True Benefits: Christine Wilson (pictured) at Motif Spa says the whole mental part of massage therapy is that you have to get out the environment that you’re in for two minutes, it’s most beneficial.

Published On:Tuesday, January 25, 2011

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

Accomplishing your 2011 health goals can be as simple as changing your attitude. Instead of rigid guidelines and exhausting routines, occupational therapist Christine Wilson believes that the journey to a better you should start from the inside.

In an interview with Tribune Health, she explained that massage therapy affects the body through relaxation. "The main part about anybody is that they are thinking about relaxation, they are thinking about de-stressing. Also, letting go, having a moment for themselves, it is a personal mind set along with a physical manipulation of touch, it is a very healing process, that is how massage affects the body," she said.

Ms Wilson explained that one of the main health benefits of massage therapy can be the detoxification aspect.

She says "The main thing is the detoxification and it expels unwanted things like acids in your pores and different stuff that is going on inside your body specifically. It can be a lot of stuff that can make you even nauseous sometimes, depending on your food intake and what you're eating. All these things would be evaluated depending on your level of pain."

When asked if Bahamians are in need of massage therapy, Ms Wilson said: " Yes they are overstressed, everybody thinks that a massage is special for people who want it and have the money for it, no it is not, the medical massages especially with people who might have a broken knee or a swollen ankle, sprain or strain, stuff like that also are in need of it.

Mental Benefits

"I dealt with cancer patients because of the pain level and the amount of fluid in the body, there is so much you can do on a massage level, it does not have to be a Swedish massage, I rarely even do a Swedish massage. I mostly do the stress relief package, detoxification or medical massages. That is what mainly people need, I always try to push them on the way to de-stress because Bahamians are overly stressed."

Going further on the issue, Ms Wilson said: "We don't make enough money and our country is highly priced so people who are trying to survive and that is the majority, need to de-stress and they need it at a specific price. I get so many responses with it being so cheap because there are so many patients that cannot afford it at a high price."

She explains that massage therapy is a mental thing, "What I have noticed was that when I go for a massage, it is like I am floating on air and that is a feeling you don't get everyday, all you feel is your shoulders hurting, your head hurting, you have to do this, you have to do that. The whole mental part of it is that you have to get out the environment that you're in for two minutes, it's most beneficial."

According to Ms Wilson, there are not any major side affects to the therapy.

Being a therapist for the past 15 years, Ms Wilson told Tribune Health that she studied occupational therapy in New York City, "I am actually licensed in the state of New York, I worked there for ten years and I did all eastern modalities where I did the massages and the acupuncture, that sort of stuff. I also got the information on the western side as well, I did them both," she said.