Empowering Your Child: The Benefits of Massage Therapy from an Early Age
By: Chloe Boldt | Registered Massage Therapist | IG @chloeboldt.rmt
Do you remember your first massage? A spa on vacation? After an injury playing a sport? Following a car accident?
For many, the word massage brings up an image of a serene spa, and is viewed as a place of luxury or pampering. It is time to break that stereotype of massage therapy as we begin to reap all of the benefits it has to offer and develop those healthy habits early on in life!
Massage therapy is a holistic treatment for everyone at any age or stage in life to aid in injury prevention or recovery, decrease stress and tension, improve body awareness, and provide an overall feeling of wellness. Introducing these concepts at an early age in the developing stages of your child’s life is pivotal to creating healthy habits for them both now, and in the future!
Is your child…
- An athlete?
- A musician?
- An artist?
- An academic achiever?
- A teenager?
Does Your Child…
- Experience growing pains?
- Suffer from a recent loss or life change?
- Have ongoing body pains/injuries?
- Experience anxiety or depression?
- Struggle with body image?
- Want to feel more confident in their body and its abilities?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, then Massage Therapy is right for your child, as it helps them to;
- Gain awareness of how their body is feeling
- Gain knowledge on how to take care of their bodies
- Normalize self-care
- Promote relaxation and rest in busy seasons of life, helping prevent burn out
- Prevent or recover from an injury
Massage therapy is proven to increase dopamine (the feel-good hormone) and decrease cortisol (the stress hormone). Not only does this help regulate stress and anxiety for your child caused by social, family or academic pressures, but it normalizes self-care both for physical and mental health as they go through life!
Massage therapy also helps decrease muscle tension and increase range of motion, which assists in recovering from, or preventing, injuries — which is super important for any physically demanding extracurriculars!
Other benefits of massage is that it can help improve quality of sleep, provide more energy and an increase in concentration which can lead you to a potentially happier, healthier kid around you. (Yes, even the teenagers!)
How to prepare them for their first massage:
- Explain to them the process (laying under a blanket, face down and face up, while the massage therapist helps stretch your muscles and makes them feel good!)
- Explain what a massage does (helps your muscles feel looser, makes you feel relaxed)
- Let them know they are in control of what happens in the massage room (It is up to your child on what they want out of a massage! If that means keeping their clothes on and a nice back rub, that is awesome!)
- We want them to be comfortable! If that means having a parent in the room for any/all parts of the treatment time, that is awesome! We want them to feel as safe and comfortable as possible!
- Communicate!! Let the massage therapist know what feels nice and what doesn’t! We want your child to be able to tell us how their body feels and what they like!
- Because we want this to be the best experience possible, starting with a spotlight treatment can be a great way to familiarize them with the space and what to expect, and from there they can feel empowered to choose a longer session if needed!
Your young ones are more active than ever, in both mind and in body! Teaching them to manage stress and be aware of their bodies while they are young can help prevent a lifetime of chronic pain and poor habits. We only have one body, so let’s give your children the gift of teaching them how to take care of it at a young age!
You can invest in your child’s future well-being by scheduling a treatment, here!
