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Give yourself a massage

The following material is also available as a fact sheet, available for download (PDF 556 KB).

Feel better in five minutes - give yourself a massage!

STEP 1

Rub your hands together and then put them gently over your eyes. Take three long deep breaths. This will help you feel warm and relaxed.

STEP 2

Massage your head all over with the tips of your fingers. Concentrate on the tender spots, pushing firmly but gently. This will help give you energy and release tension in the head.

STEP 3

Starting at the tops of your ears, pinch gently but firmly around the outside. In many traditional therapies, there are points all over the ear that correspond to different organs of the body. So massaging your ear is like massaging your whole body!

STEP 4

Lift one arm in the air, bend it and grab the back of your neck. Squeeze gently. This releases tension and feels good.

STEP 5

With your hand still on the back of your neck, press your fingers into the base of your skull – the indentation at the top of your neck.

STEP 6

Fold your arm across your body, and grab your shoulder muscle close to your neck. Squeezing gently, work your way across your shoulder and down your arm. Repeat on the other side.

STEP 7

Use one hand to flex the wrist of your other hand. Work your thumb into your wrist joint, then up the outside of your hand and up each finger. Repeat on the other side.

STEP 8

Gentle pull each finger and massage each joint of your fingers and thumb, both from the side of the joint and on top of each joint. Repeat on the other side.

STEP 9

Using your thumb, press firmly on your palm. Work your way across the inside of your hand. Repeat on the other side.

STEP 10

Run your thumb down the back of your hand from your wrist to your knuckles, pressing in between the bones of your hand. Repeat on the other side.

STEP 11

Sit down, and bend forward to put both hands around your ankle. Squeeze gently but firmly around your ankle, and then at regular intervals up your leg.

STEP 12

You can use all the movements described above for hand massage to massage your feet, and it feels great! Finish by repeating step 1.