At The Sanctuary Holistic Studio, every session—whether Holistic Massage Therapy, Bioenergy Healing Therapy, Anma Therapy, or a therapeutic combination of modalities—activates your body’s natural ability to restore balance. After a treatment, it’s normal to experience shifts as your body rebalances. This is known as a Healing Response or Healing Crisis. Below is what you may notice, why it happens, and how to support your recovery gently and effectively.
WHAT IS POST THERAPY AFTERCARE?
Aftercare refers to the simple but essential steps you take after your holistic treatment to support your body as it integrates the physical, emotional, and energetic changes from your session.
During any therapeutic modality—whether Holistic Massage, Bioenergy Healing, Anma Therapy, Lymphatic Release, Fascia Work, or blended approaches—your body goes through a process of:
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releasing tension
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shifting stored emotions
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improving circulation
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recalibrating the nervous system
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activating detox pathways
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reorganising neuromuscular patterns
Aftercare ensures your body completes this healing cycle safely and effectively.
WHAT YOU MAY EXPERIENCE AFTER A SESSION
Muscle Tightness or Soreness
As tension patterns unwind, muscle fibres release metabolic waste (such as lactic acid). This can create temporary soreness similar to post-exercise discomfort.
It usually lasts 24–48 hours and is a sign your body is recalibrating.
Emotional Release
Bioenergy and holistic therapies often unlock stored emotions held in fascia, muscle memory, or the nervous system.
You may feel unusually sensitive, reflective, weepy, or deeply calm.
This is a natural part of nervous system regulation and parasympathetic activation.
Headache or Light Sensations
Increased circulation, lymphatic drainage, and energy flow can cause temporary pressure shifts or mild headaches.
This usually settles once your body completes its detoxification processes.
Fatigue or Sleepiness
Your body shifts from “fight or flight” to “rest and digest.” Fatigue indicates your system is repairing, integrating, and recharging.
Deep rest is restorative and expected.
Heightened Awareness in the Body
You may notice warmth, tingling, pulsing, or energy movement. This reflects improved blood flow, oxygenation, and nervous system communication.
HOW TO SUPPPORT YOUR BODY AFTER TREATMENT
Hydration – Drink Plenty of Water
Your lymphatic system becomes more active during massage and energy therapy.
Hydration helps your body:
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Flush out metabolic waste
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Support circulation
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Maintain electrolyte balance
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Reduce inflammation and soreness
Sip water slowly for the next 24 hours to support detoxification.
Gentle Walking – Keep Energy & Circulation Moving
After a holistic treatment, your body has just released tension, improved circulation, opened blocked energy pathways, and shifted the nervous system from stress to safety. Gentle walking is one of the fastest ways to help your brain understand, stabilise, and integrate these changes. A short 10–20 minute walk after your session also helps:
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Prevent stiffness
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Support lymph drainage
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Stabilise your nervous system
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Improve oxygen supply to muscles
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Integrate emotional or energetic release
Movement anchors the healing work into your body.
Gratitude Reflection – Anchor the Nervous System
End your day with a short gratitude practice—just 1–2 minutes.
Why? Because gratitude:
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Activates the parasympathetic nervous system
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Releases calming neurotransmitters like serotonin
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Enhances emotional resilience
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Supports the mind-body connection formed during your session
A moment of gratitude tells your body:
“You are safe. You can relax. Healing is allowed.”
BREATHWORK MEDITATION AND BODY SCAN – Supporting Nervous System Integration
After a holistic treatment, your nervous system shifts from a state of stress or hypervigilance into deeper relaxation and repair. Breathwork meditation and body scan practices help your brain stabilise these changes so your body can continue healing long after the session ends. These practices are not simply “relaxation.” They create measurable neurological, physiological, and emotional benefits.
Why Breathwork Helps After a Treatment
Your breath is the quickest pathway to influence the autonomic nervous system — the part that controls stress, relaxation, digestion, inflammation, and healing.
Scientific research shows that slow, conscious breathing:
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Activates the vagus nerve, your body’s main “calming” nerve
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Lowers cortisol, the stress hormone
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Increases heart-rate variability (HRV), a key marker of resilience
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Improves emotional regulation by reducing activity in the amygdala
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Enhances oxygen flow to tissues that have just been released during treatment
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Reinforces parasympathetic dominance — the state where healing happens
After a session, your nervous system is open, receptive, and realigning.
Breathwork helps lock in the benefits, especially if emotional release or trauma patterns were activated.
Why a Body Scan Is Important After Treatment
A body scan meditation helps your brain integrate the structural and energetic changes that occurred during your session.
Science shows that body-awareness practices:
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Activate the insula, the part of the brain responsible for sensing the internal state of the body (interoception)
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Improve proprioception — your brain’s understanding of where the body is in space
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Reduce pain perception by retraining neural pathways
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Improve emotional processing by linking the body with the prefrontal cortex
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Help release residual tension before it re-patterns itself
In simple terms:
A body scan teaches your brain how your body is supposed to feel now — relaxed, open, and safe. This is crucial for long-term change.
To learn more, read our full blog: Why Body Scan Meditation Supports Chronic Pain Recovery
START WITH GUIDED PRACTICES
How Often to Do It
Just 5–10 minutes of breathwork or body scan on the day of your treatment can significantly:
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Reduce soreness
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Deepen relaxation
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Maintain emotional balance
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Reinforce the treatment’s neurological effects
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Prevent your body from slipping back into old tension patterns