Winning Hands Massage
Massage and Bodywork – General Discussion
In general, there are two basic categories of massage and/or bodywork:
Spa/Relaxation and Medical/Treatment. I did not say "therapeutic" because
even spa sessions can be therapeutic.
As for specific modalities, there are literally dozens from which to choose.
When most people think of massage, they think of basic Swedish massage. This
consists of long, gliding strokes (effleurage), kneading and squeezing (petrissage),
rubbing (friction) and tapping (tapotement). All of these techniques can be
done light or deep and for either relaxation or treatment. They can be
therapeutic because they affect heart rate, circulation and blood pressure.
They are also effective in treating various muscle aches and pains, sprains
and strains.
But they just scratch the surface of what can be done by some of the
advanced, specialized modalities.
Here is a sample list from “The Encyclopedia of Bodywork” by Elaine
Stillerman. Actinotherapy, Acupressure, Acupuncture, Alexander Technique,
AMMA therapy, Applied Kinesiology, Aromatherapy, Aston-Patterning, Aura
Therapy, Ayuervedic Medicine, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Bindegewebsmassage,
Bioenergetics, Bowen, Breema, Chi Nei Tsang, Cupping, Deep Tissue,
Ericksonian Hypnotherapy, Esalen Massage, Feldenkreis, Hellerwork,
Hydrotherapy, Johrei, Light Therapy, Lymphatic Drainage, Moxibustion, Muscle
Energy Work, Myofascial Release, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Neuromuscular
Therapy (NMT), Ortho-Bionomy, Polarity Therapy, Qigong, Reflexology, Reiki,
Rolfing, Rosen, Russian, Shiatsu, Swedish, Thai, Therapeutic Touch, Tibetan,
Touch for Health, Trager, Trigger Point Therapy, Watsu, Yoga, Zero
Balancing, Zone Therapy.
The above list is only a portion of what she lists in her encyclopedia. And
her encyclopedia is NOT all inclusive. As examples, she does not list
Craniosacral Therapy and only one form of Lymphatic Drainage (there are
actually several ways to do lymphatic work). Nor does she list Acutonics,
which is working with the acupoints and meridians vibrationally using
precision tuning forks. In addition, many of the individual modalities can
more appropriately be grouped under umbrella headings. For example,
Alexander, Feldenkreis, Heller, all forms of Myofascial Release including
MFR and Rolfing, can be grouped together under the catch-all category of
Structural Integration work.
Modalities that I have found particularly effective for soft tissue
dysfunctions, and ones I specifically recommend, are Myofascial Release
(MFR), Craniosacral Therapy (CST), Acupressure, Lymphatic Drainage Therapy,
Polarity Therapy, and Directed Energy.
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