The true key to recovery through massage lies in the feeling of comfort. | If you are a therapist school, executive academy Osaka | Blog

What's wrong with just feeling good? The true power of massage lies in its 'comfort'.

You often see these words in advertisements for the massage industry and schools.

"Towards technology that goes beyond just feeling good."

Seeing these kinds of expressions, some people might think, "Does this mean that treatments that are only pleasant are of low value?"

However, I think the exact opposite.

In massage, the feeling of "pleasure" is the most important trigger for physical change.

What happens inside the body the moment you feel "good"?
The feeling of "pleasantness" is not merely a comfort or a form of entertainment.

It is believed that when information indicating "pleasantness" is transmitted to the brain through the skin, invisible changes occur inside the body.

The parasympathetic nervous system becomes dominant, and the body enters recovery mode.
When we receive stimuli that are painful, intense, or cause anxiety, our bodies tense up and the sympathetic nervous system becomes dominant.

Conversely, when you feel "comfortable," your brain determines that "this is a safe place" and switches to the parasympathetic nervous system.

Blood vessels relax, the circulation of bodily fluids is promoted, and the autonomic nervous system's recovery process becomes easier to activate.

What a sense of security brings.
It is known that reassuring physical contact stimulates the release of brain chemicals such as oxytocin and endorphins, which are believed to alleviate stress and reduce pain.

In other words, I believe that it is only through the reassuring process of feeling "good" that the body can truly relax and begin to heal itself.

The cause of pain is "100 different for 100 different people."
For example, let's say you have a symptom like, "My shoulder hurts and I can't lift it."
The cause could be muscle fatigue, poor posture, lifestyle habits or stress, or even fluid stagnation. There are 100 different reasons for 100 different people.

Therefore, trying to fix a condition by applying a specific pattern like "this is how you raise your shoulder" can easily become a misconception on the part of the practitioner.

Since the causes differ from person to person, there are limitations to approaches that try to forcibly control specific body parts from the outside.

On the other hand, creating a state where the parasympathetic nervous system becomes dominant through "comfort," allowing the body to relax on its own, is, so to speak, laying the foundation that can be addressed regardless of the cause.

I believe that what a therapist should do is not to forcibly control a specific body part, but to create a state in which the whole body feels "good," thereby drawing out the client's own inherent healing power.

The core of therapy lies in perfecting the feeling of "comfort"—not in "treatments to cure," but in providing "comfort that allows the body to change on its own."

When the palms of the hands make firm contact, and the whole body is filled with the right amount of pressure and fluidity, the body begins to change on its own, rather than being healed by someone else. That's how I feel.

That's why I want to continue to cherish the feeling of "comfort" and convey its essence.

KAORI