achieve and how you will achieve it, along with the obstacles you might face, you will be better prepared to persevere when the going gets tough.
Dynamic Duo: Add ALL the TOOLS
Chiropractic adjustment will help restore your nervous system function and send you on the path to having overall health and wellness and being the best version of you that you can be!
In the spirit of taking care of yourself, it is vitally important to incorporate massage therapy into your self-care routine. An hour massage/deep tissue treatment every other week or so will go a long way in getting your body where it needs to be. Tight or inflamed muscles can cause stiffness and a limited range of motion. When your muscles are strained, you may be limiting your ROM even more by attempting to use them.
A massage therapist may be able to give you a soft tissue massage to help loosen things up and improve circulation. As tight muscles disappear, you will feel more limber and loose.
Just remember, it is ok to be a little selfish sometimes; we have to take care of our own health and wellness first.
Look for the Signs: Massage Therapy is a MUST
For most of us teachers, desk jobs and jam-packed schedules are part of the daily routine. No matter what your lifestyle or daily routine consists of, it’s important you stop and take a moment for YOURSELF.
Massage therapy is a great way to relieve pain and stress and restore range of motion by targeting tension in muscles that might be “holding up the show” in certain areas of your body.
A few of the symptoms include: bad posture, limited range of motion, frequent headaches, high stress levels, neck and shoulder discomfort, and back pain.
Symptoms can be multifaceted ranging from emotions, packed schedule, family situations, work deadlines, obligations, and health problems. No matter what area of life you’re feeling stress from, massage therapy is a great, natural way to decompress and take a time out both physically and mentally.
Enjoy the Benefits of Massage Therapy
Educators face more external stressors today than ever before. Both in person and online teaching has taken a toll on many in the education and teaching profession. Many things can cause a teacher’s body to become imbalanced, from toxins in the environment to artificial ingredients in processed foods. Teachers can benefit from massage therapy self care to help aid in those discomforts. Here are some benefits.
- Reducing stress and increasing relaxation.
- Reducing pain and muscle soreness and tension.
- Improving circulation, energy and alertness.
- Lowering heart rate and blood pressure.
- Improving immune function.
Lastly, make sure you are honest with yourself, set attainable health goals, and keep track of your accomplishments. And, this means schedule that much needed massage…YOU are worth IT!!!
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