Massage Satisfies All 5 Love Languages

Massage Satisfies All 5 Love Languages

Are you a quality time kind of person, or a gift-giver? If you’ve read The Five Love Languages, by
Gary Chapman then you are one of the 20 million (and counting) who know a new language –
one of love and understanding. I found this book incredibly insightful years ago and it has recently popped up again among conversations with friends and clients. As we discussed love and its many forms, I realized something amazing: Massage talks to all five love languages. It may truly be the universal language of love!

First, let’s identify the love languages, and then allow me to explain. The love languages, as
identified on Dr. Chapman’s site and in his book are: Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Physical
Touch, Quality Time and Words of Affirmation.

Physical touch is an obvious match for massage. “The correlation between anxiety, depression
and stress and touch is large and inversely related. It has been found that touch calms our
nervous center and slows down our heartbeat. Human touch also lowers blood pressure as well
as cortisol, our stress hormone. It also triggers the release of oxytocin, a hormone known for
promoting emotional bonding to others.” according to a report from PsychologyToday.
Experiencing safe and therapeutic touch from a compassionate professional can satisfy this
need for connection and create a sense of feeling loved, and worthy of being loved. (I love that!)
Now for the not-so-obvious connections.

Let’s start with Receiving Gifts. For the gift giver, gifting
one’s self a massage is truly an act of self-love. It’s the gift of slowing down, caring for the body,
and receiving an enjoying experience. Better yet – giving the gift of massage to a gift-giver is
scoring big points on the love meter!

Quality time is easily connected to massage. How often have you paused and spent some
quality time with yourself? It’s shown that on average, “people only spend 15 minutes a day on
health-related self-care. Yet, self-care is proven to reduce stress and anxiety levels while
increasing self-compassion” (Mental Health America). Imagine what happens when you
spend an hour or more of quality time with a massage…and your massage therapist. Your
quality time is not alone. Your therapist is just as committed to your self-care and
appreciates that you spend your time with her (or him, or them).

Words of affirmation, I admit, may be a bit of a stretch for massage until I see my clients
coming in with obvious changes in their health. They are doing their self-care (often
movement, stretches and food changes) and doing better and I get to say “Great job! Keep
up the amazing work!” The relationship you form with a massage therapist doesn’t stop on
the table. It extends past that hour, throughout the day and into the days to come. We
rejoice in positive changes in your life and are always ready to give those words of
appreciation and verbal encouragement. We are rooting for you!

And here is number five – Acts of Service. I cannot think of a profession that is more fully
engaged in serving others than massage (OK I can, but this is in the top 5). If you are a
person who feels loved when others give of themselves to you, then a massage is certainly
speaking your language. Massage therapists care and give deeply of ourselves and our
time for your well-being. And we gladly do it. It is giving – physically, mentally and
energetically – for each person, each session. We work in service of others, and we couldn’t
imagine doing anything differently.

So there it is – massage speaking to all our love languages, and I know, in the first 5
minutes of a session, you feel heard.

Schedule your massage for you or a loved one today!

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