The benefits of massage therapy

With the right therapist, massage can be an important part of your beauty and wellness routine.

Not just for relaxation, but also for health benefits too.

We've outlined below the key reasons we love massage and provide it as a stand alone treatment or as part of all our facials too.

1. Massage is RELAXING and can lower your levels of the stress hormone 'cortisol'. When we have unhealthy levels of cortisol floating around our bodies we are likely to experience weight gain, insomnia or sleep disruption, headaches and digestive problems. We are just not meant to have high levels of cortisol for long periods of times. Whilst you are having the massage and for time afterwards, the relaxed feeling you have will reduce those levels, giving your body chance to recover.

2. With massage, your MUSCLES WILL REPAIR AND RELAX. Our experienced therapists will talk to you about any areas that you feel need particular attention, commonly the shoulders and back area. We can work on those muscle groups and realign the muscular tissue and fibres which have come out of line through wear and tear. Also, your muscles fibres are wrapped in a 'cling film' like wrap and too much muscle contraction creates tensions on the wrap. Massage can help to make it more supple and release the stiffness.

3. Massage will IMPROVE CIRCULATION by moving blood through the damaged and congested areas of the body, this rich bloody supply will promote healing. Massage can also help improve lymph fluid circulation. Lymph fluid contains infection-fighting white blood cells, helping to protect us from infection and disease by carrying waste away from the organs and muscles.

4. Massage can help to IMPROVE POSTURE. Muscle tension can often cause incorrect posture, which intern can cause pain throughout the body. By massaging we can relieve the tense areas and the body is free to position itself in the correct way.

5. Massage can STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. Many studies have been done on the affects of stress and immunity, and it's well known that stress can lower your immune system by reducing 'killer cells' which fight tumours and infection and also by reducing immunity-boosting cells. By relaxing on the massage bed regularly you'll be encouraging your body to reduce stress, but also boost the immune systems ability to create killer cells, coupled with enhancing the body's ability to deliver nourishment - it's a win win for both your mind and body.

At The Bothy we offer:

30min (£32) / 45min (£47) / 60min (£58) De-Stress and Calm massage.

We also include some massage within our facials, but you can add on a 15min 'Scalp and Head Massage' as part of any facial or De-Stress and Calm massage for an additional £12, if you'd like to increase the massage benefit of your treatment.