|
|
| I recently had a massage. The therapist said she was thrilled with my body. She said I can get things in place much faster because your body knows what to do. I thought then that yoga helped me.
I felt relaxed but tired. I went home and the good wife sent me to bed at 7:30 because I was dropping off watching one of our favorite Angel DVD's. Slept over 12 hours.
The next morning went to my usual Saturday morning Yoga class. Ohmygosh! Nothing worked right. I felt like I had no strength. I was fumbling like a beginner.
Went home and spent the next 2 days basically sleeping. Yoga was fine on Monday.
Anyone know why this happens?
Edited by MrD 2004-11-26 7:46 PM
|
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| My, that must have been some massage! Was it a whole body massage and your first time? I do feel tired after massage and other body work and I do like to rest or sleep more after having it. No yoga or especially no class right after, at least for me and others I have spoken to. Massage releases a lot of toxins and since you have talked on another post about having some emotional releases lately, it probably isn't surprising that the massage got in even deeper than you had taken yourself and flushed out some more stuff.
I have been doing some Hellerwork (like Rolfing, deep, deep work) and my worker is also a yogi so we work together on things in a very compatible way. She told me I have very healthy tissue. Nice to hear! It is good for her to be able to say "do more baddhakonasana this week to encourage this area to keep opening" and that kind of thing. I think bodyworkers like to work on people who also work on themselves  |
|
| |
|
| Yeah, it was.
It was only my second massage, and I hadn't done one for about 6 months. Apparently that was a mistake. I spoke with the Massage Therapist about it later and she said that I'd built up a lot of toxins in some tight areas of my body that normal exercise didn't release. Apparently when your body relaxes during a massage it can get demanding. She said that people who don't exercise often are energized. But with those who work hard physically they often need more sleep. She also said that it helped that I knew how to relax during the massage. It allowed her to go deeper.
My therapist doesn't do yoga, but she does the next best thing. She massages Baron Baptiste when he comes into town.  So she's gotta be pretty good.
Thanks for the insight
Edited by MrD 2004-11-30 7:29 PM
|
|
| |
|
| Another thing to remember is to drink a LOT of water after you have had a massage. I would love to have a few days to sleep like that.  |
|
| |
|
|
When one performs massage by another person, the other person is exercising more than the one getting massaged. The energy of the massaging person is causing the action on the body of the one getting massage. In reaction to this the blood circulation of the one getting massage is increasing, not due to exercise or need to remove toxins. The person who gives massage does NOT have complete knowledge or feedback of how much the body of the person getting massage can take.
The blood circulation, again, is a reaction to massage and not due to exercise. This drains the vital energy of the one gettinng massage. Of course, a feeling of relaxation occurs due to blood circulation, but this later puts the person in a lower state of energy. No doubt.
The same thing happens when one takes hot bath, or hot air bath, or even Sea Shore Sun Tan. This also increases in blood flow, and relaxed feeling.
In long run, massage, hot bath, vibrating chairs, and all such are harmful.
Only the exercise done using one's own nervous signal and body within their capacity followed by sufficient rest and adquate nutrition brings a long terms benefit.
Regards
neel kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Neel, I think you might get some negative feedback on this one but I have to say, I understand your point of view to a certain extent. If a person was to use massage as the only way of loosening the muscles and getting relaxation, I agree that it would not be beneficial, especially if it was done all the time. It would be a bit like drinking alcohol or taking a drug to relax. For someone using theraputic massage (quite a different thing from the old style relaxation massage!) to access areas and work more deeply than they can work themselves in asana practice, it is a different story. The practitioners I work with are like my yoga teachers in a way - always helping me find areas that need my attention or helping me release "stuck" places where I might have built up too much resistance to be able to reach myself. I think of spa-style, relaxation massage as taking a person out of the body into a "feel good" place but theraputic massage and other body work take you more INTO the body, just like asana practice. |
|
| |
|
| Interesting! Dear Tourist. Thanks for the feedback. I shall not be offended by the negative feedback from anyone, because I write from my experience and understanding. I tend NOT to write when I am not sure.
I like your arguement in terms of reaching the previously not reached places inside the body using extrernal help. However, that is also the same thing that when one reaches places using external help, they do not develop power to reach those places themselves. But, in the first instance it may be useful to use external help to know such a place exists. Then of course one should use own focus to reach these places.
Regards
neel kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Yes, it is sometimes helpful to have a guide to find unknown places! A good bodyworker can be like a good mountaineering guide - much more effective if the one being guided has an idea of where s/he is going. Or like giving directions to someone to get somewhere. If that person already knows your town, you say "turn left here, turn right there" and you know they will find the place.
With a group of beginners recently, I gave the instruction to relax their jaw, eyes "or wherever you habitually store your tension." One bright student said "what if we don't KNOW where we store our tension?" I told her to keep coming to class and we could help find out |
|
| |
|
| Neel, I find your statements interesting. While it is my belief that all things have a time and place application, I've been a bit leery of general massages but never knew any "real" reason for such an attitude in myself, it was more just an intuitive disagreement with it I guess. Your comments make me think. That's not to say that I'm convinced that massage doesn't have it's usefulness though. I've worked with bedridden individuals, for example, that may not be able to get any movement/circulation without external help like massage. But like Tourist mentions, a therapeutic massage is quite different than a relaxing massage and definitely has it's uses.
Be Well |
|
| |
Yoga & Massage Help or Hurt?
