April 2026

Hello, and welcome to this month's article! It’s time for spring... And with spring comes a season of awakening and renewal. As the new season begins to bloom and blossom, it offers us inspiration to embrace new beginnings and reaffirm our life connections.

As the weather warms, many people take to the outdoors and get moving after months of reduced activity. This is the ideal time to schedule your next massage, to help your body adapt to your newly expanded efforts.

This month’s lead article covers some of the benefits a springtime massage offers you. Invest in your health!

Also featured is a timely reminder that getting out and moving is vital to maintaining your health. Life is motion, so take a walk and breathe deep.

Mother’s Day will soon be here, so consider a massage gift certificate for the special Moms in your life. What could be a better reward?

Stay healthy; see you soon for your next massage!

Here are the best reasons to get a spring massage:

Boosts Immune System and Eases Allergies: Springtime, while refreshing, can bring allergies and colds. Regular massages stimulate the lymphatic system, enhancing immune function.
Encourages Better Mobility for Active Lifestyles: As people become more active with walking, gardening, or exercising, muscles may feel tight or stiff. Massage therapy helps release tension, increases flexibility, and improves range of motion for better, safer movement.
Detoxifies the Body: A spring massage helps boost circulation, which assists in moving blood and oxygen through the body more efficiently, aiding in the removal of toxins and combating the sluggishness of winter.
Reduces Seasonal Stress and Enhances Mood: Spring transitions can be overwhelming. Massage activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing cortisol levels (stress hormone) and increasing serotonin and dopamine, leading to improved mood and mental clarity.

Steps for longer life: The more you walk, the less likely you’ll die, study finds
by John Anderer

Get up and start walking. The more you do it, the longer you may live. That’s the main piece of advice from a new study that found a higher daily step count is associated with a lower mortality risk from all causes. Who needs the couch anyway?

Even better, the study also noted that it’s not about intensity; you don’t have to run or even jog all day to enjoy a longer life. Just put one foot in front of the other.

The study was conducted by researchers from the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“While we knew physical activity is good for you, we didn’t know how many steps per day you need to take to lower your mortality risk or whether stepping at a higher intensity makes a difference,” says Pedro Saint-Maurice, Ph.D., of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, first author of the study, in a release. “We wanted to investigate this question to provide new insights that could help people better understand the health implications of the step counts they get from fitness trackers and phone apps.”

There have been other studies performed in the past on walking and lifespan, but those projects focused heavily on the elderly and people with chronic medical conditions. This study, however, examined a sample of roughly 4,800 U.S. adults aged 40 and over who wore tracking devices for up to seven days between 2003-2006. After that, each person’s lifespan was tracked up until 2015 using the National Death Index.

After accounting for a range of potentially contributing demographic and behavioral factors, they found a significant connection between steps taken daily and mortality risk.

Generally speaking, 4,000 steps per day is thought to be low for adults. Participants who walked 8,000 steps per day had a 51% lower risk of dying from any cause than those who only walked 4,000 steps per day. Moreover, 12,000 steps per day was linked to a 65% lower mortality risk than 4,000 daily steps. Again, there was no connection found between step intensity and mortality risk.

“At NIA, we’ve long studied how exercise is important for older adults, and it’s good to see further evidence from a large study with a broad sample that the main thing is to get moving for better overall health as we age,” says Eric Shiroma, Ph.D., a study co-author and NIA Intramural Research Program scientist.

These findings were universal across age groups, genders, and races (Caucasian, African-American, Mexican-American).

All in all, the research team says any amount of physical movement is better than none for older adults. Ideally, everyone should aim to achieve roughly 150 minutes of moderate-to-intense exercise per week.

“Being physically active has many benefits, including reducing a person’s risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. And on a daily basis, it can help people feel better and sleep better,” concludes Janet Fulton, Ph.D., of CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. “CDC is working with communities and partners across the country, as part of the Active People, Healthy Nation initiative, to make it easier, safer, and more convenient for people to be active in their own communities.”

The study is published in JAMA.
Source:studyfinds.org

Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do.
Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.
— Ella Fitzgerald

April 2026

Here are the best reasons to get a spring massage:

Steps for longer life: The more you walk, the less likely you’ll die, study finds by John Anderer

Steps for longer life: The more you walk, the less likely you’ll die, study finds
by John Anderer