Massage for Insomnia

Sleep is the most important part of our day. A good nights rest allows our bodies to recover from the stresses of daily life. It is the time when the brain reduces its activity.

The body generally requires, on the average, 8 hours of sleep a night. During this time, heart rate decreases, respiration decreases, blood pressure drops, muscle activity is reduced and muscles relax, the immune system is able to perform its function of fighting infections.

A good nights sleep (referred to as restorative sleep) allows us to function to our fullest ability each day.

Sometimes, due to illness, stress, or personal problems, we don't get enough sleep, or have trouble getting to sleep. This happens to everyone from time to time. But for some people, a good nights sleep occurs with less and less regularity or in some cases, not at all.
When a pattern of chronic insomnia occurs, it can have disastrous effects on your physical and mental health and on your life.

Insomnia can result from a variety of issues: diet, stress, environment, fear, overactivity, worry, family problems, illness, hormonal issues to name a few. Children who suffer from bouts of insomnia are at risk of it becoming a lifetime affliction.

Stress is one of the biggest causes of insomnia. Worry about bills, family issues, trouble at work are some examples. Stress can also ba a result of positive events. (We've all seen how children can't get to sleep on Christmas eve and wake up before sunrise.)

Stress is anything which demands a change from our bodies. When stress occurs, the adrenals produce the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. These evoke the "fight or flight" response in our bodies.


Heart rates increase, and blood vessels in the extremities constrict to send more blood to the brain. Our respiration rate increases to handle the demand, our eyes dilate, and our hearing sharpens. We have a heightened mental state. Digestion of food is slowed.

And all of this happens so we can react and be alert to the perceived threat. In typical circumstances, when the stress is over, our bodies slowly return to normal. Excessive or prolonged stress causes increased production of the steroidal hormone, Cortisol.

Cortisol is the long term stress hormone which can be very destructive to the body. For example, Cortisol is found to be at very high levels in salmon ,when they are swimming upstream to spawn. This is what drives them to fight to continue upstream even as they are destroying themselves on rocks.

For salmon, once spawning is complete, the cortisol levels don't drop, but continue to rise. They suffer from the illnesses of this prolonged stress before death. Their stomachs are found to be ulcerated, hearts enlarged, muscles are damaged. They literally die of exhaustion.

Massage is very beneficial when dealing with chronic insomnia. Since our skin is the largest sensory organ of the body, massage stimulates the release of hormones (such as Enkephlin) which help to block pain signals to the brain. Endorphins are also released. These are sometimes called "feel good" hormones.

During a massage, it usually takes about 15 minutes for the blood levels to begin to rise, so the effects are not immediate. Similarly, the effects linger long after the treatment has ended and can last up to 48 hours. Because of this, massage can be of tremendous help in the treatment of insomnia.