Place your hands behind your shoulders and squeeze. Move your hands further down and repeat.
Use your fingertips to massage your scalp. This will increase blood flow and help release tension.
Massaging your feet with lavender oil can be a relaxing bedtime routine. Just put on some socks afterwards to avoid staining your sheets with oil.
Squeeze a stress ball or even a tennis ball to give your hands and forearms a workout. You'll find that these will feel relaxed afterwards.
Fill a shoebox with golf balls and keep it under your desk. This way you can take your shoes off and give yourself a foot massage whenever you feel the need to.
Put your fingers through your toes and use the other hand to move your ankle. Start with small rotations.
Fill a sock with uncooked rice, tie it up, place it in the microwave, and there you have it—your homemade heat pad. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves for a nice scent.
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Rub your tummy clockwise after a meal. This will help stimulate digestion.
You can combine two good self-care steps with this one. Apply some hand lotion and massage your hands thoroughly.
Our necks accumulate a lot of tension throughout the day. Use both hands and apply pressure to both sides of your neck. You can then move on to stretching your neck in various positions.
Tight glutes can trigger a number of aches and pains, including lower back pain. Sit on a foam roller, cross you leg, and make subtle movements.
Ease the pressure in your sinus by placing your fingers above your nose and rubbing them outwards.
Particularly if you wear high heels all day, your calves can suffer, so it's good to massage them when you get home. Start from your Achilles tendon, all the way up to the knee.
Lay down over a foam roll with your arms crossed. Use your legs to gently move up and down.
Rub your hands together until the palms start to generate heat. Then cup your hands and place them over your eyes and let the warmth irradiate to your eyes.
Place a couple of tennis or lacrosse balls between your shoulder blades. Go easy, as this can hurt in the beginning.
Use your fists to gently thump your legs and arms. This will increase blood flow. Avoid this altogether if you bruise easily, or if you're taking blood thinners.
Use a ball to find a trigger point in your glute to help you release tension and pain. This will hurt, but do it gently and increase pressure gradually.
Roll your foot over a ball to massage the arch. This part of your foot usually gets tight and rolling it will release the tension.
You can give your lats and armpits a massage using a foam roll.
A good way to massage your IT band (fascial tissue along you thigh) is to foam roll it. Gently move up and down. Beware: this can be painful!
Use your fingertips to massage the soles of your feet. Start off gentle, and increase pressure as you relax.
Giving yourself a massage can be an effective way to reduce muscle soreness and swelling. It's also relaxing, and can help reduce anxiety and pain.
This part of our body if often neglected, but we do accumulate some tension in our faces, so massaging your jaw can be quite relaxing. Use your fingers in a circular motion, while applying pressure.
Cross one arm and pinch your triceps close to your shoulder. Move down your arm progressively, pinching for a few seconds and releasing.
We all have aches and pains at some point in our lives. Some can be caused by muscular tension, and when this is the case, a massage can really help. The problem is that many of us don't have the time or resources to get a massage as often as we would like. The solution? Do it yourself!
In this gallery, you'll find a range of simple self-massage techniques you can try out in the comfort of your own home. Click through and start feeling better immediately.
Self-massage tips to ease aches and pains
Everybody deserves a good massage
HEALTH Self-care
We all have aches and pains at some point in our lives. Some can be caused by muscular tension, and when this is the case, a massage can really help. The problem is that many of us don't have the time or resources to get a massage as often as we would like. The solution? Do it yourself!
In this gallery, you'll find a range of simple self-massage techniques you can try out in the comfort of your own home. Click through and start feeling better immediately.