Tag Archives: massage techniques

Massage Tutorial Video: 4 Myofascial Stretches

Massage Tips and Tricks, Massage Video,

Want to make your massage client “feel taller,” all while delivering some feel-good meditative contact? Check out my new tutorial video:

Really, these are all just simple table stretches; the trick is in their delivery. They feel good done briefly, but interesting stuff starts happening when you slow down and let your hands do some listening. I find these to be opportunities to connect with my client, and they’re excellent ways of opening or closing a massage!

In fact, let’s talk more about how to end a massage. What do you do to let your clients know that the session has reached its end? This can be verbal or non-verbal. Looking forward to your thoughts!

Massage Video: Working with Shoulder Pain After Surgery

Here’s a new video about how I work with postsurgical shoulder pain. I talk about my strategy, and I demonstrate specific techniques for working gently from a myofascial perspective:

I’d like to highlight something that’s changed for me in my practice: While I do explore the client’s range of motion, I do my best to avoid those painful end-points. Over the course of my career, I’ve found that mobilization can work just as well (or better!) when it’s done painlessly. If done patiently and with good communication, it can be a way of demonstrating to the client that safe movement is possible. I’ve frequently had clients stand up with a greater comfortable range of motion despite the fact that I didn’t try to increase that ROM on the table!

I’ve also started erring on the side of less specific work during that first session, especially in areas that are prone to guarding or spasm. That specific stripping and trigger point work can still be incorporated in future sessions, but by working broadly at first, I can help the client gradually get used to movement and contact without provoking spasm or next-day tightness.

Let me know what you think! Is there anything that you’d add or do differently? Did I finally drone on for too long during a video? 🙂

Thanks to my 124 Patreon supporters! You may have noticed that I’ve been posting videos more frequently, and your monthly support makes that possible. My goal is 500 patrons by the end of the year—if you’d like to join in, check out https://www.patreon.com/MassageSloth.

Massage Video: Deep Tissue Basics (Applying Pressure and Making Contact)

This one goes back to the basics. How to apply pressure during a deep tissue massage:

I’d like to talk a bit more about that “first contact” that I mention in the video. This is something that I discussed at length in my live Facebook video from yesterday: That first contact is an opportunity to set the tone for the rest of the massage, and for the entirety of your therapeutic relationship.

Everything else is important, of course. Your initial interview can do a lot to open lines of honest communication, which is vital if you’re going to give your client the best massage possible. The whole massage will tell a story and give the client a better concept of their own body. Your conversation afterward can make the client feel heard and fully considered.

But that first contact? That can be when your client decides, “okay, this is the massage therapist for me.” It can be the difference between a one-off session and a client for life.

So, no matter how busy your day is or how rushed you’re feeling, take your time with that first contact. Take that time to center yourself and do some breathing as your hands melt onto that unique body in front of you. Resist the urge to move on to the “real massage” as soon as possible. There’s plenty of time to get to the other stuff, so allow that first touch to have meaning.

I also talk about how to apply pressure in a way that feels confident and profound, but I don’t feel like waxing poetic about that right now 🙂

Let me know what you think. Do you find yourself rushing through the introduction to your massage? Do you get caught up in the “short and sharp” style I mention in the video? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.

Massage Video: 5 Massage Methods I’ve Abandoned

New instructional video! This one’s on five massage practices that I no longer make use of:

Why? Some of them were a little more trouble than they were worth. As much as I love psoas work, for example, it takes a good 10 minutes of my session if I give it the time and consideration it deserves. I’ve found that I can accomplish much with low back and hip pain by working with related structures. While I don’t always contact psoas, I know that by working with its synergists and antagonists, I’m having a wide-ranging effect.

Some of my old methods may have even been causing harm. The extreme neck stretches/massage that I learned in many continuing education courses (and that I see in many YouTube videos) are asking a LOT from a collection of rather delicate and sensitive structures. As I say in the video, side effects from this work can range from pain to syncope, and there’s even a chance for tissue trauma in vulnerable clients. Does this mean I don’t work with the neck? Heck no, I can spend a good half hour there 🙂 I just work within existing ROM, and avoid techniques that might compromise the local nervous and vascular tissue. I’ll have a demonstration of a good myofascial technique for working with neck ROM up soon.

It’s likely that you’ll find a point or two to disagree with in this video. I’d like to hear about it, and I’d also like to hear about massage methods and strategies that you’ve given up over the course of your career. Why’d you give them up, and what have you replaced them with?

Massage Malady #1: Invisible Jean Shorts Syndrome

Massage Maladies, Massage Tips and Tricks,

Let’s talk about some common massage problems. First up: Invisible Jean Shorts Syndrome. This is where a massage therapist conspicuously stops massage techniques far before their logical conclusion, as if the client were wearing a pair of jean shorts from the 1990s.

Massage Malady #1

Your massage therapist starts a lovely stroke down your back, your spine starts to decompress, the pressure is perfect and… they stop at L2, thwarted as if by a force field. They’re traveling up the hamstrings, really ironing them out, the world is wonderful, and… they stop 6 inches from your ischial tuberosity.

Now, I don’t mean to make you feel bad if you’ve got issues about the gluteal region. That’s fine, that’s not unusual, and it’s something that we’ll talk about in the future. If, however, you’ve got no issues with the glutes: There’s something uniquely frustrating, as a client, about a technique half-delivered!

When you’re thinking myofascial work, consider the origin and insertion sites, then go PAST them. Work broadly, integrating the body even as you target specific parts. Becoming too single-minded and focused can result in a disjointed “story of the body,” something that can reinforce people’s disconnection from their “bad shoulder,” “bad ankle,” etc.

It’s easy to get worried about intruding on people’s personal space, but that’s a matter of communication. You can ask your client specifically about the hip region, and ask them to let you know if they’re ever uncomfortable. I’ll repeat this on the table, saying, “Let me know if I’m too far into your personal space.” This seems to set a lot of minds at ease, including my own.

Let me know what you think. Are you hesitant about working toward the pelvis? Let’s talk about it.

And yes, I spent about 20 minutes lovingly applying jean shorts to da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. You’re welcome.