Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/78617
USE AN AUDITORY CUE An auditory cue, such as the ringing of a chime, can be used to signal the beginning and ending of the massage session. This opening can be paired with an aromatherapy inhalation, a breathing exercise, or resting and holding strokes. This form of massage opening and closing creates a sense of ritual and lends the session a more spiritual formality. Over time, an auditory cue may become linked in the client's mind with relaxation, causing an instantaneous relaxation response. and orient to his touch. He asks the client to take three deep breaths and release all body tension with each exhalation. Steve's touch is assured and firm. The client feels a therapist who is energetically balanced, focused, and who has a plan. The client relaxes before Steve even undrapes a body area, confident that Steve knows what he is doing. The opening is a simple moment, and yet it can affect the client's trust level and willingness to allow his or her body to let go and relax. At the end of the session, Steve finishes the massage and places his hands in the same position as when he opened the massage, though this time the client is supine. Steve asks the client to breath deeply for three breaths and slowly wake up with each exhalation. The exhalation of each breath brings the client gently back to the real world and leaves the client feeling peaceful. In contrast, Jay doesn't worry ROUTINES DONE WRONG The use of routines is not advised for health-care-oriented massage or massage sessions in which the client and therapist have agreed on specific treatment goals. In these cases, the therapist must adapt the massage to the client's specific needs, as well as moment-by-moment changes that occur in the client's soft-tissue structures. The term routine should not be confused with a treatment protocol in which a series of techniques are used in a particular order. For example, in some approaches to trigger point work, the protocol is to warm the area with friction strokes or skin rolling before the trigger point is located and treated. Joint movement and flushing strokes are applied after the trigger point has been treated to help reset the muscle's normal resting length. about how he starts and finishes his massage sessions. When he enters the treatment room he fusses with the drape while chatting about a recent movie he attended. He leaves the client as he looks around for the massage lubricant, and then struggles to place a bolster under the client's knees. The client's body tenses to ward off the irritating sensations of all this disjointed activity. Jay undrapes the client's leg and starts massaging, but the client remains watchful for the first 20 minutes of the session. Once Jay settles into the massage, he has good massage 104 massage & bodywork september/october 2012