Massage Therapy Journal Summer 2024

Beyond Physical Self-Care: Quick Tips for Your Overall Well-Being

Summer 2024 • 73

required to maintain pressure. Take short breaks to stretch and adjust your posture regularly. 3 Mind/body practices. Incorporate stress-reducing activities like yoga, tai chi or meditation into your self care routine. These practices can improve both physical and mental well-being. 4 Regular health checkups. Schedule regular checkups with health care professionals to address any emerging issues and receive preventive care. When you’re professional life revolves around taking care of others, it’s easy to forget you need to be pro active about your own health and well-being. 5 Stay active on rest days. On the days you’re away from your practice, planning a day filled with absolutely nothing is tempting. But, you should try to remain engaged, even if that means going for a short walk or other low-impact activities like swimming to keep your body moving without adding excessive strain. Social engagement is important, too! So think about combining the two by walking to a local coffee shop to catch up with a friend.

You are in a profession that requires a great deal of energy, both physically and mentally, and that means you need to root your self-care in practices that work to protect not only your physical health but also your emotional and mental well-being. Here are five ideas to help you take care of your whole person. 1 Regular stretching. Incorporate stretching exercises into your daily routine, focusing on major muscle groups. Vary the areas of the body you focus on to make sure you’re not targeting one area of your body at the expense of others, especially when honing in on only the muscle groups you use most during massage may be easy to do without thinking. Regular stretching may help improve flexibility, reduce muscle tightness and prevent injuries. 2 Posture awareness. Pay attention to your posture while working. Correct ergonomics can prevent musculoskeletal issues. During a massage session, remember to stack your joints and consider using an uphill stroke whenever possible, which will give you a mechanical advantage, meaning less effort will be

NEED MORE THAN SIMPLE PHYSICAL SELF-CARE TIPS? Consider AMTA’s continuing education course “Self Care Fitness Principles for Massage Therapists,” where you’ll learn key concepts in physical fitness, as well as various exercise training methods and techniques. Visit amtamassage.org/learn .

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