It seems like such a natural solution that when you have aches and pains in your body to call and schedule a massage session for yourself. That is such an easy solution, right? But what do you do when your pain is more internal? Your body is made up of all kinds of muscles, not just the ones that assist in the movement of your limbs. So, when your digestive system is causing you fits, massage is available to help get you moving in the right direction again (quite literally).
So how exactly can massage help? First and foremost, massage in general is a huge stress reliever. When you are stressed out, your digestion is slowed. Your body digests food when your nervous system is in a state of rest and relaxation. If you are constantly nervous and on edge, your digestion will reflect that.
Secondly, your digestive system is comprised of muscles that contract and release over and over again much like you witness when a snake is digesting its prey. When your tummy is bound up, you can suffer from pain, bloating, and gas. The act of physically massaging the abdomen can help to manually move the food through the digestive system allowing the muscles to get some much needed help to push through the internal traffic jam.
In addition, massage of the abdomen is a great way to apply essential oils in a way that will directly support a healthy digestive system. Let’s be honest. For many of us, we have been hard to our digestive system for decades and giving our belly some love would be a good habit to get into. Oils such as peppermint, ginger, or doTERRA’s DigestZen Blend, can be great to mix a few drops into your favorite massage oil and use on your abdomen. It is a great practice to start doing this as a weekly treatment to yourself by massaging in in circle starting at the right hip, up to the right rib, over and down with the direction of your digestive system so that these oils can be absorbed directly in to your body.
Your digestive system is the fueling center for all that you do. So, just like when you can’t move quite right because your muscles are sore and tense, when your tummy muscles are tense let massage come to the rescue for you!