Why Aren’t You Getting A Massage? Time?

“We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.” –Nelson Mandela

I’d like to take this opportunity to continue the “Why aren’t you  getting a massage” series, because as of late, I have encountered several people who have given similar reasons as to why they feel they cannot get a massage. Time!

With our busy lifestyles, no one seems like they have any time to do anything for themselves. According to a study conducted by the Bureau of Labour Statistics in  2011, “Television accounts for the largest share of Americans’ leisure time. ” You can also see in the chart below from the same study how else Americans spend their time. 

Notice that in the list of activities, "Personal Care" does not occupy a significant amount of time, and "Working" outweighs everything but "Sleep."

It’s no surprise that America is the most overworked nation in the world. Being overworked leads to stress on many levels, and in fact,sStress is the #1 cause of health problems—both mental and physical. There are few things that stress us out on a consistent basis like work does, especially when work takes away from all of the other things that life has to offer.

As stated, stress can cause health problems which in turn cause us to spend unwanted time at the doctor's office or at home laid up and recovering. Wouldn’t it be amazing if there were a way to stay healthy so that we could be more efficient and less stressed at work? So that we could better enjoy the time we have off from work? How about a form of preventative medicine?

“Preventive medicine or preventive healthcare consists of measures taken to prevent diseases (or injuries) rather than curing them or treating their symptoms.” With the many benefits that massage has on the mind and body, as well as it’s ability to promote better health and well-being, it’s easy to see how massage therapy can be classified as preventative medicine.

Let us return to the issue of time and put it into perspective for a moment.

If you were to receive massage therapy once a month to aid in preventative healthcare, the amount of time it would cost you is minimal—an hour worth of treatment and give or take about 45 minutes for travel, consultation, etc. At most, you are spending 2 hours total per month investing in your health and wellness. Now think about yourself getting sick or even injuring yourself at work. On average, this could put you out a day or 2 from your normal activity. Even if you were to try and soldier through it at work, your performance and focus would be compromised due to pain and discomfort. In either case, you will be wasting time away and having to catch up on work which would subsequently take away from your free time and continue the circle of adding more stress to your life!

Now lets look back at the chart and the statistics.

Imagine if you took an hour away from watching TV, woke up 10 minutes earlier, took 5 minutes off of a lunch break, and another 30 minutes from the “Other” category, and for one day out of every month—even every other month—invested in your preventative healthcare courtesy of a good therapeutic massage. Massage can relieve stress, improve your immune system, increase joint range of motion, and so much more. These and the many other benefits can keep you healthy and well, allowing you to have much more enjoyable free time.

So think about it. Prioritize how you use your time, invest it well in preventative health care, and before you know it, you will be able to enjoy your free time with less pain and less stress. Wouldn’t that be great?!