Massage & Bodywork

MARCH | APRIL 2017

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HeathAndNicole.com Living Me a "Embodying Presence and Loving Kindness" Join Heath & Nicole on a 12-day journey of Loving Kindness into the heart of Chiang Mai, Thailand. 28 – 8, 2017 ► Live Workshops ► Homestudy ► Self-Care DVDs ► Free Stuff Additional offerings: ADVANCED POSTURE Once I realized how I could work on my posture while doing a full-body massage, I went all in. Not only did I want to deliver pressure more effectively and efficiently than before while maintaining good posture, I also wanted to challenge my body to break bad postural habits. The back-stretch-when-working-the-occiput move was an example of this. When a client required even more pressure in the occiput, I took it to the next level. First, I switched my leg position so that my forward leg was the same side as the hand pressing into the occiput. Then, I leaned back into the table and into the client's occiput. This allowed me to effectively direct my body weight into the occiput. I could regulate my pressure by shifting my weight between the front foot and back foot. Once I felt comfortable in this position, I reached up with my other hand. In this position, my back was in minor extension, which felt wonderful, since we're always fighting against hunching our backs during massage. The image below shows what it looks like. I want to emphasize that I'm not doing a massage-yoga session. If the moment arises during a massage where I can effectively do my work and challenge poor postural habits at the same time, I do. But if what I'm doing is a distraction to the actual massage, I stop doing it. 82 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k m a r c h / a p r i l 2 0 1 7

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