You ever get that thing where your shoulders are basically earrings? Like, up so high they’re practically whispering into your earlobes? Yeah. That.
People think stress lives in the mind but no — it squats in the body. Sets up camp in the neck, throws a party behind the knees, leaves emotional debris in the hips. The mind complains, but the body? The body remembers. It mutinies. Quietly, at first. Then louder.
And yet, we carry on. Caffeinated, clenched, pretending that five hours of sleep and one sad stretch in the shower counts as recovery. You say “I’m fine” while you’re walking like a broken Lego man.
Then one day—maybe it’s Tuesday, maybe it’s after a weirdly personal email from your boss—you book the massage.
And it’s awkward at first. You lie down, face in the little padded doughnut thing, unsure if you’re supposed to breathe or float or apologise for your back. But then the hands start working, and something shifts. Not just muscle. Mood. Memory. The nervous system exhales before you do.
Because it’s not about pampering. That word has been hijacked by spa brochures with gold script fonts and cucumber slices. No. This is maintenance. Bodywork. It’s plumbing for the soul. It’s somebody else saying: let me carry the weight for a minute. You don’t have to do anything right now. You just have to be.
Touch does something no app can replicate. It sends signals through the fascia highway, down into places you didn’t even know were locked up. You come in human-shaped stress, you leave like soup. Good soup.
There’s data now—actual research, not just your mate saying “I swear I sleep better after one.” Massage therapy has been shown to reduce cortisol, increase serotonin, and even help with immunity. No incense required. If you want the numbers and the science behind it, the Mayo Clinic’s guide to the health benefits of massage therapy lays it all out. No fluff, just proof.
So if your body’s been quietly screaming, or loudly ignoring you altogether, this might be your sign. To stop. To lie down. To hand the tension over to someone who knows what to do with it.
No talking required. Just show up. Let the undoing begin.