Massage Modalities

Massage Modalities

What are the different types of massage modalities available to me through Your Massage Advocate?

(Guidance and/or referral will be offered for those modalities not offered specifically by Your Massage Advocate.                              All modalities are manual, hands-on therapies as well as as energy-based therapy.)

  • Swedish: Gentle, relaxing massage to help blood and lymph flow.
  • Deep Tissue: Use of forearm, elbow, heel of hands, and knuckles to reach deeper into the larger muscle groups for those who prefer a deeper, more intense massage.
  • Reiki: A therapy often described as palm healing or hands-on-body healing in which a practitioner places hands lightly on or over a patient’s body to facilitate the patient’s process of healing. Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing.
  • Myofascial: Very slow and directly-focused massage on a specific area/s of restriction and tension without massage oil and the assistance of client with body movements.
  • Neuromuscular Therapy: A deep and focused massage designed to relieve aches, pain, tightness, and pressure in specific parts of the body.
  • Visceral Manipulation: A gentle manual therapy that aids the body’s ability to release restrictions and unhealthy compensations that cause pain and dysfunction The treatment is a gentle compression, mobilization and elongation of the soft tissues.
  • Lymphatic Drainage Therapy: A technique developed in Germany that refers to the use of massage therapy to improve the flow of fluid in the lymphatic system and to treat some of the conditions associated with the lymphatic system.  Using a light and precise massaging technique, this therapy can clear stagnant fluid from lymph node and activate the flow of lymphatic fluid in blocked nodes in order to detoxify the body.
  • CranioSacral Therapy: A form of bodywork performed on a fully-clothed person using gentle touch to manipulate the synarthrodial joints of the cranium. A practitioner of cranial-sacral therapy may also apply light touches to a patient’s spine and pelvic bones. Practitioners believe that this manipulation regulates the flow of cerebrospinal fluid.
  • Somato-Emotional Release: A form of therapy, directly related to the use of craniosacral therapy, that focuses on establishing a strong mind-body connection in order for the release of emotional trauma and the resolution of physical symptoms.  If emotion cannot be expressed or released at the time it was generated, or if a trauma is accompanied by strong emotions, the particular emotion(s) may become trapped in tissues of the body. SER is the process of discovering and releasing or redirecting the emotion or emotional energy.
  • Energy Balancing: Continuous movement of energy is involved in Energy Balance Massage, which engages the body’s energy centers via its natural energy circuits. The technique is hands-on but can be applied with or without clothing. Energy in the body is released and then re-integrated through the techniques of friction, rocking, and spiraling.
  • Chakra Balancing: Various techniques referring to the process through which the energy of the chakras is brought to a well-functioning and harmonious state.  Chakra balancing techniques fall into in three categories: those centered on a physical process or activity, a meditative or introspective practice, and the transmission of energy from another person or on your own.  (For the purposes of massage therapy, common practices include: hands-on healing or energy-based healing, meditation, Reiki, and craniosacral therapy.)
  • Acutonics Tuning Forks: Since ancient Egyptian times, sound has been revered as a medicinal practice. Most of us have experienced the emotionally transformative nature of music. A therapy based on sound in which specific musical tones are designed to affect different parts of the body — the viscera, muscle tissue, fascia, nervous system, emotional states, and energetic field.  Silent tuning forks are applied to acupuncture points and chakra systems depending on symptoms or client goals.
  • Healing From The Core: A curriculum and practice to teach people from all walks of life the “how-to” skills for listening to their body’s innate wisdom based on the body as an innate navigational system.  Learned skills help to improve every aspect of people’s lives, from their health and well-being to their relationships, their careers, their creativity, even the growth of their businesses.  The skills of “full body presence” provide people with a new way of creating within and responding to their world.
  • Guided Meditation: Though not a massage therapy, per se, guided mediation has been shown to be highly effective in a large number of areas pertaining the wellness of a person’s mind, body, and soul.  Your Massage Advocate can provide personalized meditations to deal with a variety of needs and situations.
  • Hot Stone massage: A type of massage therapy used to help relax and ease tense muscles and damaged soft tissues throughout your body. During a hot stone massage, smooth, flat, heated stones made of basalt are placed on specific parts of your body including, but not exclusively, your spine, on your stomach, chest, face, palms, feet or toes.  Massage therapists may hold heated stones as they massage your body using Swedish massage techniques.
  • Sports massage: A type of massage technique that focuses on treating soft tissue aches, pain and injuries that are associated with recreational activities. Massage can reduce muscle stiffness and improve relaxation by reducing heart rate and blood pressure.  Traditional western (e.g. Swedish) massage is currently the most common approach used for conditioning programs, though it is frequently supplemented by other massage therapy approaches including deep tissue, trigger point work, and acupressure.
  • PNF Stretching: Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) is a more advanced form of flexibility training that involves both the stretching and contraction of the muscle group being targeted.  PNF stretching was originally developed as a form of rehabilitation, and to that effect it is very effective. It is also excellent for targeting specific muscle groups, and as well as increasing flexibility, it also improves muscular strength.
  • Aromatherapy: A therapy that uses plant materials and aromatic plant oils, including essential oils, and other aroma compounds for improving psychological or physical well-being. It can be offered as a complementary therapy or as a form of alternative medicine. Complementary therapy can be offered alongside standard treatment, with alternative medicine offered instead of conventional, evidence-based treatments.   Aromatherapists, who specialize in the practice of aromatherapy, utilize blends of therapeutic essential oils that can be issued through topical application, massage, inhalation or water immersion to stimulate a desired response.
  • Healing Touch: A therapy in which practitioners use their hands in a heart-centered and intentional way to support and facilitate physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.  Healing Touch, a biofield (magnetic field around the body) therapy that is an energy-based approach to health and healing, uses the gift of touch to influence the human energy system, specifically the energy field that surrounds the body, and the energy centers that control the flow from the energy field to the physical body.  These non-invasive techniques employ the hands to clear, energize, and balance the human and environmental energy fields, thus affecting physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. The goal of Healing Touch is to restore balance and harmonies in the energy system, placing the client in a position to self-heal.
  • Strain/Counterstrain: A a gentle soft tissue manipulation technique which is effective in treating pain, limitations in strength and range of motion and which allows a therapist to painlessly “release” muscle and connective tissue spasm from all areas and systems of the human body. Because Strain and Counterstrain yields lasting results and has no side effects, it has numerous applications in the rehabilitative setting and can be used to treat many body systems, including the musculoskeletal, cranial, arterial, visceral, and lymphatic.
  • Trager Approach: A form of somatic education. Proponents claim the Trager approach helps release deep-seated physical and mental patterns and facilitates deep relaxation, increased physical mobility, and mental clarity.  At the beginning of a session, the practitioner enters into a state of meditation that Milton Trager originally termed “hook-up”.  From this state of mind, the practitioner uses gentle touch and a combination of passive and active movement with the intent of teaching the recipient how to move with less effort. The contact is gentle in a sense; it may be quite firm but is without strain or resistance.
  • Acupressure: an alternative medicine technique similar in principle to acupuncture. It is based on the concept of life energy which flows through “meridians” in the body. In treatment, physical pressure is applied to acupuncture points with the aim of clearing blockages in these meridians. Pressure may be applied by hand, by elbow, or with various devices.
  • Rolfing: A system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that organizes the whole body in gravity. Rolfing bodywork affects the body’s posture and structure by manipulating the myofascial system (connective tissue). Often considered a deep-tissue approach, Rolfing bodywork actually works with all the layers of the body to ease strain patterns in the entire system.

 

You may also like