|
|
Massage is an enjoyable experience for both partners. If you are giving, don’t be too concerned with
getting everything "right". That will come with practice. If you are uncertain, your partner will sense
it. The most important thing is that you both enjoy the massage. Get to know your hands. When you massage, think of them as divided into four main areas ... |
|
|
|
||
|
As you touch your partner, be aware of each part of your hand and the degree of pressure
it is exerting. Check by massaging your own thigh, and feel the difference as you
use pressure with each of these areas.
When massaging someone, mould your hands to the contours of the area beneath them. When you use deeper pressure, always work up to, but not beyond, the boundary of pain. Ask your partner "How’s the pressure ?" and be guided by the response. Always start to work each area with long light strokes, and gradually move on to deeper pressure before finishing with light strokes again. Work rhythmically and without rushing, including the whole area.
|
||
| Draping It's easiest to use 2 large bath sheets. (Particularly nice if they're warmed on the radiator or straight out of the tumble dryer.) First place one towel sideways over the person's shoulders, back and upper thighs. Then place the other lengthwise over their feet, legs and up to the small of their back. That way you can uncover only the areas to be worked whilst keeping the rest of the person warmly wrapped. |
||
|
Centering
Being "centered" is vital when you massage. This means developing a physical sense of the Hara
or power centre which is the centre of your weight mass, located between navel &
pubic bone. When you are conscious of this centre, you feel balanced, grounded, OK and secure so
that you radiate positivity.
Stand with feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. Move your body weight slightly
from side to side, then forwards and backwards until you can feel that your weight is balanced evenly
without leaning. Place a hand on your Hara and take a deep breath. Feel the expansion under your
hand as you breathe deeply into it. Maintain awareness throughout the massage that this is the area
you are working from.
Making Contact Relax your shoulders, and as they do so let all conscious thoughts drop away. Only begin to massage when you feel ready. From the moment you touch, your entire focus will be on meeting the needs of your partner, and you won't break contact until the massage is completed. Cradle your partner’s head gently with your hands. Be aware of the connection between you. Intend that you will work with the best of intention for the good of your partner. Keep your breathing deep and regular, and work with relaxed hands. | 
|
|
|
Eight Basic Strokes
These are some basic strokes which you can put together to give a massage. Remember the pressure principle: light,
then deep, then light to finish.
|
||
 1. Connecting Strokes
Long, light, flowing strokes worked over the towels, used at the beginning and end of a massage
to give feelings of completeness. When you begin, stroke your partner gently from shoulders to hands and
back to shoulders, down the back to the base of the spine, separating at the hips, down the legs and back to
the shoulders. When you end, start at the head, stroke down the arms and back up again, down the torso,
separating at the hips, down the top of the legs and off at the ends of the toes. Holding for a short while
on the joints feels good.
|
||
2. Effleurage Used to start each area in a massage. Pour a very small amount of oil on to one hand, then rub your hands together to warm the oil before applying. With both hands on your partner, use smooth, long, gliding strokes to spread oil, soothe and relax. Effleurage strokes can be light or firm. The rule of thumb is to use firm strokes towards the heart (eg up the legs) and very light strokes away from the heart (eg down the legs).
|
||
|
3. Petrissage - Kneading,
Pulling and Wringing
Used after Effleurage, Petrissage techniques are probably the most valuable massage strokes. They encourage waste products to leave muscles and aid the circulation through the veins back to the heart. |
||
|
Rock from hand to hand as if kneading dough.
|
||
 Pulling One hand on your partner’s far side, fingertips touching the floor or table. Pull up towards you using alternate hands, overlapping where the last hand was placed. Move rhythmically and slowly
|
||
|
Wringing
Good for completing large areas such as the back or legs.
Left hand on your partner’s far side as for pulling. Right hand on the side nearest to you, heel down. Push forward with your right hand & pull back with your left hand.
|
||
Stage 2 
Change direction & wring hands back to the opposite side.
Move slowly over the whole area in a continuous flow.
|
||
|
4. Friction
Small, deep circular pressures on tissue under the skin with balls of thumbs, fingertips or knuckles. Used to work on tension in deeper layers of tissue, particularly tops of shoulders. 5. Holding "Energy" holds to provide feelings of reassurance, relaxation and integration. Just rest your hands gently on your partner over the towels. Such holds are particularly pleasant on joints and head. 6. "The cat walk" A quick way of including the legs when there is too little time for a full massage. "Walk" the hands one after another over the towels down one leg from thigh to toes, then up the other from toes to thigh. Work rhythmically and deliberately without rushing.
|
||
 7. Feathering
Very light, long fingertip brushes used to complete an area of the body before covering with the towel.
Similar to feathering, but the tips of the fingernails are allowed to touch the skin.
(Be careful with this one !)
|
||
|
Ending a Massage
Your partner may have been deeply relaxed, so don’t stop abruptly. Finish by holding on their feet and gradually releasing your hold. As you release, acknowledge in your head that the massage is finished and you are now leaving your partner’s personal space. Send them a positive thought. When they are ready to sit up, offer a drink of water or juice.
Ask what they enjoyed, what (if anything) was not so good, and make a note for next time ! |
||
Kneading
With the whole hand, alternately grasp and squeeze bunches of flesh, one hand releasing
as the other grasps. 
Stage 1