AtoZ Holistic Self-care: M is for Massage

Many years ago, while living in Hong Kong, I spent some time taking parents who were Vietnamese refugees being detained in camps to visit their children when they were in the hospital. At one point, I was holding a toddler whose parent could not join us. As the toddler in the next bed began to cry, the child I was holding strained to move towards her. When we approached the crying child, the one in my arms reached down and began to massage the others’ ear. Within about a minute, the crying stopped.

No words were exchanged, but the touch was magical.

Body:

If you’ve ever had a full body massage, you know how relaxing and pampering it feels. And any Google search will offer numerous health benefits of massage — but if you hesitate to pay for a full-body massage too often, you may consider a few other options to gain the benefits while living on a budget.

Have you ever tried DIY?

Foot and hand massage — use your fingers or a simple wooden tool, buy inexpensive massaging slippers, or use an electronic option. You can find a reflexology map online if you are interested in knowing which points on the feet and hands correspond to which internal organ. In the reflexology world — although oversimplified — when putting pressure on a point on the foot or hand causes pain, the…