Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68175
REFINE YOUR TOUCH BASICS OF PAIN-FREE WORK The following guidelines can help you modify your work in ways that may be more appealing for your clients—and you. USE MINIMAL LUBRICATION The goal of most deep structural work is to stretch short tissue rather than just applying pressure and squeezing. I prefer the term grabbing rather than the increasingly popular term hooking, which can imply a harsh or overly aggressive intention, thus contributing to the misperception that deep work needs to be painful. Using too much lubrication requires significantly more unpleasant pressure in order to grab and stretch short tissue rather than sliding over adhesions and other holding patterns. MOVE SLOWLY Most often when people complain of painful bodywork, it is due to strokes moving faster than the tissue can adapt to and relax. Imagine you are pushing a heavy boat away from a dock. It takes a while to conquer inertia with slow steady pressure. When you feel the tissue melt, that is the time to lighten your pressure and let the tissue dictate depth and direction of release. PACE YOUR SESSIONS Although my early career motives were well-intentioned, as a goal-oriented person, my greatest sin in my early practice was trying to accomplish too much. I wish I could give recall notices to my early clients as I watched them levitate off the table as a result of my overgenerous attempts at being a miracle worker. Make your sessions a journey rather than a destination and don't become too attached to the outcome of your work. It also helps to clarify your goals with reasonable expectations. Some therapists appear to be trying to win an argument with stubborn holding patterns, rather than having a give and take dialogue and allowing for the great educational benefit of voluntary release on the part of the client rather than coercion. I have learned a great deal from Working with the psoas, the rigid fingers and small area of contact look more like surgery than bodywork. All of the client's attention will be focused on a small and sensitive area, and relaxation and release will be difficult. going to yoga classes. In some poses, when I'm sweating bullets and considering crying out, the teacher will sometimes say, "We only have 30 seconds left." Suddenly, my perception of overwhelming pain dissipates as I realize that an end is in sight. I relax and move to a new level of release. When you feel that your clients are working with you for important release but are on the edge, let them know you are aware of and grateful for their cooperation and that relief is around the corner. The very tension of conscious withholding is often the last obstacle in the way of dramatic and lasting change, so lightening up in force and speed may be all that is needed to achieve that last release. The non-working hand provides a nurturing connection, while the palm of the primary hand rests comfortably on the superficial abdomen. The bent and slightly separated fingers have the ability to easily sink to the level of the psoas, where individual fingers can differentiate specific areas of tightness. SINK VERTICALLY, THEN WORK One of the biggest errors I see is when therapists "sink and work" vertically at the same time before encountering the layer where they want to work and before the body can adjust. Slowly sink through superficial tissue at a fairly vertical angle until you encounter resistance and then alter your direction obliquely. Once you decide to work obliquely, only apply as much force as is necessary to grab the tissue and stretch it. A common error is to apply too much pressure so that the muscles actually contract out of discomfort, thus negating your efforts to teach them to relax and lengthen. Imagine pulling on 42 massage & bodywork july/august 2010