Why is Relaxation Critical for Addressing Chronic Pain?

Often the term “relaxation massage” has the connotation of being frivolous or a luxury, but the science behind relaxation and the mind-body connection shows a strong link between relaxation and relief of chronic pain.

Chronic pain and stress

Chronic pain that was first introduced because of an injury or illness is maintained and increased by psychological stress and physical tension. How can we easily and effectively treat stress and physical tension? Through regular use of proven relaxation techniques!

Relaxation as a treatment for chronic pain

Relaxation is one example of a non-pharmacological treatment which is increasingly accepted as an intervention for pain reduction and pain coping. It is also considered one of the most widely available and cost-effective treatments.

Practicing relaxation techniques is associated with reduced blood pressure, oxygen uptake, respiratory frequency, heart frequency and muscle tension as well as lower cortisol levels and reduced inflammation. 

How to facilitate relaxation for chronic pain

It’s clear that therapeutic touch, massage, and mindfulness allow the parasympathetic nervous system to take over - which is responsible for rest and relaxation. There are many ways to induce relaxation, and the literature shows that massage, breathing techniques, and meditation are among the most effective. 

Massage for immediate relief, meditation for long term results

What are the short and long term benefits of massage and mindfulness on chronic pain? Research suggests that massage offers immediate relief, but lacks long-term benefits, and meditation lacks immediate relief, but offers long-term benefits. 

Several studies have shown that while mindfulness may not provide immediate relief for pain, it does show long term psychological benefits of reduced chronic pain after 12 weeks. Another study comparing mindfulness to massage for chronic pain showed a significant benefit in perception of pain immediately following the massage, but not long-term. 

So what happens when we combine the 2 modalities for both immediate and long-term results? Combining both of these effective relaxation techniques can obtain not only immediate pain relief, but also long term benefits for those that suffer from chronic pain. It has been estimated that three months of regular relaxation practice is necessary to obtain long term pain reduction.

How to add this to your practice

Enter Yomassage, where we combine the most effective relaxation techniques in a session that has been curated to best elicit and maintain the relaxation response in each client as well as teach clients relaxation tools to use in their day to day lives. Yomassage can be delivered 1-1 or in a small group environment, making it accessible for chronic pain clients to receive on a regular basis.  

Yomassage offers NCBTMB approved virtual trainings led by a master trainer. The Signature Yomassage® Certification is a world class 26-hour virtual training with over 300 5-star reviews on Google and Facebook that includes instructional videos, discussion questions, quizzes, live Q&A’s with the master trainer, master trainer and peer-to-peer feedback, video submissions, and more! You will graduate from the training ready to incorporate Yomassage into your practice right away.

Training options

3-week virtual training with accountability

The recommended training option for our Signature Yomassage® course is our 3-week master trainer led virtual training. This training starts on the first Monday of every month. You will need to spend about 1-3 hours per day on the training materials, and you will have due dates each week. You can work at your own pace throughout the week and you don’t need to log on at specific times. You will be going through the course at the same time as your peers and will have a ton of community support and feedback! This course is recommended if you like the accountability of working within weekly deadlines and peer support. Find upcoming training dates on this page and scroll until you see “trainings with start and end dates”

Self-paced virtual training with 3 months to complete materials

The second option is a 3-month self-paced course. This course includes the same exact content as the course above, but you work at your own pace and have 3 months to complete all of the assignments. You will turn in all of your assignments when you complete the course and receive feedback from your master trainer after completion.

Both options include access to weekly live Q&A’s with the master trainer!

Please contact us here if you have any questions.

Article resources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4590063/