Do you remember when you were a kid and were sent home from school with a fever or sore throat? What happened when you got home? You were ordered to bed or, if you were lucky, you got to lay on the couch and watch TV. The point is, you had to rest.
Healing requires rest. The same holds true when healing from cancer, cancer treatment or any other chronic illness. Your body and mind need deep rest to heal. Sunita Kumar, MD co-directs the Center for Sleep Disorders at Loyola University Medical Center and says, “Quality ZZZs also help your body defend itself. During sleep, you make more white blood cells that attack viruses and bacteria”.
Do you allow yourself to rest? I mean really, really rest? Are you intentional about rest? We all lead really busy lives. If we’re lucky, we get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. But what I’m talking about is a deliberate time in our day for a short break to rest.
I’ve heard of executives who lock their office door and lay on the floor to rest for 20-30 minutes; or the fast food worker who will go to their car for 15 minutes to rest. Rest for the body and rest for the mind is a requirement of healing.
A diagnosis of cancer, cancer treatment and the unknown of things to come, can put our bodies in what is called “the fight or flight” response. It’s a reaction that occurs in our Sympathetic Nervous System when we perceive danger or a harmful event. Our hearts start racing, pupils dilate, and we begin to sweat.
The opposite of this reaction is the “rest and digest” response provided by our Parasympathetic Nervous System, which returns our body to homeostasis (body in balance). The rest and digest state slows the heart and conserves energy.
The “rest and digest” state can be found during a massage, and, if you are healing from cancer or cancer treatment it can be a vital part of your healing process.
No, massage doesn’t heal cancer or any other chronic illness.
But it does give the body a particular time and place to get the rest it needs to heal! It gives the body permission to rest. As one client told me, “I don’t have to be anything for anyone while I’m here. I can just be.”
Are you giving your body permission to rest and heal? Massage provided by a trained Oncology Massage Therapist can provide a safe place to rest and heal. You’ll be happy you gave it a try.
Get in touch – consultations are always free.
ProgressiveMassageTherapy.com
501-915-4012
References:
The Healing Power of Sleep
Reviewed by William Blahd, MD on October 06, 2016