One of the most important groups of muscles often ignored by massage therapists is the intercostal muscles. They are core muscles involved more or less in every breath we take…
Read MoreWhen we do bodywork, our hands assume various positions. The more highly we regard the miraculous abilities, structure, and even linguistic capacities of the hands, the more meaningful and sacred our hands, their expression, and our work may feel.
Read MoreIt was 1967, the "Summer of Love," I was studying Indian music in Berkeley, California at the American Society for the Eastern Arts. One of my classmates was the obscure, brilliant guitarist, Robbie Basho. One morning I arrived early and Basho was standing on the front porch.
Read MoreThere are essentially two models for how we affect people positively through therapeutic touch. One is the soft tissue manipulation model and the other is the neuro-muscular or, if you like, structure and energy model. Both are useful and true in their way.
Read MoreThe primary issue for therapists working with the feet is a fairly simple one. Most therapists do not know the intrinsic muscles of the foot.
Once one has clarity about the muscles that are there, the work becomes quite straightforward. Exploring successively each layer of the foot,; doing some cross-fiber and direct palpation, assessing tension is the first step; and then melting with a “soft tissue fulcrum” where called for. This will have a dramatic impact on the foot and, because the energy upwells from the kidney meridian’s “bubbling spring”, this work affects the whole self.
Read MoreFor this fulcrum you will use your forearm, particularly whichever part of the ulna works best for your body/energy mechanics. This fulcrum involves active movement by the client. Ask client to very slowly and fully flex and extend ankle (e.g. “ Please point your toes and then lift your toes up.”). Explain the movement and have them try it once or twice. This also gives them the basis for a “feeling comparison” afterward.
Read MoreFor this fulcrum you will use your ulna just distal to the elbow. As you are standing at the side of the table facing the lower legs, you will usually use the arm nearer the head (i.e. right arm on the left leg and vice versa). This stroke involves active movement by the client.
Read MoreFor this fulcrum you will work with the heels of both hands together. The direction will be from lateral to medial. You will be working along the lateral margin of rectus femoris and across its belly. The structural objective will be create more freedom of movement between vastus intermedius and rectus femoris. The impact is amplified if you involve the client’s active movement.
Read MoreFor this fulcrum, you will be using primarily the same side hand as the side of the client with whom you are working. You will work with your loose fist while your other hand supports the leg. (Variant: you may choose to ask the client to interlace his/her fingers beneath the knee and actively stretch as you do this technique).
Read MoreThe lower legs lead to the thicker muscles and tendons of the thighs. Here our roots become our trunks. And like the lower legs, the thighs call for understanding, compassion, and nurturing. Ever notice how children running around seem to gain energy from running? Unfortunately, as we age, often the sheer joy of running, leaping, spinning around, escapes us, much to the detriment of our legs and our whole body and spirit.
Read MoreGather the lower corners of the draping and tuck then underneath the knee of the upper leg. With these in place, pull the drape up so that you can work easily and clearly with the side of the pelvis and thigh. You will use either the loose fist or ulna just beneath the elbow. For the body right side up, your primary working tool will be the left fist or forearm. The stroke’s direction will be superior to inferior. You will be working from immediately beneath the iliac crest to the greater trochanter.
Read Morehis technique is a series of fulcrums into the deep lateral rotators. Each, with the exception of the last, is done with the knee flexed to approximately 90 degrees. So, facing the client’s left side, the left hand (particularly the supported middle phalanx of the index finger) will be the primary working tool and the right hand will mobilize the leg. The stroke direction is, within a somewhat small area, medial to lateral – gently but firmly stretching the deep muscles and fascia.
Read MoreThis stroke involves two passes up the inner thigh. The first is done with the loose fist, specifically with the row of knuckles at the end of the first phalanges. The work will be from just above the adductor tubercle on the medial epicondyle of the femur to an inch or so inferior to the pelvis.
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