Special thanks to HealPT for providing a free or discounted sample of their product for me to test out in my home. All opinions are my own based upon my personal experiences.
Stress… Tension… Aches… Pains… Did you know that exercise can help relieve stress and tension? Exercise produces endorphins, chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers, and promotes a better sleep cycle which, in turn, reduces stress. Naturally, exercise also helps improve your overall physical and mental health and well-being which also reduces stress and tension.
You don’t have to do high-impact, aerobic exercise to get the benefits. Studies have shown that walking will give you some of the benefits. Basically, we need to make sure that we’re moving. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator and parking farther away from the entrance to the store can help add more movement to your day. Gradually increase your activity level to see more stress and health benefits.
I know that I’ve seen an improvement in my stress levels during some highly stressful times thanks to regular exercise. I periodically suffer from insomnia, and a regular exercise routine has helped me sleep much better. Well, I may get sore from the workouts, the aches and pains that, at times plagued me previously, have slowly gone away.
Even though exercise has helped with stress, I still struggle some with tension. I carry a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders. Depending on what I’ve being doing during the day, I can also have tension in my back. Moist heat packs helps with some of that, but there are times that I just need to work out the knots.
When D is around, he’s good about massaging at least some of the knots out of my neck, shoulders, and back, but unfortunately, he’s not always around, and he can’t always get the knots out. Did I mention I have a lot of knots? I have a massager, but it’s honestly not that good at breaking up the knots.
Enter in the porcupine massage ball and foot roller. Don’t be fooled by the name. You can definitely use these massage tools on other parts of the body. For your sake, I did not photograph me using them on my feet even though they work really well for aching feet. I recommend starting with the roller and then moving to the porcupine ball as the porcupine ball is definitely more intense.
The wood foot roller has rubber on the ends, so it doesn’t get damaged when you roll it on the ground. The grooves help provide a deeper massage which helps break up knots. You can control the intensity by how firmly your press against the roller.
The porcupine massage ball looks just like one of my dryer balls, but it’s firm instead of soft. It’s great for a deeper, more intense massage.
Both tools are easy to use on the arms, legs, and feet, but they’re a little difficult to use on your own for the rest of the body. You need to be a little more flexible if you’re going to try to utilize them by yourself. It’s even better if you have someone to help as you’re able to relax a little more.
Of course, exercise is great as is massage, but you also need to make sure that you’re staying hydrated. Your body can’t function optimally unless you take care of it.
How do you reduce stress and tension in your life? Have you found that exercise and massage help reduce stress and tension?
