Category: Features

Are you looking for a new way to spend date night? Something that’s both exciting and relaxing at the same time? A couple’s massage is the perfect solution. Here are some of the many benefits it can offer you, both individually and as a couple.

Spend some quality time together

Between work and home responsibilities, it can be hard to find time to spend together, just the two of you. By booking a couple’s massage, you’ve got 60-90 minutes where you can relax and be together. Have a chat while getting massaged or simply lay in silence in each other’s presence. And neither of you can stare at their phone the whole time.

Feel closer as a couple

Whether you’ve been dating a few months or have been married for years, a couple’s massage can do wonders for bringing you closer together. Sharing this new experience together and experiencing the feel-good effects of massage has been found to increase the bond between couples.

Take a break from everyday life

If you’re a parent or have a demanding job (or both!), then everyday life can feel like a constant chore. There’s always something to do and seemingly no time to relax. Put aside your responsibilities, send your kids to their grandparents, and just take some time to relax. This small break in your day can do wonders for your mood, making you calmer and less likely to take your stresses out on each other.

Treat your partner

It can be hard to buy gifts that really reflect how much you love and appreciate your partner. Booking a couple’s massage is the perfect gift for a birthday, anniversary, or any other occasion. And as well as giving them the physical and mental benefits of their own massage, you also get to spend time together in a fun and relaxing way. Use it as a single treat or as part of a full day of surprises and dates.

If you’re considering getting a couple’s massage, then check out what we offer at Moonstone Massage. Receive your massages side-by-side in the same room or in separate, private rooms. And choose between a variety of massage types, including cupping, hot stones, and reflexology. It could make the perfect gift for your partner, which you can both enjoy. Go online to book a massage with us today or get in touch for more information.

Are you looking for a way to boost morale in your workplace? Little perks can go a long way toward making employees feel more valued and happier in their jobs. One way to do this is by arranging monthly or quarterly office massages for your employees.

What is a chair massage?

A chair massage is a fully-clothed, seated massage typically focused on the neck, shoulders, and upper back. The massage therapist will bring a specialized chair designed to make this a comfortable experience. Massages last between 10 and 30 minutes, depending on how much time your staff can spare.

What are the benefits of office chair massages?

There are lots of benefits, both physical and mental, that a chair massage can offer your employees. In turn, your business will benefit as your staff will usually perform better at work as a result. Here are a few of the benefits you can expect:

• Reduce stress and burnout – Allowing your employees to take a short break from work with a relaxing massage can have long-term effects on stress reduction. With less stress, employees will be better able to handle work pressures and are less likely to suffer from burnout.
• Prevent muscle tension and injuries – Working at a desk all day, every day can leave employees with neck, back, and shoulder pain. Regular computer use can also cause other problems like repetitive strain injury. Massage helps to relieve muscle tension and prevent the occurrence of chronic pain or injury.
• Improve focus – Employees that are overtired, overworked, and stressed out will have a difficult time focusing at work. Since massage helps to improve sleep quality and reduce stress levels, employees will have sharper minds and be able to concentrate better on tasks.
• Better job satisfaction – Treats like office massages make employees feel valued because they see that you view their health and wellbeing as important. It also gives them something to look forward to. As a result, employees will be more motivated and report higher levels of job satisfaction.

All of these benefits add up to a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce. If you think your workplace could benefit from office massages, then contact Moonstone Massage to arrange your first appointments. We come to your workplace in Winston Salem, Pfafftown, or Lewisville so your employees can take a short break and then return to their work reinvigorated.

Do you really need an excuse to book a massage for yourself? It’s such a relaxing and enjoyable experience, and most people wish they could get massages more often. But if you do need convincing, then here are some of the best reasons for getting a massage.

You’re in pain

Massage can help with lots of different types of pain. Muscle soreness, joint pain, pain from injury, or a condition like repetitive strain injury, and even chronic pain from things like fibromyalgia. Especially for back pain, massage is a common treatment that can help to manage or relieve the pain.

You’re stressed or anxious

Whether you’ve been diagnosed with anxiety or just experience a great deal of stress in your day-to-day life, a massage can help you unwind and relieve both mental and physical symptoms of stress or anxiety. Not only does a massage feel relaxing at the time, it also has ongoing benefits like lower blood pressure and releasing muscle tension, both of which can be a result of stress.

You have difficulty sleeping

The relaxation benefits of massage also make it easier to fall asleep at night and stay asleep for a good night’s rest. Not only from feeling relaxed, but also because massage is known to boost serotonin levels in our body. As well as helping us feel calmer and happier, serotonin is also the precursor to melatonin, which plays an important role in our sleep cycles.

You get headaches or migraines

If you regularly suffer from migraines and tension headaches, massage could be the key to preventing them or managing the pain without medication. Headaches can be caused by stress, which we’ve already said can be reduced through massage. Physical tension in our bodies can also contribute to tension headaches, especially around the neck, shoulders, and back. So, using massage to relieve this tension could reduce instances of headaches.

After a tough workout

Massage is one of the most effective ways to speed up post-workout recovery. Having a massage after your workout helps to increase blood circulation to the muscles, delivering all the oxygen and nutrients they need to recover. Improved circulation also helps to remove the lactic acid from your muscles. A good workout is what you need to get ahead of delayed onset muscle soreness.

You want to improve your sporting performance

Whether you’re an elite athlete or you just enjoy sport and fitness as hobbies, regular massage can help you improve. Sports massage improves the suppleness of your muscles and the mobility of your joints, allowing you to achieve a greater range of motion. Plus, the fact that it speeds up recovery means you can get back in the gym or on the field sooner.

Whatever your reason, call Moonstone Massage to book your next treatment. We provide a variety of massage types in Winston Salem, NC.

When you think about a relaxing massage, your mind probably goes straight to back massages, or perhaps neck and shoulders. But one often overlooked area that provides lots of relaxation and health benefits is the feet. Even if you don’t like people touching your feet, the firm pressure used in foot massage doesn’t tend to bother even the most ticklish people.

A lot of people choose foot massage as a quick treatment for which they don’t have to get undressed. Let’s look at some of the other great benefits it provides.

Increases blood circulation

Most of us spend the majority of our day either sitting or lying down. This means our feet don’t get much use. Add this to the fact that they’re tied up in shoes and socks for most of the day, and you’ve got a pretty restricted blood flow to the area. Regular foot massage helps to promote blood flow to these extremities. This is beneficial to everyone’s health, but especially for anyone with poor circulation or health conditions like diabetes or Raynaud’s Disease.

Lowers blood pressure

Another heart-healthy benefit of foot massage is that it helps to lower your blood pressure. People can get high blood pressure as a result of stress, bad diet, smoking, genetics, and other factors, and it can lead to numerous health conditions, such as heart disease and stroke. Massage is a simple and natural way to bring your blood pressure down and keep your heart in good condition.

Improves your mood

Foot massage doesn’t only boost your physical health, but also your mental health. The relaxing effects help you feel better and sleep better at night, which helps to keep your hormones balanced and make you feel better overall. Foot massage has even been found to be effective in managing symptoms of depression. The relaxation effect also helps patients to deal with stress and anxiety.

Helps to relieve pain

Massage effectively relieves foot pain by treating the muscles and tendons in the area, which is great for people who spend all day on their feet. And this benefit doesn’t just apply to pain in your feet, ankles, and lower legs. Foot massage has been found to have pain-relieving effects in other areas, even helping to treat migraines and tension headaches.

Reduces swelling

Another benefit of the increased circulation caused by foot massage is that it moves lymphatic fluid around as well as blood. This helps to drain any excess fluid which can build up in your extremities, resulting in swelling around the feet, ankles, and lower leg. This is especially a common problem among pregnant women. Foot massage can reduce this swelling and make you feel more comfortable.

Are you ready to try a foot massage or reflexology? Contact Moonstone Massage to find out more about our massage services, or go online and book an appointment with us today. We serve patients in and around Winston Salem, Pfafftown, and Lewisville, NC.

We face stress in our everyday lives, but how we respond to it can really change how it affects us. It’s good to have some coping strategies that make you feel more relaxed and handle the stress more effectively. Knowing which natural stress-reducing strategies work for you will help you feel less stress without the need for medication.

Different strategies will work for different people, but here are some commonly effective natural ways to reduce stress.

Meditation

Sitting in silence, forgetting your worries, and only focusing on your breathing is one of the simplest ways to relax your mind. When practiced regularly, meditation can literally change the way your brain responds to stress, making it easier to manage when stressors arise in the future. It can take some getting used to, especially if you usually have a busy mind, so get some tips on how to meditate here.

Exercise

Exercise has lots of benefits for your mental health as well as your physical health. Exercising prompts your body to release endorphins, which are known for boosting your mood and relieving pain. It also helps to reduce cortisol, the stress hormone. Plus, regular exercise can help you sleep better at night, which you may normally have problems with if you experience high levels of stress.

Massage

Physical touch reduces cortisol and also increases oxytocin, which can also reduce stress and boost happiness. This is just one of the stress-busting benefits of massage. It also relieves tension in your muscles, which can both be caused by and contribute to stress. In general, massage is a relaxing treatment and can help to improve sleep, which can also improve stress levels, in turn.

Laughter

Laughter is the best medicine. It helps you relax both physically and mentally, reducing physical tension in your body that can be caused by stress while relieving feelings and emotions related to stress. When you’re feeling stressed, spend time with friends who make you laugh or put on your favorite sitcom or comedy film.

Pet therapy

Unless you’re someone who hates animals, spending time with them has been found to drastically reduce stress levels along with lots of other mental and physical health benefits. Take your dog for a walk or have a snuggle with your cat when you’re feeling stressed. If you don’t have any pets, then maybe you can visit someone who does or volunteer for a local animal shelter.

If you struggle to manage your stress levels, then try the natural stress-busting techniques discussed here and see how you feel. Get in touch with Moonstone Massage for more information about the many health benefits of massage, and book an appointment with us online when you’re ready.

If there’s ever a time when you need to take care of your health and wellbeing, it’s while you’re pregnant. Your body is having to work harder than usual, which can put a lot of strain on you mentally and physically. While many types of massage are ill-advised during pregnancy, prenatal massage or pregnancy massage was specifically designed for pregnant women.

Here are some of the great benefits you’ll get from prenatal massage therapy.

Helps you relax

Like most kinds of massage, pregnancy massage is great for helping you feel more relaxed. And since pregnancy is usually physically, mentally, and emotionally stressful, there’s no better time for this kind of massage. A great knock-on effect of this relaxation is that you’ll find it easier to sleep well, which isn’t always easy during pregnancy.

Relieves lower body pain

The extra weight you’re carrying with your baby growing inside of you can put a lot of strain on your hips, legs, knees, ankles, and feet. Prenatal massage helps to relieve the tension and pain caused by this while keeping the entire procedure safe for you and your baby. Relieving the tension will also help to keep your joints in good health throughout your pregnancy.

And other types of pain

The medications you can take to relieve pain are limited during pregnancy, which can leave you feeling helpless when pain arises. Pregnancy massage is a natural form of pain relief for conditions that may become more common during pregnancy, such as tension headaches, carpal tunnel, muscle cramps, and heartburn.

Improves circulation

Massage, in general, is good for stimulating blood flow as well as lymph circulation, which has a number of benefits. One key benefit of this for pregnant women is that it can effectively reduce swelling, which typically occurs in the feet, ankles, and lower legs during pregnancy. Improved circulation can also help to deliver nutrients to your baby more efficiently.

Improves mood

Your hormones are all over the place during pregnancy, which means fluctuating moods and irritability. The soothing touch of massage helps to lift your mood and stabilize your hormones, helping you fight stress, depression, and other potential mood disorders during pregnancy, without the need for medication.

Are you looking for a natural way to improve your physical health and mental wellbeing during pregnancy? Get in touch with Moonstone Massage or book a massage with us online for pregnancy massage and other massage services in Winston Salem, Pfafftown, and Lewisville.

There are so many creams and other products on the market that claim to be the secret to anti-aging, not to mention all the surgery options some people resort to for younger-looking skin. Some people even swear by facial exercises to keep your skin wrinkle-free. Well we’ve got a better and much more relaxing solution for you – facial massage.

What is facial massage?

Most styles of massage are designed to target the muscles and tissues deep under our skin, but these techniques also work the skin at the same time. You wouldn’t want this same kind of pressure on your face where there are more delicate areas, so facial massage uses many of the same massage techniques you’re used to but in a gentler, softer way.

Mostly using the pads of our fingertips, facial massage involves circular motions and smoothing straight lines. The treatment mainly targets the chin and jawline, cheeks, forehead and temples, and the area underneath your eyes.

Let’s look at some of the benefits of facial massage…

Releases muscle tension

We know to stretch our muscles before and after exercise, but we don’t often think about all the little muscles in our face that are constantly working to make us smile, frown, and chew our food. These muscles can hold a lot of tension, which contributes towards lines and wrinkles. A facial massage helps to relieve this tension and prevent wrinkles.

Reduces puffiness

Does your face look a little puffy after a bad night’s sleep or when you eat the wrong types of food? This is common, but facial massage is here to help. Massage improves circulation to the skin and stimulates the lymphatic vessels, which helps to draw out toxins. It also helps to get rid of the excess fluid that leads to bags and dark circles under your eyes.

Makes skin look younger and smoother

Another benefit of facial massage is that it stimulates collagen production. That’s one of the things celebrities get injected into their faces to make them look younger. Your body naturally produces collagen, but this declines as we age. By stimulating collagen production, facial massage helps our skin become more elastic, reducing wrinkles and making it smoother-looking.

It’s really relaxing

As well as all the benefits for your skin, a facial massage is a nice, relaxing treatment. So, not only does it feel great, but it can also relieve stress and anxiety, treat headache symptoms, and help you get a better night’s sleep.

You can practice some facial massage techniques at home on your own face, but if you want to sit back and enjoy a relaxing treatment from a trained professional in Winston Salem, then book an appointment with Moonstone Massage. We also offer traditional facials to cleanse and tone your skin – a great companion treatment to your facial massage. Get in touch to find out more.

Mental health issues are becoming more and more common among people of all ages and from all walks of life. Luckily, awareness of them is also improving, as are the different ways to treat and manage them. Problems like anxiety can be treated with prescription medications, but a lot of people prefer more natural methods, which can even be more effective. Let’s look at how reflexology can improve symptoms of anxiety as well as some other benefits it offers for our mind and body.

Reflexology for anxiety

Reflexology is a holistic treatment that targets specific trigger points around the body, mostly in the feet, hands, and ears. Massaging these points can positively affect other areas of your body. You can read more about reflexology and how it works, here.

Reflexology has been found to alleviate symptoms of anxiety. A study was conducted on hospital patients waiting for a minor heart procedure. Those that received hand reflexology before the surgery reported lower levels of anxiety about the surgery.

There are certain points in the hands and feet that are targeted when treating anxiety with reflexology. Some of these points correspond to:

• Solar plexus/diaphragm – Where we often feel that sinking feeling associated with anxiety.
• Spine – To relieve tension that might cause or be caused by anxiety.
• Pituitary gland – The gland responsible for releasing and regulating hormones.
• Adrenal gland – Responsible for releasing cortisol, the stress hormone.

These maps of the foot can help you understand where all the different points are and what they correspond to.

Reflexology for other conditions

Reflexology is not just used to treat anxiety, but a range of conditions and ailments. There are points in the hand that are targeted in order to relieve headaches or reduce their frequency. It can also be used to regulate our digestion more effectively, which can help people who often suffer from constipation or diarrhea. Reflexology is also used to help with symptoms of nausea.

Patients undergoing treatment for cancer can benefit from reflexology. These treatments often cause nausea and other symptoms, as well as the anxiety that comes with diagnosis and treatment. So, reflexology may help these patients manage their pain, nausea, and anxiety throughout ongoing treatment.

Would you like to try reflexology to treat anxiety or any of the other ailments listed here? Contact us to find out more about this treatment or go online and book a massage with us today in Winston Salem, NC.

Let’s face it, most of us spend too much time on our cellphones. Messaging friends, checking social media, watching YouTube videos, etc. We can accidentally waste hours each day scrolling on our smartphones. Ignoring what this might mean for us as a society, this kind of behavior can be really bad for our posture and can even cause or worsen pain in the neck, shoulders, and back. But massage might be able to help.

What is “text neck”?

The term text neck was coined a few years ago to describe the resulting posture and pain caused by looking down at your phone for long periods of time each day. Bending our necks forward in this way puts a lot of pressure on the neck and spine, which can lead to damage over time. You might notice poor posture on people who spend a lot of time on their phone, with their neck and shoulders naturally slumping forward.

As well as worsening our posture, spending too much time staring down at our screens can give us a stiff neck, more frequent headaches, and pain in the lower neck, upper back, and shoulders.

How to treat text neck

As well as cutting down on your screen time, there are some stretches and massage treatments that can help to relieve pain and improve posture caused by this phenomenon. Healthline has a list of basic exercises and stretches you can do yourself.

You should also watch your posture while using your mobile phone. Try to hold your phone higher so that it is at eye level, meaning you don’t have to bend your neck to look down at it. Also, try to take breaks when using your phone and don’t stay in the same position for too long.

Massage can really help to treat the pain caused by smartphone usage, as well as improving posture over time. Lots of different massages can help to relieve neck pain, including Swedish massage and trigger point therapy. A massage therapist will be able to identify any knots or points of tension and work on them to treat the root of your pain. Combining massage with improved phone habits will help to keep you pain-free.

Do you need a massage to help you beat text neck? You can contact Moonstone Massage, visit us in Winston Salem, NC, or book a massage with us online. Let us help you improve your posture and relieve your pain caused by those pesky mobile devices.

Back pain can arise for a number of reasons – heavy lifting, bad posture, sitting down too much, etc. For some, it may be temporary, while many others are living with chronic back pain. If you’re looking for an alternative to pain medication, then massage could be the solution. Here are some of the best types of massage to try for your back pain.

The best massage for lower back pain

Lower back pain is probably the most common type of back pain that the average person suffers. It can have a number of different causes, some activity and posture-related and others indicating more serious problems. While the typical Swedish and deep tissue massages are good for relief from back pain, a particularly effective technique for lower back pain is Shiatsu massage.

Shiatsu massage applies pressure to different parts of the body in a rhythmic sequence. It is extremely soothing and relaxing, providing you with long-lasting effects. It focuses on the body’s meridians to promote the flow of healing energy throughout the body. Studies have found shiatsu massage to be extremely effective at treating lower back pain.

The best massage for upper back pain

Upper back pain is often caused by slumping over a desk or laptop and is often linked with neck and shoulder pain, too. One of the best types of massage for this type of pain is trigger point therapy. Upper back pain may be a result of knots developing in the area around and in between your shoulder blades. Trigger point therapy can target these knots to work through the fibers causing the pain and tension.

Alternatively, deep tissue massage can be another effective upper back treatment, as can acupuncture and acupressure.

What else you can do

Alongside massage for back pain, it’s important to get plenty of rest to let your muscles recover. If you do a lot of heavy lifting, try to take it easy for a few days if possible. Also, watch your posture, especially while sitting and lifting, as this can be a big contributor towards back pain. After a massage, stay well-hydrated will help to boost the effects of the massage. Pain medication can be used in conjunction with massage, but it should not be relied on and can cause problems when used over long periods of time.

If you suffer from back pain, then why not try a massage from Moonstone Massage in Winston Salem, NC. Get in touch to inquire or book a massage.