When it comes to preventative self-care, massage chairs can be a valuable health and wellness tool. Massage has proven benefits for overall health and well-being, from better sleep to improved immune function, reduced stress and pain relief.

With a massage chair in your own home, you can enjoy all of the following benefits from the comfort of your own living room:

Improved Immunity

Regular massages may help boost your immune system. Research from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center found that people who received a 45-minute massage had increased levels of lymphocytes, which are the white blood cells that defend the body against disease.

According to the American Massage Therapy Association, massage may help fight seasonal colds and the flu. When the body is in a deep state of relaxation, the number of natural killer (NK) cells increases. NK cells are white blood cells that rapidly respond to viral-infected cells.

Massage can also help the body get over a cold in other ways. The increased blood flow and fluid movement nourish the body while helping remove waste or germs.

Adding massage therapy to your preventative care routine can help strengthen your immune system, reducing the risk of illness. Having a massage chair in your home makes it easy and convenient to enjoy the benefits of massage, regularly.

Reduced Stress

Massage is an effective tool for alleviating stress, a silent killer. Studies have shown that a 10-15-minute massage can lower blood pressure, oxygen consumption and salivary cortisol levels.

Stress affects all areas of the body:

Musculoskeletal: Chronic stress can leave the muscles in a constant state of tension, which can trigger tension headaches and even lower back pain.
Respiratory: Rapid, shallow breathing and shortness of breath are both common responses to stress. For people with respiratory disease, stress can make breathing problems even worse.
Cardiovascular: When we’re under stress, our hearts beat faster and stronger. The body also releases the stress hormones cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline. With chronic stress, these effects are ongoing and may increase the risk of heart attack, hypertension or stroke.
Gastrointestinal: Stress can affect the entire digestive system, causing acid reflux, heartburn, nausea, bloating and even decreased nutrient absorption.
Endocrine: Chronic, high levels of cortisol can impair communication with the immune system, which can lead to the development of metabolic disorders, chronic fatigue, depression and other mental health conditions.

Studies have found that stress-relieving therapies, like massage, can improve or prevent these effects.

With a massage chair, you can enjoy daily stress-relieving massages right from the comfort of your home.

Neck and Back Pain Relief

Back pain is the leading cause of missed workdays and work limitations, and neck pain isn’t too far behind. Back and neck pain can cause a host of problems, even on a fundamental level, as it can cause difficulty bending over, lifting objects, and even just sitting in an upright position at a desk where compression on the spine can make normal seating unbearable.

Massage has been shown to be an effective pain reliever, and massage chairs are especially effective for alleviating neck and back pain, because the massager rollers are strategically placed to target these areas.

The Human Touch® Super Novo massage chair offers unique L-track and S-track massage systems that cover 60% more of the back than competing massage chairs. This unibody track delivers a soothing massage that extends from your neck and shoulders down to your thighs, while the dual-lumbar heat feature helps to loosen tight back muscles and further alleviate pain.

Better Sleep

Sleep is crucial to your overall health and well-being, but an estimated 50-70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders that affect their health.

Poor sleep can affect:

Brain function, including your ability to make decisions, solve problems, cope with change, and control your emotions.
Physical health. Sleep deficiency can increase the risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other health conditions.
Productivity. Lack of sleep makes it difficult to stay focused and productive at work.

We know that massage helps alleviate stress, and that alone can help you enjoy a better night of sleep. However, a study on back pain found that in addition to pain relief, regular massages can increase serotonin levels.

Serotonin is a precursor to melatonin, the hormone that prepares your body for sleep and regulates your sleep cycle. At night, the body produces more melatonin, alerting the body that it’s time to go to bed. During the day, melatonin production decreases to let the body know it’s time to wake up.

Many people who suffer from sleep disorders have low melatonin levels. Massage may help increase serotonin levels, which ultimately increases melatonin levels. With a massage chair in your home, you can relax your way to a good night’s sleep.

Having a massage chair at home can be an excellent preventative self-care tool. With the touch of a button, you can melt away stress, alleviate pain and enjoy a better night of sleep.

Ryan Bader, MMA Bellator Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion, shares his experience with the Novo XT2 Massage Chair from Human Touch. Learn how he uses his Novo XT2 as part of his training and recovery routine, and why he says it will help "take his career to the next level."

 

Photo by Clint McKoy on Unsplash

Who's up for their best summer ever? Awesome-me too! I love to use the early summer days as an opportunity to embrace a "summer re-set". We are roughly a half a year into 2018 and this is a perfect time to do a mindful assessment of our goals and intentions surrounding our self-care. How are you doing so far this year? Do you see any areas of growth and re-commitment? Please do not see this as a “fault finding mission”, but instead a chance to reclaim your passion for expanding and expressing the most vital, happy and peaceful version of you! To help us make this recommitment more exciting than ever we can employ the science and inspired power of epigenetics-an emerging field of science, medicine and longevity that validates the power of lifestyle in relationship to awesome well-being.

Epigenetics means “above your genes”, and shows that everything from your friends, family, food, exercise, stress management and overall environment have a direct effect on our gene expression, our DNA, our quality and quantity of life. This is inspiring news for all of us who are committed to proactive self-care as it details a path of purpose that does not lead us to believe that our DNA is always our destiny. We have a lot to say about how we will live, and how vital and strong our path will be expressed. One area of opportunity is the pro-active practice of protecting our telomeres.

Telomeres are at the end of each chromosome that protect them from damage. They tend to shorten with age, stress, unhealthy lifestyle choices and un-wellness. The good news is that we can positively impact the length and strength of our telomeres through the following practices: healthy eating, meditation, exercise, sleep and stress reducing exercises such as yoga, prayer and massage. Massage has been shown to reduce stress, increase relaxation and support overall healthier balance of mind and body. You can give your telomeres, your DNA and your livelihood a boost of good by gifting each the blessing of massage and the experience of epigenetics as you embrace and create your own summer of love and longevity! 

Check out this helpful video from Dr. James Rouse on how to reset your intentions for the rest of the year.

Photo by Braden Collum on Unsplash

By: Dr. Jon Stucky, Doctor of Chiropractic and Human Touch Wellness Council Member

There is a growing presence of Doctors of Chiropractic in all types and levels of sports: Olympics, NFL, NHL, college athletics, professional rodeo, professional strongman competitions and action sports to name a few. Many would conclude it is because the organization or the athlete can afford it and it is a luxury. That assumption may be true, but the athlete and organization would tell you that having a Doctor of Chiropractic on the health care team is a necessity for performance and enhancing recovery. The best approach is utilizing chiropractic care as a pre-performance and training enhancement.  The effort that athletes make to strengthen and enhance repetition in a sport - to provide muscle and nervous system memory of skills needed to function at a championship level - may take a toll on their muscle, tendons, ligaments and ultimately their nervous system in enabling and directing recovery.

Chiropractors evaluate the spinal segments for position and movement, and the impact to the nervous system. The nervous system can alter and inhibit subtle to obvious brain-body communication that will affect the body’s ultimate capacity and function. Chiropractors in the sports world will often assess the extremities (shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles, etc.) for proper alignment and movement within the parameters of each joint’s particular movement. The ability and skill set of Doctors of Chiropractic is unique and they attribute to the functional improvement of an athlete’s performance.  

Athletes immediately gravitate towards chiropractors to receive care during training and competitions. High level athletes are separated by tenths, hundreds or thousands of a second or by minute movements that save energy and time, that with altered brain-body mechanics, can be the subtle difference in winning.  This competitive edge is why most athletes seek chiropractic care. The nervous system interference is evaluated, body efficiency is elevated, energy is enhanced and muscle strength and coordination is improved. The athlete is able to feel that he/she can perform their skill with precise movement.

I have worked with a range from youth to professional athletes in many sports, and know that the nervous system is the regulating organ system that houses the communication of coordination and control of all that we do. The nervous system is well organized, ready to train, learn and perform at a high level, it just needs no interference due to injury, which is why chiropractic care in high-impact sports is an ideal way to regulate and optimize performance.

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By: Dr. Hoon C. Kim, Tao of Medicine and Human Touch Wellness Council Member

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis or RA? According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, RA is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects and results joints to become warm, swollen and painful. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involved, but it also affects other parts of the body. This may result in a low red blood cell count, inflammation around the lungs, and inflammation around the heart. Fever and low energy may also be present. Often, symptoms come on gradually over weeks to months.

While the cause of RA is not clear, it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The underlying mechanism involves the body's immune system attacking the joints. This results in inflammation and thickening of the joint capsule. It also affects the underlying bone and cartilage.

RA is a common chronic disease that affects about 1% of the world population. The prevalence of RA in the US, based on rates of RA from a 1995 Minnesota study and 2005 Census data, is currently estimated at approximately 1.29 million people or 0.6% of the population. Onset is most frequent during middle age and women are affected 2.5 times as frequently as men.

A class of plant chemicals known as bioflavonoids has been found to dramatically reduce inflammation and improve symptoms associated with autoimmune disorders, including RA.

Here are 6 nutrients to support your immune system, which can also be found in everyday foods:

Carotenoids - A family of plant pigments that include beta-carotene. A lack of carotenoids in the diet is thought to promote inflammation. Good sources of carotenoids include apricots, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, spinach, kale, butternut squash, and collard greens.

Prebiotic (water soluble fiber) - A healthy and active colon can decrease food sensitivity, which, in turn, can lighten the burden on your immune system. For maximum autoimmune health, increase the fiber in your diet.

Flavonoids - Found in green and black teas both catechins and theaflavins are beneficial in autoimmune disease.

Ginger - Recent studies show that ginger reduces inflammation by inhibiting prostaglandin and suppresses the immune system's production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, reducing disease severity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Omega-3 - These essential fatty acids found in cold water fish such as salmon or mackerel and flaxseed oil can counter the formation of chemicals that cause inflammation.

Quercetin - Found naturally in certain foods quercetin can reduce allergic reactions and decrease inflammation. Foods rich in quercetin include apples (skin on), berries, red grapes, red onions, capers, and black tea.

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

By: Dr. James Rouse, Naturopathic Physician and Human Touch Wellness Council Member

You most likely have heard this ad slogan encouraging us to keep what happens in “Sin City” to ourselves, but I am of the belief that we need to shout what happens out loud, in relationship to our Vagus Nerve and its truly awesome benefits.

The Vagus Nerve is often called the wandering nerve, as it winds from the base of our brainstem to the abdomen by way of multiple organs, including the lungs and heart. The Vagus Nerve runs the show in your inner nerve center - specifically the parasympathetic nervous system which I love to refer to the house of Peace, Power and Positivity. Ahhhh, just that? let wash over you!

Do you long for Peace, Power and Positivity? You are not alone. This is most likely due to the fact that most everyone is suffering from being stuck on the sympathetic side of our nervous system where we feel wired and tired, a hair trigger away from the stress response of “flight or fight,” and all too ready to overly react to the small stuff. All this “stuff” left unchecked can lead to a whole host of challenges from depression, anxiety, sleep issues, immune dysfunction, heart challenges and possibly even shorter life expectancy…YIKES!

So what can we do? GO TO VAGUS!

When you actively engage with your Vagus Nerve you are on the road to recovery, and here’s how you can do it:

1) Create and sustain positive, loving, safe relationships
2) Meditate
3) Finish your shower with ice cold water
4) Sing
5) Laugh
6) Breathe from your belly
7) Exercise
8) Get a massage

We got this…right? I work on incorporating each of these daily, including massage. Any of the Human Touch massage chairs to the Massage Anywhere will do the trick. For me, I always finish my working day by engaging with my Novo XT. I use the “manual” program and click on “breathe”. It serves my mind, body and soul as I release my human doing and claim my human being…staying in Vagus as long as I can.

Dr. James Rouse, Human Touch Wellness Council Member and Naturopathic Physician, shares tips and tricks to allow you to improve your daily life using insight from social psychologist, Roy Baumeister.

Image by: Nick Duell

Are you ever feeling like you are too tired to keep running…but you are also too scared to stop?

You are not alone, and research suggests that literally anyone who has a job is experiencing a rise in stress-related challenges and the not-too-subtle decline in performance, personal peace and overall quality of life. In my own life as a dad, husband, doctor, entrepreneur and over-committed sprinter in the daily decathlon of life, I needed to find a solution to proactively reclaiming my energy and my life.

So as I always do, I looked to science to find a proactive strategy that we can implement to shift from stressed to blessed!

One answer  lies in the new wave of human potential, personal performance and enlightened energy management - the rise of ULTRADIAN RHYTHMS. You are most likely very familiar with circadian rhythms, which is basically the 24-hour clock that our bodies run to align our sleep-wake cycles. Ultradian Rhythms are more of an interval-based way of approaching each day, to optimize every aspect of performance by honoring the natural way our mind and bodies function in 90 minute cycles of work and 20 minutes of rest/recovery.

What we are learning is that we do not perform optimally well after 90 minutes of work. In fact, we experience a sharp decline as we try and push thru and keep going. But, if we are courageous enough to STOP…fully “dismount” from our Human Doing and allow our Human Being to step in - we will be met with an awesome upgrade in productivity, happiness, creativity, strength, focus and just about every “upgrade” we could ask for ourselves.

What should you do for 20 minutes? Here’s what you should not do: do not surf the internet, do not get on your phone, or check social media feeds....I know…hard 

Here’s what you can do: nap, get outside, have a great snack, do a series of planks, or get a massage. Yup, that is what I do 2 x per day. I grab my iJOY Massage Anywhere by Human Touch, and give myself an instant mind-body-self love and care intervention. Massage gives me a beautifully unfair advantage when I come back to work, it increases key neurotransmitters associated with creativity and focus along with a re-set with stress hormones and allows me to feel more peace and balance…the ability to reclaim the rhythm of the good life!

Learn more about how to use massage to align your body with the new time changes in Dr. Rouse's newest video post:

iJOY® Massage Anywhere™ is the perfect solution for those searching for a portable massage chair.

I just received my new Human Touch NOVO XT, and so far am loving it!

It was shipped from the company “White Glove,” which means the shipping came with set up and placement in my home via a contracted shipper. The shippers called me to schedule a time that was convenient for me. When they arrived, they scoped out the location in the house that it was going to be placed, and unboxed the chair outside and carried it into my home cautiously. The two men completed the placement and invited me to sit in the chair. They showed me all of the programing and made sure all the components where working to perfection.  I sat in the chair for nearly an hour after they left with all the packaging.

It is a complex chair with rollers and airbags all around you, and many massaging components happening simultaneously. I feel enveloped into this chair, even more than any of the other Human Touch chairs I have owned since 2004. It is refined, luxurious, and relaxing, yet offers the most comfortably deep (or sensitive) massage programs I have experienced in the Human touch evolution of products. 

I am constantly finding and trying all the programs and listening components of this chair. One aspect that was fascinating was that the chair would create a massage based on the Bluetooth music you are playing through the chair…TRULY an AMAZING FEATURE with unlimited potential of listening to a cool jazz song or a legendary rock song and experiencing a different feel and sensation for each. It has been an amazing month of learning and experimenting with all the ideas of programming assemble in the new NOVO XT, and I look forward to sharing more about my experience with the chair- as well as my professional insight into its benefits- soon.

-Dr. Jon L. Stucky, Stucky Chiropractic

Media Contact:

Megan Harvey
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