Massage Publications

Save Your Body!

Bodywork is hard on the body! Sounds almost like an oxymoron doesn’t it? Lower backs, arms, wrists, thumbs and feet can all scream for a massage or at least a hot Epsom salts bath at the end of the day. Here’s some tips and tricks to help you respect your ecology of movement. And remember, every time you find a stance or position that is more aligned with good body mechanics, that sensation is immediately transferred to your client. Every time you take care of you, you are also serving your clients.

1. Sit down whenever possible

2. I remember taking a workshop with the late, great Bob King and being amazed that he never flexed his spine. He always hinged at the hips.

3. The three L’s: lunging, leaning and leverage

4. Need to exert more pressure? From a lunge position, lean into your back foot. This one is a bit counter-intuitive because our impulse is to lean forward which stresses the arms, shoulders and back. Leaning into your back foot allows the marvelous mechanism of leverage to achieve more pressure.

Speaking of saving your body, my newest book, Stabilizing the Core and the SI Joint is coming soon. Incorporating the six core assessment tests and muscle energy technique corrections featured in the book before I do my deep tissue/trigger point work completely changed my practice. The tissue was more responsive to my work and I could work smarter, not harder. Stay tuned for more details.

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