This full body massage is the foundation for all other techniques. (even deep tissue*)

It is not an indulgence! Resetting the nervous system so that it doesn’t register everything that happens - every input - as a ‘threat’ is key. Injuries or just the pace of life can put us in low grade and constant fight or flight. Tension and muscle guarding surround all our movements and we can feel caught in a loop of being unable to relax. This body mind protective mechanism in overdrive leaves us exhausted. Reacquainting your nervous system to the relaxation response is sometimes all that’s needed. Swedish massage retrains your body mind out of stuck fight or flight patterns.

Light strokes that amplify the regular ‘wave’ flow of lymphatic fluid. It’s particularly effective at reducing swelling post surgery.

The lymph system (interstitial fluid) bathes everything else in our bodies, carries immune cells, circulates hormones, removes bacteria and pathogens, and waste. It can get blocked when cut (surgery) or injured (sprains). This modality can prep tissue before surgery and is a standard protocol after surgery in many countries of the world. In the case of deeper injuries or emotional trauma, lymphatic work is so gentle that it’s the best way to introduce healing touch to the body mind.

(Read about skin brushing on the blog page to learn simplified at home lymphatic work)

Sustained and slow pressure is combined with stretching to targeted areas in order to release tension. MFR works on fascia as opposed to the muscular system.

Fascia is a web like connective tissue that surrounds and supports every organ, blood vessel, muscle, and nerve in the body. When chronically tight, it is painful and can fatigue other systems of the body. Plantar fasciitis responds well to myofascial work as does fibromyalgia.

(Rolfing is myofascial work, but it addresses the structural integration of the whole body.)

It’s been around for centuries, but as part of ‘alternative’ medicine, it hasn’t been studied well. Also part of the centuries old technique is language that doesn’t really explain what cupping does. (“bringing stagnant energy or evil spirits to the surface….”)

Here’s what practitioners and clients know to be true: the vacuum that is created within the cup pulls tissue - skin, fascia, muscle - in a sustained and deep way. The cups can be left stationary or the practitioner can move the cup, keeping the vacuum seal, and creating a very deep pull on tissue. It leaves a mark that can last a few hours or days, but the deep pulling of connective tissue has profound relief for many kinds of stubborn pain issues.

Deep tissue really has nothing to do with pressure. Instead, it refers to focused bodywork on a particular problem area. And that work is all about well, focus, and not force.

Elbow tendonitis? Doesn’t heal well if the therapist is using extremely deep pressure that causes a lot of pain. That no pain, no gain approach just signals the brain/nervous system to create even more guarding. Instead, if the work is intentional, focusing on slowly going into the next levels of tissue, the nervous system will allow and accept work at this already painful site. Most problems can begin to heal once the process of release has been introduced.

The modalities listed here are all “deep tissue” as soon as we focus on a specific problem area. Even lymphatic work with it’s ‘weight of a nickel’ pressure is deep tissue because we are working on a very deep system of the body. But, in any massage, you might prefer deeper or lighter pressure since preferences are individual and can be adjusted within the technique.