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 - every minor input - as a ‘threat’ is key. Injuries or just the pace of life can put us in low grade and constant fight-or-flight. Then, tension and muscle guarding surround all our movements and we can feel caught in a loop of being unable to relax. This protective fight-or-flight mechanism leaves us exhausted when it’s stuck in overdrive. Worse, so much energy is then rerouted from other systems in the body also trying to do their jobs. Reacquainting your nervous system to the Relaxation Response (physiology term; not indulgence!) is sometimes all that’s needed to retrain your bodymind 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 in our bodies. It carries immune cells and circulates hormones, but also removes bacteria, pathogens, and waste. (In this case, waste is the remaining parts of cells as they die - think endoplasmic reticulum from 7th grade biology.) Lymphatic flow can stop in some cases when cut (surgery) or injured (sprains); and that ‘backup’ is swelling (edema). In this case, lymphatic massage can reroute broken vessels and ‘kickstart’ the system, draining the edema and returning the system of full function.

This modality can also prep tissue before surgery and is standard protocol after surgery in many countries and increasingly in the U.S. In the case of deeper injuries or emotional trauma, lymphatic work has the benefit of being so gentle that it’s the best way to introduce good touch to the bodymind.

(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 since it addresses the structural integration of the whole body, practitioners recommend a sequenced schedule of sessions. MFR can target a specific area of the body and can be incorporated into a session using other techniques.

It’s been around for centuries, but is housed as part of ‘alternative’ medicine in the U.S. Essentially it is connective tissue work.

To be fair, the centuries old technique uses language that doesn’t sit well with modern science and doesn’t explain what cupping actually 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. Sometimes this pull can feel like instant relief, sometimes it borders on painful. (the vacuum can be adjusted) 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 refers to focused bodywork on a particular problem area. It really has nothing to do with pressure. This work is all about 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. (Guarding, aka ‘splinting’ = protection, but long-term splinting = pain) Instead, if the work is intentional, focusing on slowly going into the next levels of tissue, the nervous system will allow and accept bodywork at this already painful site. So many problems can begin to heal once the process of release has been introduced. In other words, getting the nervous system to stop cueing a pain loop. (Pain does serve a purpose aka ‘stop doing that thing you’re doing that gives you elbow tendonitis’, but pain can also end up in a stuck feedback loop so that even when you do stop, the injury doesn’t heal. That’s where deep tissue bodywork comes in to retrain the pain loop to return to ‘off’. )

* 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. In any massage, you might prefer deeper or lighter pressure since preferences are individual and can be adjusted within the technique.