Last week I received a chair massage. Even though it was only ten minutes long, I nearly fell asleep. I don’t really realize it from day to day, but the stress of school tends to find itself in my neck and shoulders and it was very relaxing to have someone begin to relieve that.
The lady who gave the massage noted that my left shoulder was much more tense than my right and I initially wrote it off to the fact that I am left-handed. However she said it was more likely to how I carry my backpack. A lot of people carry their heavy bags on only one shoulder, especially when they go to open doors or in the case of a backpack, for a period of time before putting the weight equally on both shoulders. This can lead to unnecessary pain and tension. I noticed as I walked out of the room at the end that out of habit, I immediately swung my backpack onto my left shoulder. Her comments made me much more aware of how I wear my backpack to and from all my activities and mindful about making sure I evenly balance the weight so I don’t continue to strain myself.
She also told me to think about using heating pads when I felt particularly tense as a way to help relax my muscles. I have little microwaveable heating pads but up until then, I hadn’t really been using them for muscle pain. I found that they helped a lot and are a good technique for general stress for me. I think I will continue to use them as I head into finals week which is a stressful time when a lot of tension tends to sneak up on me.
It’s great that you enjoyed the massage so much! The tips you shared seem really helpful- I may have to try out the one about the heating pad.
I felt the same!! It was such a nice realization of massaging. It really makes people realize how much tension we hold in our body, and it’s nice to have them totally relax once in a while!
I wish that I had signed up for the massage earlier because unfortunately I was unable to go. It sounds like it was really relaxing and a nice break in our usually busy schedules.
I’m so jealous that you were able to get the massage! That seemed like an amazing but unfortunately, when I attempted to sign up, it was too late. I’m a huge fan of massages because I also carry a lot of tension in my neck. Any time I’ve gotten a massage the specialist has told me that my right side has a lot of knots and after reading your post I realized that I carry my bags on that side! I’ll definitely be more aware of this moving forward.
I did not attend this event, but I kind of wish I did. It sounds like the massage person gave you some really good tips on how to reduce and manage your stress while also giving you insight to things that might cause the tension in your shoulders. Cornell sometimes overwhelms us to the point where we forget to take care of ourselves, even though it is very important to our success as students.