“With stress playing such a prevalent part in everyone’s lives, our bodies have lost the balance between our sympathetic nervous systems (fight or flight response) and parasympathetic nervous system (repair and restore response),” says Marc Zollicoffer, director of Aveda Spa Education.
“As a society we are in a constant state of flight or fight and are not spending enough time resting and regenerating.”
The number of people suffering from stress is even reaching epidemic proportions, he added, as studies show that 44% of adults in developed global markets report adverse effects from stress and 57% of women say they feel stressed at least once or twice a week .
The Stress-Fix hand and arm massage involves an intensive rub down with a body cream and ayurvedic massage techniques that focus on hands and forearms, areas prone to repetitive stress injuries from endless hours spent typing at computers.
The US brand draws inspiration from ancient ayurvedic wisdom to develop plant-based hair, skin, body and make-up products, as well as treatment rituals to help calm the mind and comfort the body.
Doing the rituals at home further helps one relax and recharge at any time with the Stress-Fix collection of soaking salts, concentrate, and body lotion or cream.
The body ritual, for example, can begin after showering by massaging cream into the hands and holding them under your nose while taking a deep breath.
Work on massaging tense areas such as the neck, shoulders and forearms with the ayurvedic technique of using circular motions at the joints and back-and-forth between them. In addition, give the tummy a rub with clockwise circular motions.