Massage offers deep healing, myriad benefits

Beth Boucher was an English teacher working in Thailand in 2007 when she accidentally discovered a new calling – massage.

The ancient art of Thai massage as practiced in the remote area where Boucher lived can be credited for healing the shoulder injury she received from a fall on a muddy hike in the mountains at Khao Sok National Park in Southern Thailand.

The Kittery resident said she slipped, threw her shoulder out and was forced to do what the Thai people do to heal any pain or illness, visit the local massage therapist. Despite language barriers, Boucher said the massage therapist was able to bring ease to the muscle tissue and joint, decreasing the pain and increasing her range of motion within a few weeks.

“Over time, I gained full use of my shoulder after going for regular massages with no medications or x-rays or doctors,” said Boucher, who offers massage at Yoga in ME in Eliot. “I wholeheartedly believe in the healing power of massage.”

Two years after her fall, Boucher was teaching health and physical education in Vermont when she realized she could no longer ignore her deep desire to study massage. She left teaching, moved to Massachusetts to attend massage school and has been practicing massage since 2009.

“Massage rehabilitated my shoulder injury beautifully. I am susceptible to tension headaches and have found massage therapy to be extremely useful in eliminating the pain in my neck and shoulder,” she said. “It’s an honor and privilege to share this healing art with my clients.”

Boucher has offered massage in a variety of settings, including offering prenatal massage to alleviate swelling, boost circulation and ease sleep issues during pregnancy. Stress and muscle tension caused by stress are key complaints she treats today in her recently opened office at Yoga in ME, she said.

Boucher is one of hundreds of thousands of massage therapists in the U.S., where between 44 and 58 million Americans have experienced a massage at least once, according to the American Massage Therapy Association.

Trying massage for the first time can be intimidating for some and licensed massage therapist Laura Brogan suggests a short conversation with the practitioner to share goals for the session so they can be achieved.

“There are many different kinds of massage sessions. You can book a 30-minute targeted session for chronic neck pain and headaches or say you were experiencing anxiety and insomnia, a targeted session with clothes on using aromatherapy could be the answer,” said Brogan, who has been a massage therapist for 17 years, the past seven years at GLOW, a holistic wellness studio in York. “There is a type of massage for everyone. You need to be comfortable on the table and the way to comfort starts with knowing and expressing your goals.”

Of all the benefits of a good massage, and there are many, Brogan said stress reduction is key because with an improved nervous system comes reduced anxiety, better sleep, stabilization of moods and increased immunity and overall general health.

“Massage helps our bodies have a faster healing time for whatever is happening physically from chronic back or neck pain to trauma from an old accident. It encourages our body’s healing response on the day of treatment, and into the week and weeks that follow. Regular massage has the benefit of changing our health from a cellular level over time,” Brogan said.

Most people change the oil in their car every 5,000 miles and Brogan said similarly the human body responds positively with a regular massage not just for maintenance, but to strengthen it.

“I look at massage therapy as getting an oil change for our bodies. To do this once a month or once a season helps get the body aligned, increases immunity and boosts overall general health with less colds and less stress,” she said.

A lot has changed in the massage industry since Lynn Favreau opened her massage business in 1986, when she was one of the first massage therapists to offer massage in the Portsmouth/Greenland area. But Favreau said her secret to success has been to keep it simple.

“The industry has changed, but I haven’t changed so much because I work more intuitively and I don’t need a lot of gadgets. My hands and my heart are my tools,” said Favreau, who is also a nurse and the owner of her small family farm.

It’s obvious that massage brings ease to muscles, but it also stimulates the lymphatic system and as a result of the lymph drainage, boosts the immune system, she said. Modern living, and the stress that often comes with it, wreaks havoc on multiple systems in the human body. Favreau said the gift of relaxation, a quiet mind and staying in the present offers her clients great relief from stress.

“We get into the zone when we receive a massage. We release all the stuff we hold by being in the alpha state that comes when people really let go and stop thinking. This really reduces the body’s responses to stress,” she said. “And when you do it regularly, your body, your muscular and nervous systems remember and you drop in more quickly and it’s easier to achieve the benefits of being in that zone.”

With more than 30 years of offering massage to Seacoast residents, Favreau said the most important gift of massage is its ability to help people release energy that does not serve them to create a fresh start, over and over again. So many people have chronic pain that inhibits their ability to be comfortable and present in their daily lives. Regular massage, according to Favreau, releases deep muscular tension and  allows the body to function better, improve the nervous system and emotional state as well.

“Every time I get a massage I am able to be more present, have more room in my cup to take in more of life,” she said. “By emptying my cup with each massage, I am no longer holding it all anymore and I have the chance to hold moretomorrowand give more. But if your cup is full all the time, there is no more room to put anything.”