Renew yourself

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As a massage therapist, but this is true for all people, it's important to renew yourself and regularly learn new skills. If you don't undertake these challenges, there's a risk of your life growing stale as well as your craft. It's healthy for your mind to expand and grow your expertise. Not only your customers or workplace will benefit, but you will also.

It is also a good break from daily life and treadmill to take time out and devote it to mastering a new skill. You gain new challenges, you get away from habits and routines. Once mastering what you set out to learn, you have the benefit of accomplishment and success.

Learning new skills can be a great way to boost your energy and obtain renewed interest in your profession and work.

Today, as this post is published, I'm sitting in the Eurostar heading to England. I'll attend a 4 days intensive course in LaStone Therapy at LaStone UK in Chelmsford, Essex. The classes take place Thursday to Sunday from 8:45 to 5pm all four days.

The course I'm taking is called LaStone Original Body and teaches the techniques, information and theory needed to give good and therapeutic Hot and Cold Stone Massages. It's the first step in an exciting journey and I greatly look forward to it.

Clothed massage

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It's easy to get the impression that you need to undress in order to receive a massage. This is not true. It's perfectly possible to receive a good and also therapeutic massage even if you're clothed. The massage techniques used are somewhat different, and the experience will be another compared to a normal unclothed massage.

It is essential though that you wear clothes which are loose and comfortable no matter what position you might find yourself in. It's also preferably that there's only one thin layer of material between you and the therapist. Thick layers of cloth makes it hard for the therapist to feel the muscles and tensions and will also absorb part of the pressure, thereby reducing the effect of the massage.

The techniques used for clothed massage is often pressure and stretching. Petrissage (kneading of the muscles) is another technique possible, as well as tampotement (tapping), grasping and vibration. There are other techniques used within various massage styles and schools. Some typical clothed massages would include Chair/Seated Massage, Thai Massage and Shiatsu.

The most important when doing clothed massage, is to make sure the material of the garments doesn't slide across the skin. The only thing which should be moved is the layer of skin over the muscles, which in most cases will reduce the stroke to only a few centimetres in size. It's the deeper layers which are moved, like grabbing a muscle and lifting it up and releasing it again.

Next time you get the chance, try to massage a co-worker or friend on the shoulders and focus on not sliding the clothes across the skin, but only work on the muscle underneath. Once you master this, your clothed massages will have improved greatly, and it's easy to implement techniques and knowledge from normal massage into your routines.

Breathing

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When you use the chest instead of with the stomach (diaphragm) to breathe, you can cause trigger points and tensions the upper chest and back. This can result in headaches, numbness and pains in chest, arm, shoulder and hand.

For instance the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome can be caused by tensions and trigger points in some of the muscles which lift the chest (scalenes). The tensions can come from something as simple as a bad cold which makes you breathe differently.

Breathing with the chest is for many a habit that they don't think about. For people who suffers from asthma, illnesses which makes them cough, emotional tension and hyperventilation are all prone to trigger points in the scalenes and in the sternocleidomastoid. Sports and activities which makes you breathe quickly can cause trigger points as well, due to the effort of breathing.

The muscles primarily affected by poor breathing techniques are the sternocleidomastoid, the scalenes and serratus anterior. Trigger points found in the sternocleidomastoid is one of the main reasons for headaches, as described in my article Dealing with headaches. From the scalenes comes pain and numbness in the shoulder, arm and hand, as well as upper back and back pains. Pain from the serratus anterior is felt in the side and at the lower edge of the shoulder blade.

When you breathe correctly, the stomach is moving in and out and the chest barely rises. The lower in your stomach you draw your breath, the better. It will take conscious effort for a couple of weeks before you will begin to breathe automatically with your stomach.

Please make the effort to teach yourself to breathe with your stomach. It can prevent a range of issues, and it's good for your health, your stress and general well-being.

Communication

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When you receive a massage it's important to communicate with the therapist. Let her know if there's something that's not to your liking or you'd like changed. It's very tempting to just let go, float away and not bother saying what you like and don't like. But by not speaking up about it, you do yourself a disfavour and the massage will become a bad experience.

Most therapists can feel with their hands where the sore spots are and the tensions in the muscles are hiding. But what we can't easily tell is how painful it feels for you, or if the pain refers to other places. Especially when working on trigger points, we feel this small knot or nodule, we can feel how hard and big it is, but what we can't tell is if the pain refers to other body parts or if it just feels sore or like a needle stabbing you.

Some people like a deep painful touch, where others tense up from the slightest discomfort. There are people with such control over their pain and muscles, that even if they feel it hurts too much for them, their muscles won't tense up. A muscle tensing up is usually the first sign that a touch is too hard, so that's what we focus on if the client doesn't speak up about the pain.

A massage should never be painful. Sore is fine, short bursts of uncomfortable pain can happen especially when working on trigger points, but overall, a massage must be pleasant and comfortable, relaxing and enjoyable.

There are also days when you might just need a gentle soft touch instead of the deep touch working on all the sore spots. The therapist can't know what you desire if you don't express these things either before the massage or during it. It is also helpful to let us know if you have any pains and sores bothering you, so we can plan to focus on those areas and help you the best way possible.

When you don't speak up about what you expect, how you feel, where it hurts and what feels good, the therapist will follow her intuition and do what she thinks is the best for you. This often will provide a good and satisfactory touch, especially if the therapist knows you well.

In order to give the very best massage to you, lets us know if there are discomforts or specific desires you have so we can adapt our massage to suit your specific needs that day. It's very important communicate and let us know.

Improving your massage

The aim of a massage is to make the recipient relax so the muscles can be normalized and stress leave the body and mind. There are several things that you can do to improve your massage.

Move slowly. Keep in mind that you want the other person to relax completely, so slow smooth non-jerking movements, especially in the beginning, will help them relax and get used to your touch. Sudden movements and jerks will startle and trigger a brief stress in response. It's important that you're always calm and balanced when you massage so no gesture will surprise the one you massage.

The oil must be warm. Make sure the oil is the same temperature as your hands before you apply it. Or for even better relaxation and enjoyment, heat the oil to the temperature of warm bathing water (not too hot or you'll burn yourself). Warmth makes the recipient relax, while cold oil will make them tense up and possibly even freeze.

Oil the entire body at once, preferably in one movement which means oiling the hands and underarms thoroughly before starting. This way the massage becomes flowing and smooth, and you don't have to interrupt what you're doing to apply more oil, as well as you avoid the risk of sudden cold oil pulling the recipient out of a deep relaxation.

Don't interrupt the flow, keep contact all the time. By keeping constant contact, you enable the recipient to know where you are at all times, and thereby you won't startle the one you massage. By always knowing where the hands of the masseur is, it's easier to fully let go and relax. Try to always have at least one hand on the body, even when you shift positions or need to apply more oil.

Be predictable. Predictable doesn't mean boring. Rather, if the one you massage has an idea of what comes next, it's easier for them to relax and receive your touch. This way the body's protection mechanism doesn't have to be in high alert, and no fight or flight response is triggered when you massage. A sudden change that wasn't indicated beforehand, will surprise the recipient and raise stress even if it's only for a very short time. So, for instance when asking them to turn over to the other side, make sure that the first side is finished and the one you massage can sense that you've concluded that part of the body.

Work systematically. This is connected to the above of being predictable. Working systematically is finishing one part/aspect of the body before moving on to the next. A bit like building with LEGO, where you put the massage together in a series of small systematic building blocks. This doesn't mean that you can't massage a body part after you've finished it, but the main work should be done, and the return be more of a connective nature. Again, this allows the recipient to have an idea of what comes next and thereby easier let go and relax.

Connect the body parts. When you go from one area to another, spend a bit of time on connecting the two parts. If you've massaged one leg and want to massage the other, do a brief intersection of massaging lower back for instance and then go to the other leg. Instead of just jumping from one leg to the other. This will bring the body together as a whole, and not just a bunch of LEGOs that are put together.

Only talk if necessary, preferably leave it to the recipient to initiate conversation. For most people it's easiest to relax and let go if they don't have to talk. It's a chance for the mind to drift and sort out all those thoughts which go through our minds all the time. By not talking to the recipient unless necessary, you aid them to relax fully and help them de-stress. Some people have a need to talk while they're being massaged and it's of course all right to accommodate them. A massage can be very releasing and some have the need to speak about their experiences. Here it can be an idea to suggest to them that you'll take the time to talk to them after the massage over a cup of tea, while you can give them your full attention to what they say. Keep in mind too that some people tend to talk to avoid opening up and feeling what's going on inside, as a protective mechanism so they don't have to let go.

Make sure the room is hot enough. This is really simple. If you freeze while you receive a massage, you can't truly relax. Muscles tense and spasm when they are very cold, and when you lie and relax you're more prone to freezing.

Light candles and put on some relaxing music. Anything to create a special and relaxing mood is useful. Music can be a good tool, though some will find it distracting, so listen to the wishes of the recipient. Candles create a warm mood and has a lot of good associations for many people. Keep in mind that the air doesn't get too stiffling from too many candles, and that parafin candles aren't that good for the health. It's better to use soy-candles or bee-wax.

Finish the massage with a hot towel. Often after a massage people need a bit of time to return to relality, or they might just want to lie and enjoy the feeling of relaxation. Placing a towel over the one massaged helps tell them that the massage is finished and helps them stay warm while they lie on the table. To add an extra experience, heat the towel so they remain very nicely warm and are reminded of your hands.

What ideas and suggestions do you have that can improve a massage? Do you employ these tips already or don't you find them necessary? Share your thoughts and opinions and let's together improve our massages.