Swedish Massage Tips

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Written by Reiki2   
Monday, 02 July 2007

 Some tips on going for a Swedish massage.

Swedish massage is a bodywork technique that works on the deeper muscles of the body. The practitioner uses long flowing strokes, kneading, and circular movements that normally follows the blood stream to the heart. Swedish massage will also help to increase the bodies circulation.

The five main strokes of Swedish massage:

  • Effleurage: deeper massage by using the thumbs.
  • Friction: the use of circular motions.
  • Petrissage: involves kneading motions.
  • Vibration: rapidly shaking.
  • Tapotement: a rhythmic tapping, using the edge and heel of the hand.

When giving a massage therapy the practitioner will usually apply cream, oil or a lotion to the skin in order to reduce the friction and help towards smoother strokes. Swedish massage is the most popular, widely used and well known of all the massaging techniques.

Swedish massage preparation for a treatment:

One of first things that should be done is to create a relaxing and comfortable environment, that should be totally free of the possibility of any interruption or distractions like children or pets. Make sure the temperature of the room is conformably warm, and you should create soft lighting by dimming the lights or using only candlelight to enhanced the effect, also maybe try lighting aromatherapy candles these seem to have a very positive affect when used.

Next, get the client to lie down on your massage table and make sure that all of their muscles are adequately supported. If you don't have a professional designed table, you can always use a firm mattress or a futon. You should be prepared, in that you should have all the required tools ready, such as hand towels and oils. Oils are especially crucial, as they are not only used to relax the client but also to help make smoother strokes on the body.

Once you have all of your materials around you, and you are ready to start the Swedish massage, you should always begin the massage by focusing on the larger muscle groups first, such as the neck, shoulders, back, and legs. For the maximum and most relaxing effect, you might want to start at the shoulders, and work from there to the neck, and then down the arms and onto the hands. You can then return to the upper and lower back, working your way down to the thighs and calves, and ending with the feet. However, its also important to realize that you should also follow your intuition when giving a Swedish massage treatment.

The three main strokes used in a Swedish massage therapy are the effleurage, the fan stroke, and the circling hands. Effleurage is applied using soft and fluid strokes with the palm of the hand, the fan stroke is done by sliding your hands up the shoulder blades and then over the shoulders, down to the lower back, so that you are basically following a coarse to the heart, and lastly the circling hands, which is applied by making counterclockwise circular motions with your fingers, which should always pointing in the same direction.

So if you are under pressure from work, children, stressed, or maybe you have a muscle strain, receiving a Swedish massage will help for sure. So the next thing is book a treatment with a good masseuse, you won't regret it

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.

 
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