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7. You'll need a partner for this one. Have her lie face-down on a comfort-
able surface with her back exposed, and then gently lift her arm, bend it
at the elbow, and place her hand on her lower back. Let her upper arm
rest down along her side. You'll notice that by doing this you cause a big
bump to appear on her upper back. Feel along the edges of this triangular-
shaped bone, otherwise known as the
Answers: 1. elbow, 2. Inner ankle bone, 3. heel, 4. thigh, 5. hip, 6. jaw, 7. shoul-
der blade.
These are just a few of the many landmarks you can palpate, and this game is
meant to get you comfortable with the fact that you can actually feel and
affect the structures of anatomy without being a scientist or doctor. When
you practice hands-on massage, remember this and use your knowledge to
guide you through your partner's body.
Sett tissues
Now that you know how to familiarize yourself with bony landmarks, you're
probably wondering about all the other parts of your body that are not bony
landmarks. After all, you're not going to be massaging bones. It's the soft
tissue that you'll have In your hands most of the time, and by soft tissue I
don't mean Kleenex brand facial tissues. I mean muscles, mostly, and a little
bit of connective tissue as well.
VINI0+ Muscles comprise 40 to 60 percent of your total body weight, depending
upon your gender and physical condition, and you have over 600 of them,
large and small. Each one is compartmentalized in a sheath of fascia, which
sets it apart and helps it function as a distinct unit, although the truth is that
you never use just one muscle to perform any given action. As Mark Beck
says in Theory and Practice of Therapeutic Massage, "Muscles have anatomic
individuality, but they do not have functional individuality." They are always
working in groups to create movement. That's their whole purpose for being.
The larger obvious muscles you can see simply through observing a body In
motion are called skeletal muscles. There are also two other types of muscle
tissue: cardiac and smooth. Cardiac, as the name implies, Is the special
muscle tissue that makes up the heart. Smootlrmuscle lines the stomach,
intestines, and blood vessels.
The slightest movement of the most mundane part of your anatomy (your
left knee, for example) requires the precisely timed and perfectly executed
synchronization of many muscles, and there's absolutely no way that you
could consciously coordinate all that without going nuts. Imagine Michael
Jordan driving in for a lay-up and having to fire off messages to every single
one of his separate muscles to do so. It would look something like this:
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"Okay, contract the quadriceps, especially the rectus femoris, and simultane-
ously pull in the psoas, push off the soleus, shorten the gastrocnemius, and
extend the web of flexors and the tibialis anterior. Now compensate for the
lifted foot by tightening the opposite gluteus maximus and bracing all the
muscles in the lower back, too numerable to mention here. Whoops, that
threw me off, and ... whoa!"
And down he'd go, before even moving one step. In fact, It's much more com-
plex than that for even the simplest of maneuvers, and we'd all be helpless to
try and stand up, sit down, or walk to the refrigerator if we had to think about it.
So how do we do it? Basically, we learn to move one little piece at a time as
we develop during infancy and childhood, laying each chunk of the pattern
down in a movement-memory groove, and then building upon it with the next
movement. That's why you see babies experimenting with things like kicking
their legs out, bobbing their heads around, and bringing small electrical
appliances toward their mouths for examination. Every time they do some
thing successfully and then master it through repetition, they file it away, and
that's one less thing they have to consciously think about next time. Of
course, this is the same procedure that athletes use later in life through their
practice as they gradually layer all the perfect little movements they need
one upon the next until they no longer have to think about it but rather, "Just
do it."
By all of this explanation, I mean to say that muscles don't just flex and con-
tract — they learn. What you're holding in your hands when you massage
someone is conscious matter. In fact, It's your muscles that tell you where
you are in space and time, through special nerve endings embedded in your
muscles known as proprioceptors. I don't want to freak you out with bizarre
sounding anatomical terms, but there are two of these proprioceptors that
are particularly interesting and important, and I want to share them with you.
3 Golgi tendon organs are nerve endings found, strangely enough, in your
tendons. They measure how far any particular tendon has stretched,
how much pressure it's putting on the nearby bone, and if the tendon's
in danger of snapping. It's through these little organs that you are saved
from ripping yourself to shreds and pulling all your muscles and tendons
right off the bone.
3 Muscle spindle cells are found in the center of muscles, what's known as
the "belly," where they perform the important task of constantly commu-
nicating the state of the muscle's contraction and movement back to the
central nervous system. They are basically scouts on the outpost of
your active physical self. Without them, you wouldn't be able to tell
where you were going, how fast, or if you were going at all.
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Cartilage, ligaments, and tendons
Many people find themselves confusedly refer- V Cartilage gives shape to external features
ring to various connective tissue structures like the nose and ears, and it is also found
between the muscles and bones as "tendons" between bones as a cushion at the joints.
or 'ligaments" or "cartilage" without really (Vertebral discs are made from cartilage, for
knowing what the heck they're talking about. example.)
Now, I knowyou're not one of those people, but
3 Ligaments connect bone to bones.
just in case you have a friend who's guilty of
such anatomical faux pas, here's the skinny to tor Tendons connect muscle to bone.
set you straight
Muscle tissue itself is largely insensate, meaning if someone were to cut, jab,
or even burn you directly on an exposed muscle, you quite likely wouldn't
feel much at all. Your muscles don't so much feel massage as they experience
massage as it retrains them how to be more relaxed in stillness, and fluid in
movement.
Muscles learn, and massage teaches.
Name that muscle
What often intimidates people when they're first learning massage is the
anonymity and invisibility of muscles. Skin is plainly visible: You can clearly
watch your own hands make contact with somebody else's body, skin to skin.
But muscles? How can you really tell what muscle you're touching when that
muscle is covered by the skin? And besides, the muscles are all jumbled
together and not that clearly defined, except in professional body builders,
whose muscles are so hard and tight that they're almost impossible to mas-
sage anyway. So how are you expected to really know what the heck you're
touching when you're touching a body?
Glad you asked. This brings us directly to our next little exercise: Name That
Muscle. This game is a bit tougher because you need to know the names of
the muscles, which you might have forgotten if you weren't paying close
attention in high school anatomy class. So, to be fair, I'm going to give you
the answers first. Can't complain about that, right? All you have to do is
match the right muscle in Figure 4-4 to its description and action. If you're
not sure about one, see whether you can use common sense and deductive
reasoning to figure out which the best choice might be. It will help if you
actually perform the action described in the questions so that you FEEL the
muscles you're looking for. After all, feeling is what this book is all about.
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Posterior View Anterior View
Spinalis capitis
Pectoral
Spinalis certicis Trapezius
Rhomboids
Spinalis thoraces
Recta
abtlominus
Paces
Gluteus maxima;
Hamstrings:
Figure 4-4: leaps Ismail,
Serrriteadinosus
See
Seminembranosus
whether you
can match
the right
muscle to its
description.
First, here are the answers:
3 Pectorals
3 Deltoid
3 Spinal's
3 Rectus abdongnis
3 Gastrocnemius
3 Hamstrings
3 Triceps
3 Gluteus maxims
3 Trapezius
3 Biceps
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1. Standing with your back against a wall, push against the wall with one
heel and reach around to the back of your thigh to feel a tightening in
your
2. Place the back of your hand flat on the edge of a desk or table in front of
you and then push that hand firmly down onto the desk. With the other
hand, feel the underside of your upper arm and discover a tightening in
your
3. Standing up tall, lift your right leg out behind you as far as it will go com-
fortably, keeping it straight. Place your hand on your right buttock to
feel a tightening in the
4. Reach across with your left hand and place it on top of your right shoul-
der, right next to your neck. Now shrug your right shoulder as far up
toward your ear as possible to feel a contraction of your
5. Standing up, push onto your tip toes to feel a contraction of the
in the rear of your lower legs.
6. Sitting in front of a desk or table, place one hand palm-up beneath the
table and lift up, creating a contraction in the muscle of your
upper arm.
7. When you lie down to perform a sit-up, the muscles in the front of your
body that you're trying to tone through contraction are the
8. Stand in front of a wall and push forward against it with your right hand
while touching the right upper portion of your chest with the left hand.
The muscles you feel bulging beneath your fingers are the
9. Sitting up straight, reach across with your right hand and place it on the
left shoulder, out by the arm. Now lift the left arm straight out to the side
until it's at a ninety degree angle from your body, engaging the
muscle beneath your hand.
10. You'll need a partner for this one. Have him lie on his stomach, with no
shirt on, and then ask him to lift his head and shoulders off the floor
with no help from his arms. The two long cords of muscle down along
either side of his spine are part of the group.
Answers: I. hamstrings, 2. triceps, 3. gluteus maximus, 4. trapezius, 5. gas-
trocnemius, 6. biceps, 7. rectus abdominis, 8. pectorals, 9. deltoid,
10. spinalis.
These three extra credit muscles are more obscure and I don't blame you if
you don't know them offhand, but it may be fun to see whether you can deci-
pher which is which.
0 3 Rhomboid
3 Latissimus dorsi
3 Psoas
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1. If you stand up and lift one leg in front of you with the knee bent, you
engage a deep muscle that connects your leg bone to your backbone
called the
2. You'll need to observe a partner for this one. Have her sit facing away
from you with her back exposed and then gently reach one of her hands
up as far as possible along her spine. Her shoulder blade will lift and
you'll be able to feel between it and the spine for the muscle.
3. Lift your right hand over your head and reach across with the left hand
to grasp your right side below the armpit. The large muscle you feel
there is the
Extra credit answers: 1. psoas, 2. rhomboid, 3.1atissimus dorsi.
This is not a test. Repeat, this is not a test. It's just a way for you to become
familiar with locating muscles. I refer you to several of these landmarks, bony
and otherwise, when you move through the how-to massage chapters in Part III.
Other Body Systems
Don't get the idea that it's just the skin, muscles, and bones that count when
it comes time to massage somebody. You also deal with a few other anatomi-
cal systems that are strongly affected by your touch as well. These include
the...
3 Circulatory system
3 Nervous system
3 Endocrine system
3 Digestive system
3 Respiratory system
The next few sections take a brief look at these systems and discuss how
they're important when you give or receive a massage.
Cireutettery system
The heart is constantly pumping your blood (about 11 pints of it in a 160-
pound adult) out through your arteries and into each and every tiny little cell
of your body, carrying the nutrients and oxygen that make it possible for you
to stay alive. Then the blood travels back to your heart through the veins. On
this return trip, the blood has to pass through a series of one-way valves that
keep it from accidentally heading back in the wrong direction.
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Massage strokes have a direct effect on the flow of blood in the veins, so keep
In mind that when you massage someone, your strokes should always be in
the direction of venous flow. You wouldn't want to accidentally push the
blood back through these valves and therefore weaken them. When a number
of the valves weaken and stop working efficiently, blood can pool up visibly
and form varicose veins.
As much as half of all your blood is in your skin at any given moment, which
accounts for that rosy glow certain people have, and also for the less healthy
appearance of varicose veins and other problems. Massage works powerfully
on your circulatory system, and for this reason you should always be aware
of how your hands are affecting it.
Massage also affects that other circulating fluid referred to in Chapter 1, the
lymph. In fact, there is an entire system of massage called manual lymphatic
drainage meant to assist the movement of the lymph because, as you may
know from Chapter 1, lymph has no heart of its own to pump it along.
Nervous system
As a busy person in the twenty-first century, you don't have any time to
fiddle around reminding your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, and so on.
Lucidly, your autonomic nervous system takes care of all that for you. This
system is further broken down into the sympathetic and parasympathetic ner-
vous systems. The sympathetic nerves prepare your body for action, and the
parasympathetic nerves calm you down. Massage is a great way to stimulate
the parasympathetic nervous system, thereby lowering the pulse, slowing
breathing, and in general, chilling you out.
The largest and longest nerve in the body is the sciatic, which many people
are painfully familiar with. It runs from the base of your spine down the back
of your leg, and when any of its length becomes pinched or trapped between
muscles, bones, and connective tissues, it can cause the condition known as
sciatica. That's the way all nerves work; you don't want to get in their way or
piss them off. Massage can help soften the muscles and other soft tissue that
surround nerves and sometimes entrap them.
As I mention earlier in this chapter, you also have specialized nerves called
proprioceptors that tell you where your body is in space, giving you your
sense of depth, position, and movement. Without them, you'd be internally
blind, and by making you more aware of them, massage can help you "see"
yourself in a new way from the inside out. Chapter 7 has some exercises to get
you in touch with your proprioceptors. Look for "The limp arm experiment."
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The mind-body connection
Did you ever wonder what the heck people Actually, the mind-body connection is simply
were talking about when they used the term awareness. It's an awareness that permeates
mind-body connection? Is it part of the nervous way.down into every cell of your body, as com-
system youveren't told about in school? Did pared tote awareness of your brainalone. It's
you think maybe there was a tube or special the entire.you consciously affecting every other
cable of.S ome kind near the base of your neck partofyou.
that linked your mind and your body, and that
This whole mind/body split problem developed
you were the onlyone who hadn't been shown
gradually over many centuries and was not
where it was? Well, don't worry; you're not
really caused by any one individual, but many
alone. In a far-reaching survey conducted by my
scholars have pointed to the French philosopher
wife one day at her restaurant, it was ascer-
and mathematician Rene Descartes as having
tained that only 2.4 percent of normal people
had the greatest influence. He's the one who
understand what the term mind-body connec-
coined that famous Latin phrase, "Cogito, ergo
tion really means, and those people are
sum? which means "I think, therefore I am."
new-age geeks.
That was in 1637. Well, pretty much ever since
Typical incorrect responses about what the then people have been assuming that it was
mind-body connectionis included the following: only specific:types of electrical activityinside
3 That sinking feeling you get when your their skulls that proved they indeed existed.
VVhat's.glossed over in the history books is that
mind realizes your body did something it
Descartes neverreceived a great massage from
shouldn't have
an expert holistically oriented practitioner. If he
3 Nerves had, he certainly would have modified his state-
3 The neck ment a bit, to something like, "Cogito et sentio,
ergo sum? I think andI feel, therefore I am."
Endocrine system
Heard of hormones? The glands that make up the endocrine system are what
secrete hormones into your body. It's been shown that massage stimulates
the release of human growth hormone (HGH), among others, thereby affect-
ing the healthy maturation of your entire body.
Digestive system
Your digestive system is a tube approximately five times as long as you are
tall (see Figure 4-5). This tube, along with several digestive organs, has the
magical ability to transform whatever enters it into a very special substance
known as "you." Massage can beneficially stimulate this process if you're
familiar with the various twists and turns this tube follows through your
body, especially over the large intestine.
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Figure 4-5:
From input
to output,
your food
travels
about 30
feet. It's a
good idea to
follow the
general
direction of
this path-
way when
massaging
the
abdomen.
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Cleaning the pipes
If you visit a health food store and search of herbs comes along to "sweep" it all out. It's
through the:herbei.potionsthatiinet heshelves, similar tothe technique favored'by many garage
youll,firid some stienge-looking mixturesthat mechanicsof throwing sawdust on dirty grease
granite "internatt lea Ming:" The ingredients in before pushing it away withe broom.
these products have two major actions: ebsOrp-
This type of cleansing is highly advisable, and
ton and expulsion; and they act priinarily in your
some extra massage at the same time may-aid
large intestine, alsecalledthe:colon. Fiftt, cer,
the elimination process by Stimulating lymph
tainingredients (often psyllium husktlrabtorb.
flow.
mut h. of theinatter that.teridsto.get lodged in
the many.folds Ogle colonrand.thene mixture
One landmark along the digestive pathway that many people are able to pal-
pate Is the cecum, which is a little pouch at the beginning of the large
intestine, or colon. You can locate it by first touching bony landmark number
5, your right hip bone, and then walking your fingers in toward your belly
button a couple of inches. Sometimes this spot makes a liquid-squishing
noise, especially after meals. In Part III, I discuss how to use this landmark as
a starting point for some abdominal massage techniques.
Respiratory system
Breathing is an extremely important activity for human beings, as can be
attested to by the millions of people around the world who have stopped
breathing and suffered serious side-effects, even death. Massage is an excel-
lent opportunity to engage in some full deep breathing, as described In
Chapter 7. This reconnects you with the source of life. It also fills your blood
with fresh oxygen because the first place your blood goes when it leaves your
heart is the lungs.
Surprising facts about your stomach
Mott of us think of the stomadh as a. large it't lined with smooth muscle. What
roundith balli n the center of our abdothens, but .peopletre really referring to.when they.poiht at
actually ifs a smallish.oval sack up anko the the center oftheir abdomen andsay "Look how
left, tucked mostly under the ribs on the side of flatmy stoniadh it" is actually the intestines.
your body by your heart Like the entireintesti-
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Part
The Art of
Receiving
Massage
The 5th Wave
By Rich Tennant
' This is what I get £or marrying a massage
therapist. Every Thanksgiving he's got to knead
the tvrheiA, spine before YKYJ1 calve it."
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In this pan .
4 4
o
kay, I can hear you scoffing now: the art of receiving
massage? That's like the art of getting rained on. You
really don't have to try very hard; just step outside and
get wet. Anyone can do it.
Receiving massage? Nothin' to It. No problem. Child's play.
Right?
Wrong.
Receiving massage is more like dancing your part in a
very intricate pas-de-detuc, such as the tango, which, inter-
estingly, means "I touch" in Latin. Both activities, at their
best, are extremely interactive. During the tango, if you
just stand there and don't do anything, you're going to
make your partner look pretty bad. Similarly, when you
receive a massage, you've got to communicate with your
partner, through both verbal and nonverbal means, in
order to get the most out of the experience. Your partner
touches you, you react to that touch, your muscles
respond accordingly, and then your partner adjusts his
touch to suit the reaction, and you go back and forth like
this throughout the entire exchange, constantly conscious
of each other's presence and movement—two dancers
creating one dance.
A good massage is a two-way street, equal parts proper
giving and informed receiving. That's the focus of this part
of the book, in which you'll begin as a freshman in
Massage 101 and then graduate Just three chapters later
with the ability to receive a massage like a real pro. I
'mow, it's tough, but somebody's gotta do it.
Along the way, you'll master the tricky intricacies of mas-
sage vocabulary, discover the ten rules for receiving a
massage, and get the scoop on all the massage gizmos you
see for sale everywhere. I also cover the difference
between various massage styles, discuss how to enjoy the
pleasures of massage without guilt, and offer techniques
for increasing your touch-ability, and lots more.
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Chapter 5
A Massage Road Map
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO 0000000 000 00 OOOOOO 0 OOOOOO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00
In This Chapter
D Obtaining healthy pleasure
D Examining your touch-ability
D Choosing the right style of massage for you
D Deciphering touch terminology
00 0000000000000000000000000 0090000000000000009000
When you first begin to discover massage, you'll undoubtedly
encounter some strange new words and some strange new concepts
that might confuse you at first. Have no fear! This chapter is your own per-
sonal travel guide to help you navigate the sometimes puzzling new terrain in
the world of massage. Here you'll find out how to accept the pleasures of
massage into your life and how to choose the type of massage that's right for
you. You'll even find an English-Massage dictionary at the end of the chapter
that will help you speak the language of massage with other people.
Healthy Pleasure
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, sometimes massage is like a box of
chocolates — you never know exactly what you're gonna get, but you know
it's gonna be good. However, if you eat the whole thing, you're gonna end up
feeling guilty and a little bloated.
Many people just can't seem to understand that massage is anything more
than...
11 1.0 Indulgence
1.0' Luxury
t.01 Pampering
And therefore they pass when it comes to massage. Some people raise their
noses up at its pleasures as if they were too good for it. Others shy away from
the experience, calling it expensive and extravagant, as if massage were too
good for them.
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The Mary Poppins problem
In my opinion, you can trace the debilitating atti- As one scholarput it, "Recent research sup-
tude so many people have concerning pleasure ports the view that the deprivation of physical
back to one particular perton, somebody you'd pleasure is a major ingredient in the expression
never suspect Yes, Em talking about Mary of physical violence" (Juhan p.53). People need
Poppins. In the filth, she waltzes around looking pleasure to be healthy, and receiving massage
all prim and.respectable and happy in her tight- is one of the most natural, healthyways to expe-
fitting outfit, singing, "It takes a spoonful of rience pleasure without any negative side
sugar to help the meditine go down" until even- effects.
tually people end up believing her. Now,
The following definition is inscribed on a coffee
everybody thinks that anything good for him or
mug from a massage school in New Jersey:
her should feelhad. No pain, no gain, right? This
Mas-sage: In.lthe pleasure that relieves the
philosophy pretty much messed up an entire
pain. That's a good way to look at it. If you think
veneration. What if sugar was the medicine?
of massage as pleasurable medicine, you will be
What if pleasure — not the medicine — made
able to accepti t into your life more easily.
the pain goaway?
The underlying reason for both of these attitudes is guilt. Many people
simply have trouble Justifying paying for something that feels as good as mas-
sage. They also have difficulty justifying having another human pay such
lavish attention to them for an entire hour.
Well, this guilt is truly unfortunate, and completely unnecessary, because
massage is actually much better for you than chocolate. In fact, it has all of
the pleasures without any of the negative side effects. That's right, there's not
a single thing wrong with massage.
Massage ...
3 Is calorie free
3 Is fat free
3 Won't rot your teeth
3 Is impossible to overdose on
Well okay, massage does have one catch. Make no mistake about it, once you
taste good massage, you're going to want more — lots more. Like chocolate,
massage can be addictive. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. You can
receive a massage every day for the rest of your life with absolutely no nega-
tive side effects.
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In fact, beloved entertainer, Bob Hope, has received a massage almost every
day of his life for over fifty years. He's dragged a number of massage thera-
pists all over the globe with him while he was off entertaining the troops and
making his movies. I had the opportunity to massage him once myself. At the
time, he was 87 years old, but because of all the massage he'd received over
the years, his skin was smooth and supple, and his muscles were amazingly
well toned.
Of course, you may not have the time or money for a massage every day like
Bob Hope. But time or money isn't what's most likely to stop you in the first
place. It's your attitude.
Testing pour Touch-Ability
The one thing about massage that you really can't avoid is the fact that you
have to touch another human body in order to do it. This basic reality is
what keeps many people from taking the first step of either getting or receiv-
ing a massage. Touch another human? Yuck!
Most societies have quite a few touch-related taboos and complexes, things
that may be holding you back from experiencing massage. The following
touch-ability survey can help reveal your own, perhaps unconscious, touch
taboos, and suggest ways to overcome them. After you know what problems
you're dealing with, you can proceed more easily. Be totally honest with your-
self. There are no right or wrong answers, only helpful ones.
For each question, fill in the number that most closely matches your feelings.
3 Strongly disagree: 1
3 Disagree: 2
3 Neutral: 3
3 Agree: 4
3 Strongly agree: 5
1. My childhood family encouraged touching and hugging between
members.
2. I can offer a compassionate touch on the arm, shoulder, or back of
someone I don't know, and doing so feels natural.
3. When someone bumps me on the street, instead of feeling anger, my first
reaction is to brush it off as an accident.
4. My natural Inclination is to massage animals (at least ones that don't
bite), scratching them behind the ears to make them feel good.
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5. I can touch or be touched by someone I find attractive without having
sexual intentions or fantasies about them.
6. I prefer to go barefoot outdoors when safe and appropriate.
7. I have, on occasion, hugged a tree or draped myself luxuriously over a
warm rock in the sun.
8. I believe In heart-to-heart hugs that express my affection and openness
to people.
9. People tell me I have "good hands" and ask me to rub their shoulders
when they're feeling stiff or sore.
10. In work situations, I offer encouragement and recognition to others with
a heart-felt touch in combination with words of praise.
Total:
The higher the number you come up with, the greater likelihood that touch
and massage are something easy for you to accept in your life. If you scored a
50, great! Forge straight ahead into the following chapters, and enjoy. If you
scored in the 40s, you're among the most tactile people in the world, and
massage is probably a part of your life already. If you scored in the 20s or 30s,
you're somewhere in the average regarding touch-ability, and you may want
to stop here for a few minutes and consider trying some of the experiences
listed below. If you scored below twenty, you're still in the developmental
stage of touch-ability, and you will definitely benefit by trying some or all of
the following suggestions.
3 Pick a parent, sibling, or even a cousin and give that person a hug for no
reason.
3 The next time an appropriate situation arises, gently place your palm on
the shoulder of someone you've Just met, offering compassion and soli-
darity for a moment.
3 When someone bumps or jostles you, stop and take a deep breath and
look for the hidden cause of your anger. Usually, the anger results
because you feel that you're in the "right." Let go of being right and be
forgiving instead.
3 Spend a full fiveminutes concentrating on nothing else but massaging
the head and ears of a dog or cat (assuming you're not allergic, of
course).
3 Get a serious, therapeutic massage and concentrate on the inner relax-
ing of your muscles, Just to show yourself that massage involves more
than sensual pleasure.
3 Take a walk through a park barefoot, feeling the textures of various sur-
faces — sand, sidewalk, grass, gravel. Notice how your feet feel during
and afterwards.
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3 Head out to the woods, a quiet park, or deserted beach and hug a tree,
or drape yourself luxuriously over a warm rock in the sun.
3 Give a heart-to-heart hug that expresses your affection to someone who
would truly appreciate it.
3 The next time someone you know complains of tight shoulders, offer to
give him or her a five minute mini-massage. Don't worry about doing it
"right." Just focus on caring and compassion.
3 The next time someone you work with does something right, offer a
heart-felt touch on the arm or back in combination with a few words of
praise. Examine your intentions before making this sort of contact, to
make sure you don't have any subconscious motivations that could later
lead to a sexual harassment case. And offer this tactile support in plain
view of other coworkers.
So Lithe Time, So Many Massages
Okay, so you're filled with enthusiasm to go out and experience your first
massage; you pick up the phone, call a massage school or clinic in your area,
and ask to book an appointment. (See Chapter 8 for details on booking an
appointment).
"What kind of bodywork do you prefer?" asks the receptionist.
"Bodywork?"
"Yes. Massage."
"Oh. Just something that feels good," you say.
"Of course. But we offer several modalities. Would you prefer the Swedish,
the sports massage, the deep tissue, the Hellerwork, the Aston repatteming,
the Thai massage, or the neuromuscular session?"
"Ah, let me get back to you on that," you say, and you hang up ready to slip
quietly back into your non-massage lifestyle before you even begin.
Don't let this scenario happen to you! Now that you've decided to get a mas-
sage, the last thing you want is to get confused by the vast array of choices
available and end up not receiving any kind of massage at all.
Be forewarned, this section is just an overview of the types of massage avail-
able. For now, I just want to familiarize you with a few of the choices, based
upon the three main reasons that people decide to get a massage:
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3 To relax
3 To feel better
3 To improve your body's functioning
Often, your reasons are probably a combination of all three. You may have a
little pain in your shoulder you'd like to ease, but at the same time, you want
to lower your overall stress level. The three components of massage dovetail
with each other; what helps you relax may lessen your pain, what realigns
your body may help you relax, and soon.
The spiritual aspect of massage is a fourth component, a wild card that can
pop up unannounced during any type of massage. This spiritual aspect is the
way that you can use massage to attune to your own inner experience and
get in touch — literally — with a deeper sense of self. (See Chapter 7 for more
information on this topic.)
So which is the right style for you? Take a glance at the following categories
and become familiar with some of the massage styles associated with each.
Massage for relaxation
Stress and tension are real. The human body has developed through eons of
evolution to respond to stress and tension by preparing to either fight the
obstacle or run away from it. This, the famous fightorllight response, came in
very handy when primitive man was confronted with the occasional, large,
dangerous animal. But in modern times, people are faced with a constant,
unceasing barrage of tension-inducing stimuli, and they're getting overloaded
by it. If you live in a large metropolitan area, for instance, you're being
exposed to the equivalent of several dozen grizzly bears and a pack of raven-
ous wolves every time you venture out into rush-hour traffic.
Reducing the stress and tension in your life is a very good reason for wanting
to get a massage. You don't need any more justification than that.
If you're interested in relaxing massage, ask for the following:
3 Swedish massage: What most people envision when they think "mas-
sage." This method includes stroking, kneading, squeezing, rubbing, and
so on.
3 Light work: As in "not heavy," light work is a generic term for non-
intrusive, gentle massage. See the section "Remodeling your body for fun
and profit" later in this chapter for information about deeper massage
during which the therapist's fingers "intrude" into your musculature.
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When in Hawaii ...
Once, in Hawaii; I was inthe mood fora relaxing limbs around, all along skillfully keeping his
massage to help relieve jet lag-after a long trip. weight partially-supported by-the pole, one-end'
I was working at a spa there, and one of the of which he pushed against the floor to balance
massage therapists on staff, a native-Hawaiian himself.
named Wesley Sen, offered to give me a lomi
Wesley is not a-small guy I was amazed that he
longm assage.
could perform this-entire-balancing act, using
"Is that relaxing?" I asked as we walked my body as a tightrope, and never once cause
together back to my hotel room. me the slightest discornfort. Afterwards,. I was
more relaxed than I'd felt in mantmonths;the
"Sure it's relaxing," he said.
relaxation penetrated way down into my joints
"Then why are you carrying that pole with you?" and up my nerves.into my brain. Also,.a pain I'd
been experiencing in my shoulder disappeared,
Sure enough, Wesley was tarrying a thick, ten-
never to return again, and my digestion
foot long wooden pole in one hand. "It's just for
improved noticeably, too.
balance," he said. "Don't worry."
Skillfulyrelaxation Massage cant ake
Back in my room, Wesley had me lie down-on
beyond relaxation; healing what ails. otr and
the floor and then proceeded to pray over me in
improving your body's functioning as- Well.
Hawaiian, which sets the mood atthe beginning
Several massage styles offer relaxation as well
of every true lomi lomi experience. In his prayer,
as deeply therapeutic results, such as lomil am',
he invited:healing forces to be present with us in
Trager, Rubenfeld Synergy, and many others.
the room. For the next hour he stood on me,
kneeled on me, pressed on.me, and-tossed my
Po Relaxation massage: Another generic term for nice-and-easy massage,
relaxation massage usually refers to a light form of Swedish massage.
3 Esalen massage: Developed at the famous Esalen Institute in Big Sur,
California, this massage features many long, flowing, gentle strokes.
Plenty of massage styles leave you relaxed, but the Swedish style is the one
you're most likely to run into. Swedish massage is kind of like the Visa or
MasterCard of massage, accepted at millions of establishments around the
world. It has many therapeutic benefits also, and some of its more advanced
moves can be quite vigorous. If your intention is simply to chill out and be
soothed by soft fingers, make sure to request light, easy pressure during your
Swedish massage.
Communicate! Even if you're just trading massage with a friend, you have to
let the other person know what you want out of the experience.
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Pr massage
Many people visit their massage therapist for the same reason they visit their
doctor — to fix something that's painful. This type of massage Is called reme-
dial massage, because it's used as a remedy. Several types of massage,
including good-old, relaxing Swedish massage, can have definite remedial
effects; but here's a short list of some styles particularly well-known for
belonging to the "massage apothecary."
Of course, only well-trained professionals should attempt to give these types
of massage.
If you're interested in remedial massage, ask for the following:
3 Manual lymphatic drainage: This type of massage helps your body
flush toxins, such as pesticides and residual chemicals, by stimulating
the flow of lymph in your body. It's a very gentle massage that features
light superficial movements on the skin.
3 Touch for health: This treatment, which helps balance your inner heal-
ing energies, isn't really a massage at all because the therapist's hands
don't necessarily come into contact with the recipient's body. The tech-
nique was developed by a nurse on the faculty at New York University
and has been taught to thousands of healthcare practitioners.
3 Neuromuscular therapy: This type of massage works on tight muscles
that create the deep patterns of tension that can keep you in pain.
3 Cranio-sacral: This type of massage adjusts the healthy functioning of
your spine and cranium.
3 Deep tissue massage: This generic term refers to any number of thera-
pies that apply deep pressure and affect the body's connective tissues.
3 Shiatsu: This massage involves pressure point therapy — to balance the
entire body and restore health — on specific points along invisible
energy lines In the body called meridians.
Shiatsu is the most well-known of several types of massage that work on
the meridians. It can be quite relaxing, but its primary focus is on restor-
ing health and balance, as are other types of massage that work on these
energy lines.
After having a serious car accident, a young man in Ohio began experiencing
severe, debilitating pain every day. His doctors told him they had no drugs or
surgery that could help him and that he'd have to learn to live with the pain,
but his mother decided there must be a better way. She took him to see a
massage therapist who treated the young man for several months using neu-
romuscular and cranlo-sacral therapies. The end result was a pain-free young
man who has now decided to become a massage therapist himself in order to
help other people.
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