Massage strokes

In my last post I talked a little bit about the three different strokes used in massage. In this post I'm going to continue talking about strokes and how they are used and what effect they have on your client/ partner. Following the basic strokes are the Medium-Depth strokes after relaxing the client you start using the larger muscle masses more deeply. To do this you would use kneading, pulling and wringing strokes.
Kneading is used when you want to stretch and relax the soft fleshy areas of the body such as the buttocks and thighs. You use your whole hand and alternately squeeze and grasp bunches of flesh- not too forcefully of course- while one hand is letting go the other is gathering a new handful. Also be sure not to lift your hands off the body. Rock back and forth as if you were kneading dough.
Pulling is a firm lifting stroke that is used on the sides of the torso and limbs. It seems like it would be painful to have someone pull your limbs and torso but I heard that it’s just the opposite. Although I have yet to experience it I’ll tell you what I’ve read about it. Placing one hand on your partners far side and keeping the other near it, alternately pull up on your partners body while overlapping a little each time to make sure you fully covered the area. Work slowly and rhythmically.
Wringing is another one of the medium-depth strokes. Put your left hand on your partners nearest side with your heel facing you and your fingers away from you. Then place your right hand on your partner’s far side with your hand in the same position. Push firmly forward with your left hand and pull back with your right. Without stopping change directions and wring the hands back to then opposite sides. Move slowly along with each new stroke keeping a continuous flow.
Those were the medium depth strokes now here are the deep tissue strokes. These are thumb-rolling, heel of hand pressure and fingertip pressure. These are deeper and focused strokes using your thumbs, heel of your hand and fingertips get down to the tissue where more hidden tensions may lie. Be sure to work deep but do so gradually you don’t want to cause pain to your client.
Thumb-rolling is where you press the balls of your thumbs away from you and into your partners flesh using short deep strokes or small circles it depends on where you’re working. Place one thumb behind the other but push on a little further with each successive stroke so that eventually you cover a broad area.
Fingertip pressure is when you use tiny elliptical circles to push in and around the joints with your fingertips be sure that you are moving the underlying tissue rather than just moving the skin on the surface.
Heel of hand is firmly pressing your heels of your hand forward into the flesh bringing one heel down just behind the other but push on a little further so that you also cover a more broad area.
Next are the percussion strokes which include hacking, cupping, pummeling and plucking. Which all, like most massage strokes, sound painful. So in my next blog I will continue talking about the percussion strokes.