Holistic wellness
by Eloise Lonobile

PROFESSIONAL MASSAGES in PISA
& CHINESE MEDICINE TECHNIQUES

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Benefits of Massages

Health is something personal, but it is often a result of the conceptions we have of the world around us and in which we are immersed

Massages are not applied in any condition and on any tissue; in fact, in some cases they have contraindications which it is up to the professional to identify. But where the person and his state of health allow it, the massage:

• prevents and improves existing health conditions
• strengthens the immune system
• optimizes the physiology of the muscle-tendon structures
• promotes metabolic exchanges and the venous and lymphatic return of blood circulation and the nervous system
• reduces the cerebral rhythm and balances the activity of the two cerebral hemispheres, improving the well-being of the psyche thanks to its relaxing properties
• stimulates the production of oxytocin, a hormone that increases the individual's relational capacity, making us more open, trusting and empathetic
• acts on the deep tissues and is able to restore the functionality of organs through specific manual skills (deep massage)
• has elasticizing, vascularizing, draining or anti-fatigue purposes (sports massage)
• slows down the aging processes and stimulates skin regeneration (aesthetic massage)

The benefits of massage have been known since ancient times

The history of massage is lost in the mists of time and its use to soothe pain, suffering or to eliminate fatigue and relax probably precedes any other treatment technique, the first form of therapy ever used by man. In fact, massage is already mentioned in the Chinese text Cong-Fou, and in the fourth book of the Indian sacred texts of the Ayur-Veda. Many other ancient cultures such as the Maya, Hawaiian, Inca, Avajo and Cherokee, used massage as a disease healing technique and as a means of prevention. Tribal populations have always used massages as a profound experience also useful in healing rites (Shamanic Massage). The Egyptians at the time of Cleopatra loved being massaged immersed in perfumed waters and massage was considered a sacred art on a par with religious and divinatory rites.

Among the Greeks, Hippocrates described in many of his writings the benefits of massage, or "anatripsis" and his art; in fact, he argued that: "the doctor must have multiple experiences, but he must surely know the art of massage". Also in Greece the first distinction was made between sports massage and therapeutic massage: the first was mainly linked to games, while the second was linked to medicine and healing rituals in temples. With the Romans, massage also extended in the aesthetic field, and was widely used for the treatments, beauty and relaxation of guests in the spa (Thermal Massage) and is still widely used as an adjunct in aesthetic treatments (Draining Massage) .

While the tradition of oriental massage has continued to be carried forward (for example in China with the Meridian Massage or in Thailand with the famous Thai Massage), in Western countries the cult of this practice was interrupted during the Middle Ages, to be partially recovered during the Renaissance. But the great advances made by conventional medicine in the twentieth century sharpened a deep rift in humans by overshadowing traditional therapies, which had been practiced for centuries. Massage is currently experiencing a moment of vigorous rebirth, thanks to a strong need to return to "natural" values, especially as a reaction to the conditions of intense stress and drug abuse imposed by modern society.

The first doctor to whom we owe the reintroduction of massage in the West is Pehr Henrik Ling (1776-1839) who systematizes the method into what has since been called Basic (or Swedish) Massage. Since then, interests and advances also in the scientific field, especially in the twentieth century, have led to the discovery and definition of numerous manual approaches to healing or maintaining the state of health, such as the - very important - lymphatic drainage techniques or craniosacral maneuvers, or massages focused on the recovery of a psychological and emotional well-being, first of all the Californian massage, born in the 70s also in support of Vietnam War veterans.