Manners maketh massage

How many times will you go into a massage "parlor" or spa and come out thinking, I'm worse now than before!

Have you ever gone in to get a massage and the one performing the massage knew barely any English, so you couldn't communicate the pressure they were giving was too much too quick?

Here are a few key points my instructors in massage school stressed to me in my own words and interpretation:

1. Always introduce yourself.
2. A punch line is only as good as the delivery.
3. Ease into the deeper points.
4. Good to give, good to receive.
5. Flow with the breathe.

1. Always introduce yourself, and your technique. Just as you would start a conversation with someone, it is only polite to start by introducing yourself. Applying massage techniques to a muscle is the same. You start with gentle quick banter and small talk, easing into the conversation.

As I write this, I realize rapport building is something I could use some more practice improving. Of course, that is all part of life... one must continue to grow in self.

A muscle responds the same way. You must first get past basic defense mechanisms and get past the walls in order to address the mess inside.

2. A punch line is only as good as the delivery. Have you ever heard a joke that just kept building and building and when the punchline came you wondered, is there more to the joke?

Dragging along surface level techniques start to make the muscles bored. A good joke varies pitch and speech patterns and the punch line almost always follows a pause, a breathe. In the same way, surface techniques vary from gliding motions to percussive beating, all which are delivered in a way that to wake up the muscles and get their attention.

3. Ease in to the deeper points. Just as you wouldn't want someone probing into your private secrets when they first meet you, trust must first be gained. Trust comes from ease and comfort. One feels safest in the deepest hug. What is meant by this is that when one can sink into one's touch and embrace of self opens wide to changes. More simply, to get a boulder moving, it begins with small movements that build into bigger ones.

4. Good to give, good to receive. This statement is a summarized Thai philosophy about the way things interact most effectively. In order for effective interaction that ends in good results, one must both feel good both about what is being said or done as well as the delivery of it. When one or the other does not feel good about what is being done, defenses go back up and all the work being done after that just adds to the wall being built. In order to get past the wall, the door must be open.

When applied to massage, this deals with both body mechanics and the application of techniques. The massage therapist must follow proper body mechanics or end up hurting oneself. Also, the application of the technique will be delivered ineffectively if the body is out of alignment. On the receiving end of the technique, if done correctly, it feels good. If misapplied, the technique will feel disconnected, or worse case, cause injury.

5. Flow with the breathe. All massage techniques follow a rule about breathing. Some follow the breathe of the practitioner, others flow with the breathe of the receiver. Either way, paying attention to the way one is breathing and moving with the breathe follows along with the preceding principle of feeling good.

The inhale is best as preparation to the application of the push on the exhale. An inhale opens up the passages and engages the muscles. It is almost like traffic when Emergency services is moving down the road with sirens blaring. The road opens up, but the cars are stuck on the side of the road.

Exhale on the stretch. The exhale opens up the fibers as they are in movement. Traffic now flows again. This allows for release of the built up lactic acid which is being trapped by the muscle fibers trying to protect the body from the adverse tissue. This allows the body to move those toxins and dead cells out of the effected area and replace them with good cells and nutrients needed to repair the tissue.