Corporate Chair Massage: Successful Companies Secret Productivity Booster

All managers seek to increase the productivity of their staff. This is usually accomplished by keeping strict deadlines, making sure lateness isn't an issue, and making certain everyone is doing what they're supposed to.

But there are also more positive means, such as making sure everyone on your team is communicating well, making certain that the best person for each task is doing that task, and making sure the staff is healthy, calm, and having a positive work experience.

Corporate Chair Massage falls into the latter, more positive, reinforcements for keeping an office at peak productivity. Not only are workers feeling calmer and less stressed after a corporate chair massage session, they are also more productive. Studies prove this fact.

A good manager or company owner uses both forms of incentive to keep the staff working at its best. But without a good set of positive reinforcements, the work environment will be tense and nervous. Some companies choose to maintain a more rigid and tense work environment.

But in most instances, companies and managers wish to have the staff feel calm and collected, so that they can work at a higher rate of productivity. After even ten minutes, it's been demonstrated that employees will be more focused and relaxed, ready to carry out their responsibilities with more clarity and presence of mind.

Corporate Chair Massage is inherently a productivity-booster, in that it can improve workers' focus and output. Additionally, workers begin to realize that management does care, and therefore a conscious effort to work harder may also come into play.

Employer need not worry about how employees perceive management; with Corporate Chair Massage, as well as other proven steps like a fitness program or on-site workout center, can help your employees to feel calmer, and is usually a sort of secret factor that many successful companies are now exploring to set their staff apart from the competition.

In reality, if both companies have hired the best in the field, with all else being equal, having a more motivated, more calm and poised staff would likely create a significant difference with implications that would be apparent after a short while.


And, Corporate Chair Massage can help achieve that aim for your company, along with sound business practice, creativity and flexibility in execution and thinking, as well as being mindful that your staff is your company's asset with a value that is difficult to calculate, but is often integral to functioning. Whether staff chooses to stay or leave says a lot about a company. Chair Massage is a good way of communicating concern to employees.
(C) Copyright 2013 H Miller, All Rights Reserved.

Chair Massage At Your Next Corporate Event

Trade shows, health fairs, product launches… there is no shortage of corporate events where bringing in chair massage would be appropriate. Chair massage has been shown in a number of studies to have beneficial effects, even when the massages are brief.

Studies done with nurses in a busy hospital showed that when they were given brief ten minute massages once a week, their stress levels decreased. Post traumatic stress disorder suffered by veterans was also helped by a healthcare modality similar to massage and offered by some massage therapists called CranioSacral Therapy.

Perhaps you are planning your company’s annual health fair. Chair massage is always one of the most popular offerings at such fairs. Trade shows are an excellent place to have massage, since there are always so many things to see at these shows, and people can often become exhausted from walking around for so many hours.

Perhaps the very best place for corporate on site chair massage is at a product launch. This is because many of the people in attendance are potential purchasers, as well as members of the media. Think of what excellent PR your company will receive for having offered massage to clients at your product launch. It can even help to improve your company’s media image if such is necessary in your business.

Chair massage is an excellent offering for potential clients, for partners, and for employees, in every type of corporate event that there is. If you would like more information about chair massage at your next corporate or office event, please visit our chair massage page by clicking here.

On Site Chair Massage: Motivating Employees To Come In on Even a Rainy Friday Before a Three-Day-Weekend

Most companies are structured similarly, in that their are tiered levels of management, and then the teams of workers, whether advertising professionals, nurses, or truck drivers. And as management, we often find that employees are not quite as motivated as our own superiors would like to believe possible.

Maybe the bosses of bosses are unrealistic. Let them deal with the team of thirty seven men and women you manage - and then let them expect more! Oftentimes, upper management does not understand just how unmotivated the workers can get, especially when they perceive the owners or bosses as not caring about their welfare or needs.



Management is left with the task of administering austerities and chastisements, while at the same time required to keep workers involved, punctual, and free of undue absenteeism. On Site Chair Massage can help, in this regard.



Considering that studies have shown that absenteeism dropped when a regularly scheduled wellness program including chair massage was instituted, we can pretty much state this as fact. Anecdotally, as well, our own observations with clients' feedback shows that employees really love Chair Massage!



How can you make sure the entire crew comes in on Fridays? Have random Chair Massage. No one wants to pass up the chance to chill out at work. Chair Massage is performed fully clothed, usually off to the side in a spare office, cafeteria, or even a less-trafficked hallway. The chairs have a small footprint and can basically be set up anywhere.



I know already what you, the reader, must be thinking at this point: "Chair Massage may well be effective, but try telling the Big Boss to spend more money, after I just left his office with him complaining to tighten the reigns on spending!" Typical scenario, and probably quite predicable. But the fact remains: Chair Massage can help deal with employees feeling like work is "hell on Earth" or some Sisyphean horror they must drag themselves to every day.



How can one convince their boss that this is worth the time and, more importantly, money? Studies have been done regarding chair massage in the workplace and absenteeism. Nothing beats evidence-based science. If your boss is intelligent enough to run a successful firm, then he is probably adept enough to put together the clues and realize that although not free, the benefits far outweigh the costs.



Present ALL the studies, with live links, that show that chair massage at work, and therapeutic massage in general, is helpful. (This blog previously posted may be helpful in getting you started. Click here to link)And of course, scheduling even one session and gauging the reactions of the staff might be the most prudent way to proceed. There is no commitment in this case, and if the upper management doesn’t like the results, it was a cheap experiment to run, in any event.




Owners and managers at many companies realize that chair massage is a profoundly cost effective, therapeutically effective, and socially motivating force that keeps the workers enjoying their jobs - something some companies do not care much about, leading to higher turnover rates and less overall company loyalty. As with anything else, the best way to go would be to try it and see. Watch your staff. Notice any changes. See for yourself if Chair Massage is really so fundamentally beneficial.

And of course, there are options where employees and the company split the bill, along whatever lines you specify, or even have the employees pay themselves, but able to receive therapeutic massage during work time. The idea of not having to spend anything is initially very appealing to most company owners, however, the most successful programs seem to be those where the company pays, with the highest rates of participation, and likely the best impression made on employees by the company itself. Click here for more information about chair massage in the office.

Workplace Chair Massage For High Stress Jobs

I have often wondered many times, what are the most stressful jobs out there? And how can people at these jobs be helped to handle the extreme amounts of stress their jobs entail? So, today I did a search for the most stressful jobs in every industry, and came across an interesting list on the website smartplanet.com.

According to this list, the most stressful jobs are enlisted military personnel, general military, firefighter, commercial airline pilot, and public relations executive. These were at the top of the top ten list of most stressful jobs. Of all of the people working every type of job, these people could most certainly benefit from massage therapy, and not necessarily just chair massage. They really need to de-stress!



I have given mobile massage to people in the fourth and fifth most stressful jobs many times, and been told about the high stresses that their jobs entail. If you think about it, being an airline pilot is definitely stressful, since you are in control of a huge airplane, and you have to keep it flying right and not crashing. Since airline crashes are a pretty rare thing, these airline pilots are definitely doing a very good job at their work.



Since many airports already have an on the go chair massage place, a regular mobile massage would probably be best for these people. Although, some of those airport massage places basically have no private rooms and give chair and table massage in a public area with windows all around so that passersby can see what is going on. I can imagine that many pilots would not be comfortable with having people walking by seeing them getting a massage in uniform. Maybe pilots can instead be offered chair massage in the private pilot’s lounge, with our mobile massage therapists serving several pilots in one day, or offering longer massage in their lounge, using a small room that might be available in the lounge.



For people working in public relations, the high stress often comes from meeting extremely difficult quotas, and dealing with clientele. Often the clients who use public relations firms can be very demanding. These types of businesspeople would do very well with short duration chair massages in the office, since most of them don’t have the time to receive a full length massage session.



Although these jobs that have been mentioned in this article are considered very high stress, most people have jobs that can be considered high stress, especially if they work for someone else. Demanding work hours, nearly impossible deadlines, and difficult clients are the most common complaints associated with nearly all jobs. For this reason, everyone can benefit from chair massage in their office or workplace, whether paid for by the employer or by themselves.

If you are interested in learning more about workplace massage, or to book a session of massage in your office, please visit our website for more information by clicking here.

Regular Chair Massages and the Modern Workplace

While chair massage in the workplace is a relatively new idea, gaining in popularity in recent years, it is certainly an idea whose time has come. There have been a few studies into this area of workplace benefits, i.e. weekly chair massage sessions, but the few there have been have shown large benefits both to the employees and to their employer.

There has been evidence that receiving workplace chair massages on a regular basis can reduce employee stress, as well as reducing their required sick time. Reduced stress improves the employer’s bottom line by causing productivity to increase, thus increasing profits. Also, the less sick time that employees take, the better it is for their employer’s bottom line. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Less sick days mean that there is more work getting done, and when there is more work getting done, the employer’s profits will increase.



This seems like a win win situation that nearly every office manager and owner would be aware of and implement into their business. All types of businesses have had and would be great candidates to begin a program of office chair massage on a regular basis. From small real estate companies to large hospitals, small accounting firms to large multi billion dollar trans-national corporations like Google and Yahoo (who offer such programs to their employees), every type of business large and small can benefit from chair massage at their location. Whether it is a one time appreciation event or a monthly visit from a local massage therapist, chair massage is a great idea for everyone.



Even with all of the information on possible benefits above, some businesses still see it as an unnecessary expense. However, many employers provide the therapist and allow their employees to pay for their own massages, especially when it is going to be a regular occurrence. Other employers have split the cost with their staff members, paying for half or more of the cost. Most chair massage therapists charge a very reasonable price, often times around half of what a regular table massage session would cost.

If you are interested in learning more about chair massage at your location, or if you would like to book a session, please visit our website by clicking here.

Your Employee’s Health and Well-Being: Chair Massage and the Workplace

Many of today’s biggest employers have found massive benefits to their staff which come from using chair massage. Chair massage can be both an incentive and a reward for a job well done. Chair massage is an incentive for employees to work more efficiently because they know that if they do, their boss will book more sessions of office chair massage.

Of course, most of the employers that we work with have used chair massage in the office as either a reward or as a demonstration of their appreciation for hard work. When using chair massage in the office as a reward, generally a session occurs while employees are in the midst of or have just met a deadline. If it is in the midst of a deadline, it is usually close enough to the end that the boss knows it will be completed on time. When it is just after a deadline, that is when we see staff members with the most stress.



In most businesses, deadlines are extremely tight, and employees work very long hours to meet them. This leads to stress, lack of sleep, inability to relax, and occasionally general malaise or ill feeling. When an employer is concerned about his staff’s well-being in the long and short term, they will often have a session of chair massage to get their staff back to feeling their best.



Regular sessions of chair massage in the office are ideal for helping to restore the staff’s health and well-being. When they are more relaxed, they are more productive. They are likely to take fewer sick days, which is a boon for any business. They also tend to become more efficient when their stress has been relieved by a session of chair massage. Even short duration sessions of chair massage have been found in studies to effect marked improvement in staff member’s stress levels, using self tests as well as blood and other tests.



If you are an employer interested in having a session of chair massage at your office, please click here more information.
© Copyright 2013 H Miller

Chair Massage in NJ: The Possibilities Are Endless!

Chair Massage. Something that most non-Massage Therapists I speak with have never come closer than ten feet of, usually at the local New Jersey mall, walking by to get somewhere ELSE. The chairs do look a bit strange, at first glance. Chair Massage itself, however, is not strange at all. The seated position is comfortable for clients receiving Therapeutic massage, and is also a great position for the therapist to be able to work on the client's back and shoulders.

Now, Chair Massage is often found in the office. Corporate Wellness programs, as well as Health Fairs, are some instances. There are many companies that have regularly scheduled chair massage sessions for employees. Because the chairs are portable and lightweight, they can be set up in under a minute, anywhere that's convenient for the company. We've worked in offices, hallways, cafeterias, on the lawn...anywhere that there was a little space.



Another place most New Jerseyans will end up seeing a Chair massage in use is at an event, maybe a party, or event a corporate event. Chair Massage just lends itself to these sorts of gatherings, and whether for work, or friends and family, a few therapists with portable chairs can add a much-appreciated aura of calm and relaxation. Chair massage has been proven, in controlled studies, to promote relaxation for most people. (Click here to view studies related to massage therapy's benefits)



So, if you've seen a Chair Massage in progress at the Mall but were sort of weirded out by the whole thing, but really wanted to try, don't worry: Sooner or later, you'll have an opportunity for a chair massage at your next company health fair, or maybe your niece's Bat Mitzvah. It could be at your local USO fund-raiser, or even at your own parents' wedding anniversary party. There's really no telling, honestly, as Chair Massage finds its way into an ever-increasing number of sorts of venues, covering all situations: public, private, professional, family.



Or, you can be proactive and book a Chair Massage for your next event! (click here for details) Remember to discuss how many therapists will be necessary when booking, as a shortage of therapists is never a good thing. Also, another consideration is how long each session should be. Each person receiving a massage can go for anywhere from five to twenty minutes, depending upon the number of guests, and how long the event will be.



Even a ten minute session of Chair Massage, done just once, can have positive effects At most events, recipients of Chair Massage often wish to go a second, or even third time! Of course, there's usually a line, and so this is often not possible. But still, they try! If you happen to attend a gathering or celebration, and there's a Massage Therapist present with one of those oddly-shaped portable chairs...by all means, have a seat and learn firsthand why this is so popular among so many different groups of people.

©Copyright 2013 H Miller

Mobile Office Chair Massage BEFORE Your Next Big Deadline

When your company is contemplating and preparing for your next major deadline, perhaps chair massage will come to mind. Chair massage can help your employees to have greater concentration and focus, along with less anxiety and stress. Since deadlines tend to be associated with a lot of anxiety, this can be a great way to help improve the response that your employees have to deadlines.

Your staff undoubtedly has a very heavy workload, with each person contributing their fair share of work to the completion of the deadline. While there are some individuals who work better under pressure, even those individuals can end up with stress related health complaints around the time of a deadline. Such complaints range from the occasional tension in their shoulders to constant migraines which make work (and any other daily routine activity) difficult if not impossible. While there are many who work very well under pressure, there are also those staff members who do not work well in such situations.

For these employees, as well as the rest, rather than trying to force them to do something they are unable to do, you might want to instead treat them to a short duration chair massage. The massage chair can be situated in a small office, the cafeteria, a break room, or any other place where you have a small amount of space in your office. All employees can come in at a scheduled time to receive their massage.

If you provide chair massage for your employees before their deadlines, you are likely to find that their work is completed faster, you are ahead of schedule, and their is a much more relaxed vibe at work. This inspires creativity and productivity far better than the constant crunch time reminders that many employers bring to their staff. Since it may very well help to boost the bottom line of your business, it certainly can't hurt to try chair massage for your staff before their next deadline.

If you would like more information about offering chair massage for your next event or office party, please click here.
©Copyright 2013 H Miller

Tips for Approaching Your Boss About Chair Massage At The Office

This article is written for those individuals who are the office managers, personal assistants, and directors of recreation for various businesses. You are the people who are responsible for making things run smoothly in whatever business you are in, as well as helping to boost morale and productivity.

Maybe you have been thinking about introducing your office to the benefits of chair massage, and you are not quite sure how to approach your boss about it. Many employers are biased against anything that seems too relaxing, thinking that it will have a negative effect on the staff community. Studies have shown however, that this is simply not true.


So perhaps you are looking to create a proposal for your boss which includes some proof that chair massage can be helpful. In which case, there are several studies which I will summarize that can be presented to your employer to help them make a decision favorable for all the staff employed by your company.



One of the studies that can be presented to the boss is the study published in the Complimentary Therapies in Clinical Practice journal. Nurses were provided with 15 minute massages once a week. A self assessment test provided to the nurses at the end of the study showed that they felt less stress and less anxious after receiving their short duration chair massages. This study can be found by clicking here.

Another study which used a more definite assessment technology (blood pressure measurement) was carried out in which persons were given 15 minute massages. Their blood pressure was measured before and after the massage, and it was found to have been significantly lowered by the massage therapy. This study can be linked to by clicking here.


A third study which may help you in your discussion with your boss about the addition of chair massage to your staff’s beneficial activities is a study performed with hospital nurses in a large and very busy hospital. Among the assessed outcomes were their pain and tension, their level of relaxation, and their overall mood after the massage therapy. The results showed a decrease in pain and tension, an increase in relaxation, and an improved mood.

Most likely, the nurses were more able to deal with their large workload of patients, who are often non-cooperative. It is also likely that being in a better mood improved their ability to deal with argumentative families of patients, who are themselves under a great deal of stress. Having an improved mood surely helped those nurses deal with their stressful and high tension jobs. That study can be linked to by clicking here.



With the abundance of studies available online, as well as the few mentioned above, it should be easier to convince any employer that their business would benefit from the addition of chair massage, either regularly or as a special treat, to their list of employee perks and benefits. They will undoubtedly find that their staff becomes more productive, and more able to overcome obstacles placed in their way due to their greater degree of relaxation.



A relaxed mind is usually a mind more capable of seeing the hidden solution to any problem, where stress and tension may obscure even the most obvious solution. It is our hope that these aforementioned studies help when trying to create an employee relaxation or appreciation day with your employer. If your company is interested in booking a chair massage session, they can contact us by visiting our website, linked to here.

© Copyright 2013 H Miller

Chair Massage for Employee Appreciation Day: A Closer Staff, a Stronger Team

Chair Massage on site is not a new phenomenon, however, the popularity that chair massage has recently gained is, in itself, a novel occurrence. More and more companies realize that the manner in which the employees are treated will directly impact their loyalty, effort, and dedication to being their best.



Think about it. Workers often feel slighted. They see management, making far greater salaries, entitled to more perks, and respond to what they see by harboring negativity. Management is in the delicate position of representing the owners' wishes, yet keeping themselves from being alienated from the workers.



Employee Appreciation programs are a great way to cement close bonds between workers, and between workers and management. ( For an article offering a more in-depth look at Employee Appreciation Programs, click here.)



Chair Massage is uniquely suited to this purpose; everyone participating undergoes the process of having their stress alleviated to some degree, and the shared experience afterwards, of reflecting on the session, discussing how the massage actually helped, all help to make the experience one that will help keep your team together.



And when management gets involved and decides to have a massage, it's usually a much respected act, and the workers notice that the managers do not feel ‘above' the workers. Even at the more staid and conservative companies, the effects are positive, and in no way is participation perceived as being excessively familiar with the workers.

Employee Appreciation Day is the ideal time for the company to show that it really does care about its workers. It's a great way to reward a team for ‘going the extra mile', and completing projects in a manner that is better than expected.

Keeping workers happy, letting them know they're appreciated, and allowing them the chance to have a day to celebrate their own dedication to the company, are all worthy goals that can be attained with a sound Employee Appreciation program.

©Copyright 2013 H Miller

Chair Massage For A Fun and Relaxing Day At The Office

Everyone has heard of casual Fridays at work, where everyone gets to dress casually since it is Friday and the last day of the week. What about Chair Massage Mondays? This could be an excellent new trend for companies to start for their workers.

If every company brought in a chair massage therapist on Mondays, this could definitely become the hottest new trend. Word of mouth would spread quickly in every industry, and employers who have implemented it would become the hottest companies to work for . Everyone would want to be employed by them.

Just think, with Chair Massage Mondays, your employees would get to start their work week off on the right foot, with relaxation and stress relief, leading to increased productivity. Many studies have shown that when employees receive chair massages at work, the opposite of the expected effect is engendered. Their productivity is increased rather than decreased!

So, if your company already has a high level of productivity, and the boss brought in chair massages on Mondays, just imagine how high your productivity level could become! Then, in the alternative sense, if your company has been struggling with low productivity, and you brought in chair massage, imagine how the productivity would soar. Your employees would have fewer sick days, greater productivity, and more employer loyalty. They would never want to leave your company, and others would be envious and want to work there too.

So if you really think about it, Chair Massage Mondays really should become a new trend in the business world. Employees would be happier, more productive, less stressed and anxious, perhaps even have fewer depression symptoms, along with other benefits that have yet to be discovered.

Your company could be the one starting this new trend right now, by implementing Chair Massage Mondays. What about this Monday coming up? It would be a great day to start!

© Copyright 2013 H Miller

Corporate Chair Massage - Rest Improves Performance and Play Is Important

Today, many employees and employers feel that they must push as hard as they can, as continuously as they can, until they collapse from sheer exhaustion. New evidence is actually contradicting this belief, making the case that rest periods, breaks, and vacations from work will actually have the opposite of expected result: greater productivity!


When looking at studies that have been performed on workers in the workplace, some interesting facts have been found. Studies have shown that worker performance actually increases when staff members are allowed to take naps or otherwise relax without an expectation of performance during the time they are given.


This increase in work performance and productivity reported by the articles in the foot of this blog are generally overall, and over the course of the year. For example, a study spoken of in the New York Times article referenced below showed that when air traffic controllers were allowed to take a 40 minute nap, their response time and vigilance were markedly improved.


A similar study in a laboratory environment found that taking a short nap of an hour to an hour and a half improved memory test results as much as a full night's sleep. These studies and many others are turning the traditional beliefs about work and rest, vacations and relaxation, upside down. However, it may take a long time before many companies start adopting policies based upon them.


There are a number of large companies that everyone can recognize who are leading the way in encouraging napping (and thus increasing their own productivity). According to an article posted on guycodeblog.mtv.com, such companies as British Airways, Time Warner, Nike, Google, Zappos, and AOL, among many others, have adopted a napping policy. Some allow employees to nap in a lounge full of nap pods, while others allow employees to nap on couches or at their posts.


As a mobile massage therapist specializing in corporate chair massage, this is very encouraging news. It means to me that employers are coming to understand the value of relaxation with regard to job performance. When you take it to another level, such as encouraging employees to get a chair massage during work time, whether on a staff appreciation day, a health fair, or simply for no occasion at all, the results may be surprising.


In previous articles, I have referenced studies demonstrating that chair massage, even brief sessions, show a marked increase in productivity and a decrease in anxiety. These increases are actually statistically significant, making them worthy of mention by the study authors. What that means is, it was not just one or two people who had an increase in their productivity, but many of the employees receiving chair massage had such an increase.


Any company who is looking at their bottom line in terms of costs for productivity in their employees will find that chair massage is actually a low cost and extremely effective way to accomplish their goals. In these studies, it is not known why chair massage has such an effect. In some staff members, it may be that they want to feel appreciated, and having chair massage at work makes them feel that their employer truly does appreciate them. Everyone wants to feel accepted, understood, and cared for, and this is one of the most cost effective and extremely appreciated ways to do that.


As therapists, it has amazed us time and time again how many of the staff members whose employers have brought in chair massage express incredible gratitude. It is also amazing to us how very much each of these individuals already accomplish in their work day. And when they receive a massage, they always return to work and work even harder. This is probably a big factor in why the productivity for the whole company goes up.


From large multinational corporations to the small business down the street, we have had clients in every type of business and from all walks of life, and they all see the same result. When they bring in chair massage, their staff members work harder. And I don't think that it is just to encourage the boss to bring in chair massage again. It seems to be a genuine appreciation, and a recognition of the acknowledgment that the boss is showing by bringing in the chair massage.

For more information, and to learn if chair massage might be right for your company, please check out our webpage at chair-massage-nj.njmassage.info. Also, take a look at the articles and studies referenced just below to get a better idea of everything that has been spoken about in this blog.

References:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00702.x/full
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/opinion/Sunday/relax-youll-be-more-productive.html?pagew anted=all&_r=0
http://guycodeblog.mtv.com/2013/02/19/napping-at-work/
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/european-technology/ban-social-media-as-a-distraction-no-it-b oosts-productivity/1610
http://www.sparringmind.com/productivity-science/

© Copyright 2013 H Miller

Corporate Chair Massage - Reducing Anxiety and Enhancing Productivity In The Office

Corporate chair massage has gained in popularity in recent years, however, many employers are still unaware of the many benefits that this modality can offer to their staff members. Corporate chair massage has been shown in many studies to reduce anxiety and overall stress levels in recipients, as well as to increase alertness and speed and accuracy of math computations.

As anxiety and stress reduction are the most well known effects of chair massage, it will be the first benefit discussed here. One study published in The Complimentary Therapies in Clinical Practice Journal provided nurses with on site chair massages at a hospital during their shifts. Each nurse received 15 minute massages weekly. At the end of the study, the nurses reported lowered anxiety and stress levels using a self-assessment questionnaire.

Another study published in the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science correlates these results with a similar study. In this study, one group received chair massages while a control group of individuals received a break instead of massage therapy, and they were both tested for anxiety levels after the study. The results of this study showed a significant decrease in anxiety and stress levels for the massage group, whereas the control group did not experience a similar reduction in stress.

One of the lesser known effects of massage therapy is its ability to enhance alertness and sharpen mental faculties. One study, published in the International Journal of Neuroscience set out to determine whether massage therapy enhanced alertness and the ability to do math computations.

Two groups of adults participated in the study. The first group was given chair massage twice a week for five weeks, while the control group was allowed to relax in the massage chair for fifteen minutes at the same frequency. The two groups were given math computations to do both before and after their respective sessions. Both groups were tested for EEG patterns of mental alertness, speed and accuracy of math computations, as well as depression, anxiety, and stress levels.

The results of the study showed that the massage group had enhanced alertness and increased speed and accuracy on math computations. The control group remained the same for math computations. The massage group experienced reduced anxiety levels, reduced cortisol levels, as well as reduced job stress on self reported questionnaires while the control group did not experience these effects.

As an employer of a large or small staff of people, you may be wondering what these studies mean for you. Employers and the public at large have become aware in recent years that stress and anxiety lead to lower productivity. This applies both in home life as well as in work life.

Thus, employees with less stress have higher work output, as well as greater accuracy in their work output. As these studies have shown, even short duration chair massage sessions significantly decrease stress and anxiety levels. Employees who are less stressed are more productive, and they are also more accurate and less prone to errors in their work.

The last study that I discussed shows this even more clearly. Math computations can be a reflection of any type of work that requires thought and care, from entering data on a computer to creating spreadsheets and performing bookkeeping tasks, among other activities.

Since this study showed that accuracy and speed of math computations was increased following chair massage, these results can be extrapolated and applied to the workplace, where employees who receive regular chair massages are likely to be much more productive and accurate in addition to being less stressed. Every business should be concerned about their bottom line, and the studies and results shown here should help employers to realize that the addition of a chair massage program at work is a cost effective way to increase the capacity of their staff members, as well as boost morale and reduce stress and anxiety levels.

For more information, click here to view a chair massage blog posted on our website

You can view the details of the studies by visiting the studies page on our website. Click here to be directed to that page


© Copyright 2013 H Miller