Most of us have been to an amusement park and driven the bumper cars. It’s a fun activity that doesn’t provide much threat of danger.
You know when you get in the car that you are going to get hit – probably many times. There are too many other cars that are driving all over to avoid being hit ever. It’s not a race and there are no lanes that drivers are supposed to stay in. You can be driving along minding your own business when suddenly somebody hits you from the side or behind. We can usually see the head-on ones coming and try to miss them. Your friends or family may gang up on you, or complete strangers hit you.
So you get bumped a few times. Even getting hit by somebody going full speed doesn’t hurt since the cars have padding and seat belts. The hits are not a personal attack. The ride is designed so you are going to get hit and to allow you to hit other cars.
Life can be like bumper cars. You are working and living your life and suddenly a stressful situation hits you from the side. Somebody from behind comes up and gives you additional responsibilities that you didn’t see coming. Problems come at you from family, friends, health, work, and society. You can’t see them all coming and prepare, and you can’t avoid them all.
Pains that started out small grow into major ones gradually. The occasional headache becomes a daily one. The twinge in your neck now makes it hard to turn your head. An incident from exercise or activity that you thought would go away doesn’t, and instead has decided to move in for a long visit.
Massage can help with the bumper car syndrome. It gives you some safe time for yourself when nothing is going to hit you unexpectedly. It helps you realize that you need to expect some bumps along the way. The bumps in life can hit much harder than bumper cars and we are not always buckled up and prepared for the hits.
Along with reducing stress, massage can also help with the physical pains from the collisions of life. The tension in your muscles is reduced, allowing you to move much more freely and easier. Some headaches are muscle related, so relieving that tension helps to keep the headache from coming back. Muscles get tight and shortened from inactivity and need some relief. Muscles that get overused from activity need relief to let them work properly.
Bumper cars are fun once in a while, but it wouldn’t be fun if that is how we got around all the time. Massage is a great way to deal with the bumps that hit us along the way.
Barry is a licensed Massage Therapist at Main Street Massage in Hudson, Ohio. Find out more about him, his business, and massage at www.HudsonMassageTherapy.com
