When our students are about a third of the way through the program we take them down to the lobby of our building and hold a free chair massage event for all the building’s 22 floors worth of employees.  Just like at the marathon, the students are nervous going into it, as they’ve never worked on the public before and aren’t sure how they’ll measure up.  And, just like the marathon, the students end the day slightly exhausted but with a newfound confidence to propel them forward.

Below we’re going to list some of the benefits of chair massage, both for the client and for the massage practitioner.

1. Chair massage relieves muscles aches and pains.  This is a basic one but one worth repeating.  Massage, even just a ten minute chair massage, will encourage the relaxation of tight musculature, which will in turn increase blood flow through those muscles.  More blood flow equals more healing, and more healing equals less pain.  Chair massage is, of course, meant to be focused on the upper back and neck (and yes, you can manipulate the chair and your posture to work on pretty much any part of a person you want, but at its core I think we can all agree chair massage is meant for upper back and neck work), so if you’re a person who needs to hunch forward a lot at work, or while driving, or while cooking, or while watching TV, or just from waking up in the morning, then a chair massage might be a great option to relieve some of that pain.
2. Chair massage is quick.  There’s no need to plan your day around driving to a spa and disrobing and getting on a table without clothes and then potentially showering afterwards and getting back to wherever you came from.  Chair massage can come to you.  You get on the chair fully clothed and it only takes ten to fifteen minutes.  So it’s not stressful to get the chair massage, and it relieves the stress you came in with also.
3. Chair massage has been proven to increase productivity in the workplace.  It has been found that office workers who receive a ten minute chair massage around midday return to their desks and do more work the rest of the day.  So if you are an employer and you’re looking for a way to get your staff working harder, just get somebody to come in and give out chair massages.
4. For massage therapists, chair massage is a great way to promote your business.  Massage chairs are super portable, so you can take it pretty much anywhere, which can include sporting events, conferences, school events, etc.  It is a time honored tradition amongst massage therapists to give out chair massage and then hand out business cards along with that with the hope of impressing a potential client so much that they’ll book you on the spot after those ten minutes.  And it works!
5. Chair massage is also a great item to offer from your business.  Employers often hire massage therapists to come in to their offices as a sort of gift to their staff (see number 3 above).
6. Chair massage improves sleep quality.  This goes for all massage as well, but even just receiving a ten minute chair massage has shown that people who have trouble falling asleep sleep better and longer after a chair massage.  Your muscles tense up due to the stresses of everyday living (mortgages, taxes, elections, etc), so if you can relax those muscles things will work in reverse, and you’ll actually end up with lower stress levels.  Lower stress levels mean a good nights sleep.