Its amazing how many times I begin working on someone’s shoulders and they tell me they had no idea just how tight and restricted they are! No matter what your lifestyle, there are activities and pressures throughout our day which can lead to tightness in our neck and shoulders. This tension often builds gradually, we get used to it being there, that slight reduction in our ability to turn out head or lift our arms creeps in and builds on itself.
This is totally natural, we all do it, sadly, most of us just get used to and tolerate increasing levels of pain, just accepting it as a part of life. This pain and restriction builds and leads to headaches, raised stress levels, poor sleep quality, low mood, low energy and so much more.
Obviously I would recommend booking in for a treatment to help unwind the tension and restrictions…what kind of treatment and how often you ask? This depends entirely on you, I never make standard recommendations on how many, or how long, each person is different and responds in a different way to treatment. To answer this question you need to listen to your body, have a read of the descriptions of my treatments and book the one that sounds the best for you, its usually a good place to start, then see how long the effects of the massage last for you. A pattern that is right for you will emerge.
There are many things you can do between treatments to keep yourself feeling balanced and more relaxed, such as checking in on your posture regularly through the day, mindfulness and meditation practices, yoga, swimming, tai chi, walking, breathing exercises, epsom salt baths…this list goes on. You need to find just one thing that you will enjoy, and put it in your diary or your phone, tie it in to a current habit so that you make sure that it sticks, adding in one habit at a time will help you to be consistent which will help you to gain the most benefits.
None of us should not be living in pain and discomfort, with our shoulders up around our ears, life is just too short.
The Barefoot therapist 