What to do to make the massage as effective as possible for us?

First of all, it is worth bearing in mind that a massage is an external form of support thus it will not solve all the problems for us if we do not put at least a little bit of goodwill and commitment into the treatment.

After a massage, especially deep tissue massage, stronger, therapeutic or sports massage, you should take a longer bath, but not earlier than 4-5 hours after the treatment. It is also important not to make sudden, quick movements, because our body needs some time to recover.

What I always tell to my clients is to be as active as possible at home. They do not have to devote much time, neither be physically exhausted, nor do special exercises, it is rather about stretching and warming up the muscles. It is best to listen to your own body. In fact, if we listen to it, we will know exactly which muscles to move, which muscles to stretch to feel relieved and relaxed.

There are different exercises for different parts of the body. Stretching is an invariably important part of the morning exercise. For people with less constipation and an inner will to move, I recommend normal hanging, it can be on a professional hang or something we can grab onto and stretch our body freely. Then our body naturally adjusts internally its best condition for itself.

If we do office work, it is worth taking breaks more often, even every hour or two. These can be literally 20-30 seconds breaks, but it is enough to break the so-called ‘one position syndrome’. That is the positioning of the body when we are only in one position and most of our muscles tense a lot after a long time.

There is a rule that says ‘it is better to stretch more often and shorter than long and less often’.

Selected exercises for the lover back:

We can start warming up with light movements of the hips around, then back and forward. You can then bend forward a few times while keeping your legs straight.

Depending on the condition of our body, of course, the range of exercises will be different, but the point is to be able to sit down with the tips of your toes straightened out. It is important not so much to touch the toes while sitting bending forward, but to remain in this position for a relatively long time (at least a minute) in order to give the muscles adequate time to lengthen.

A common mistake is to assume that sitting position with straight legs and grasping toes is correct. It actually is but many people practise it just for a moment which is not enough. Then the described exercise will not be so effective.

A fairly good exercise is the so-called ‘ball’. This is a sitting position on the buttocks, bend both legs, put one of the hands under the knees, while the other hand grasps the first hand to strengthen the hand that is under the knees.

Then, in a very controlled, initially quite slow manner, we lean back to sway. The extent of the movement and rocking backwards depends on many factors, but in general, in this way we can strengthen the muscles of the lower back quite effectively.

Selected exercises for the neck:

It should not be forgotten that the cervical spine is unique, not only because of its structure. Please bear in mind that this is the thinnest section of our body, and therefore very sensitive. It is a very innervated part of the body that is often subject to a lot of stress (nerve and physical).

One of the worst things for the neck that can happen is muscle tension and a stiff neck. To avoid this, you need to remember to exercise your neck muscles relatively often.

These can be very simple right movements left or up and down. Again, remember to do them as often as possible it does not have to last very long. Sometimes it is just one minute, even several dozen seconds, and we feel much better.

The position of the head is also important. Here, a very important period during the day is the night, when we are not able to control our movements. The best position is theoretically lying on your back, i.e. on your back with your head resting on a pillow, but not too high.

Of course, there are specially adapted pillows, but for the average person who goes to bed, it is advisable to temporarily warm up the neck muscles before going to bed and immediately after waking up. It is also a good idea to greet the day nicely. If we feel any discomfort in the cervical area, apart from its movement and warming up, it is also worth remembering that when we think about something nice, we dream, even for a moment, the tension in the neck may also partially disappear. This is a nice and very practical exercise. It should be remembered that about half of the tensions in the cervical area also result from emotional arousal and thousands of thoughts produced by our mind which can cause the stiffness of neck area.

To conclude I would like to say that in order to have a very high level of springiness of cells which means to feel comfort in our body we need to both support it in a physical and mental way.