It is unclear who first said it this way, but someone wise once wrote, “The mind and body are not separate. What affects the one, affects the other.” The ancient philosopher Descartes was one of the first to study the mind-body connection, and humans have been discussing this idea ever since, viewing it from just about every angle.
Meanwhile, the rest of us live the interrelatedness of these two aspects of being human every day. I myself was inspired by someone I met while out getting an evening snack one recent Sunday. Let’s call him “John”. During our chat, “John” told me that he takes a “Mental Health Day” regularly, on which he rides his bike. For him, it is a deliberate way to support his mental, and thus, physical well-being. You might say “John” is an example of what Nature’s Whisper Healing Arts is in the business of doing – supporting people’s self-care efforts that power their best life.
Even companies, large, medium, and small, are subscribing to this notion of the value of self-care. They have found that doing so helps them retain their best talent. Their employees’ performance at work gets a boost from well-being tactics such as taking their birthday off to do something fun. According to a survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review, employees are “of the same mind” about mental health days and other self-care tactics. “Two-thirds of our survey respondents said that a workplace focused on their health and wellbeing would make them more likely to accept a new job or keep the job they have.”
The National Institutes of Health outlines a number of ways to support your wellness, an especially important one being to reduce stress. As it happens, this plays right into the wheelhouse of Nature’s Whisper Healing Arts. Our products and services are stress busters.
You might just make an appointment for your very own “Mental Health Day” that includes massage therapy at our Danville location.
How massage helps the body-mind is not new. The Mayo Clinic tells us that the benefits of massage can include:
Reducing stress and increasing relaxation
Improving circulation, energy, and alertness
Reducing pain and muscle soreness and tension
Lowering heart rate and blood pressure
Improving immune function
Those first two bullet items are the ones we usually associate with mental health. But when you look at the entire list, you can see how all these benefits of touch therapy can help your body and mind work “hand in glove” toward wholeness and balance in your life.
And, when you think about it, that is what we are all striving for – a balanced life that allows us to be our best selves.