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One of the first lessons in massage training [ours at least].

July 30, 2024 By: Drew Hume1 Comment

“I know what their body needs, so when they come to me, they get what they need instead of what they want”.

first lesson in massage trainingThere’s a lot of this type of approach out there in massage. I’m jumping in here though to suggest that it’s the wrong approach even though it might sound like perhaps the right thing to do for your clients (what they “need” instead of what they want).

In the beginning any training, there’s a foundation that we need to establish, which includes things like:

  • • The 4 foundational principles
  • • Our 4 favourite mantras
  • • The mindset of remaining a facilitator (as opposed to claiming the title of “healer”)
  • • The idea that touch sensitivity has no limit or point at which we can no longer develop it further.

And another one is the idea that it’s not our treatment. It’s a treatment for the client.

That might sound simple enough. However, the body is tricky and the human experience is even trickier…

This is where we return to the claim of many practitioners who propose to “give you the treatment you need, not the one you want”, with the assumption that they do this for the maximum benefit of the client, because they know better what’s happening in the clients’ body.

And you know what – that might even be true – since the body is complex and not everyone in the general public knows that sometimes your back pain comes from your feet (as a really simple example).

Of course, there are also practitioners out there that are a bit overconfident and probably don’t actually know much more than their clients. And yet, even for those that ARE correct in being able to read the body of their client with more accuracy, it’s important to learn that the treatment is not for you, it’s for your client.

Why? Why not try and get them what they really need, the fastest?

Well, here’s a few of the reasons:

  • • If they’re in pain right now, they don’t care if you can help prevent it in the future after 4 treatments – they want the pain to be gone right now. That should be your focus.
  • • Sometimes what they need gets them what they want but in a way that they don’t realize; or worse, sometimes it can take longer to get them out of that pain and they won’t be happy about that, especially if you haven’t even come close to what they’ve asked you to do.
  • • You have the greatest impact with people over the long-haul. A single treatment is like a blip on the scale of life and so you have the best chance to facilitate meaningful change over various treatments, over time. If you don’t give people what they WANT, they won’t come back. Even if it’s what they really needed.
  • • Pain is not as simple as certain points alone. There is a psychological component to the experience of pain and its continued presence, and sometimes if you don’t go and work the areas of the body requested, your client is sitting there the whole time probably having a stressful experience wondering why you haven’t done what they’ve asked for. In some instances this could actually be complicating the mix of sensations they’re experiencing.

From the beginning we teach you to approach your work this way. In a way that is client-first. Centre their wants first and then build a rapport over time that will allow you to build towards the work they need (or at least the work that you think they need). That’s collaborative and ultimately it gives the best results. Happy clients are clients who return.

The upside is, that obviously helps you too as the practitioner to sustain your business.

Focus on them – not on showing them your extensive knowledge and training. Instead, using your knowledge and training to do what you can, when you can, in a collaborative fashion.

With a cornerstone like this, your practice thrives.

Drew.


For more reading like this, check out these other articles:
“Sometimes leave it alone.”
or
“Just Because It Hurts Doesn’t Make It A “Deep Tissue Massage”.”

It’s not really the thought that counts.

July 22, 2024 By: Drew Hume2 Comments

attention not intention

Image source: linkedin.com/.

There’s a lot of emphasis placed on the idea that “it’s the thought that counts”, and I often hear this show up in the context of massage as reinforcement for the idea “that all we need is intention”.

When actually, what serves everyone best is not INtention, but instead ATtention.

Attention = currency

Even though I’m specifically referring to massage here, this definitely also works in other areas of life.

In massage, the more attention you can pay to the work you’re doing, the more your work is worth. Both financially and also in all the other realms of worth.

Because attention is the currency of care. And the quality of massage is directly connected to how much care you can successfully impart on your client.

Even more specific than that is that your attention needs to be focused on SENSING & RESPONDING to the work you’re doing.

Firstly, how is this person showing up today? What’s their baseline? How are they holding themselves – and how do they move?

Then in the session that continues into questions/reflection of: How is the pressure being received by the body? How long is that response taking? What is that telling me about the time I need to spend there? Or which nearby areas do you need to work? How is their breath and expression responding? How does that inform your next touch or posture selection? (And so on)

Of course, your attention and the answers to those questions need to be linked intimately with your skill of technique and execution of the massage tool in order to drive real change, but the key to the door is attention.

In this way, intention is much less important, since it requires little to no attention. (And since any outcome can be supported with “but that wasn’t my intention”). You can have wonderful intentions, but if you’re distracted the entire treatment, it directly shows in the quality of your work.

Work on your direction of attention, and the results will be vastly better. You’ll also never get bored in this practice if you’re continuously searching for responses and trying to sense the requests of the tissues.

If you’re not a practitioner of massage but you’re reading this – search for someone who places more emphasis on their attention than their intention. Your sessions will feel much better and the results will follow suit.

Drew.

If Massage Were a Conversation.

July 7, 2024 By: Drew Hume2 Comments

massage is a conversation*Enters the room.* “Go and fill up the car with fuel, now.” *Leaves the room.*

The person on the couch sits there thinking “what the heck” just happened. Also, they’re probably not going to do it. Almost all of us don’t like being told what to do – let alone without any context or conversation about it.

What if instead, the interaction had gone like this:

*Enters the room* “Hey, do you have a minute to help me with something?”

“Hey, yeah sure. What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you could help me by filling up the car with fuel?”

“No problem. Do you need it done now or in a little bit?”

“If you could do it now, that would be awesome – I’ve got that appointment to get to at 3pm and I think I’m going to need it to make it there.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be back soon then!” *wanders off to go do the thing*

This [made up] conversation is how I’d like you to conceptualize massage pressure. I’ve been thinking about this analogy for ages now and I think that even though it’s a bit cheesy it encapsulates a few ideas I’d like to share with you about how you approach your massage pressure.

  • 1. Going in and demanding change from the tissue is abrupt and likely won’t produce the results you want. No one likes being told what to do, point-blank, and neither do your muscles/nervous system. This is why we approach our work as a facilitator instead of a healer.
  • 2. The sweeter you approach the conversation, the more likely you are to get a conversation. This part of the analogy speaks to the state of the nervous system and its willingness to even entertain your massage pressure. If you don’t open with a gentle question, the response will likely be “no”. You want a foot in the door to be able to ask more questions.
  • 3. The more details you can give, the more conversation you have, the more back-and-forth there is in the dialogue, the closer you get to the desired outcome. If you ask questions in an order (apply pressure in an order), from peripheral to deep with incremental pauses for a response – you’re more likely to get space from the body (get the car filled up with fuel).

The same way you feel about the first scenario, is how your clients’ muscles feel if you jump in abruptly and without any conversation. If instead, you approach your pressure as a continuously changing conversation, where in order to get the desired outcome (for everyone), you need to be asking soft questions, incrementally AND you need to be waiting for the response before you make your next addition or subtraction of pressure – you’ll most likely get the response you’re looking for.

Responsiveness is key. Just like in a verbal conversation.

If your therapist doesn’t approach it this way, send ’em on over to Navina to feel the difference.

Drew.


Read more like this:

That “Delicious Pain” Sensation in Massage.

Sometimes leave it alone.

How to Make Your Treatment More Soothing.

June 30, 2024 By: Drew Hume2 Comments

soothing massageI’ve got a bit pf a reputation for going on the hunt for things – trigger points specifically – and that’s really detailed work aimed at getting to the source of pain.

It can also be a little intense. And sometimes your client wants something less intense – and more soothing.
[Read more…]

“How do you know when you’ve got “the” spot when you’re massaging?”

June 28, 2024 By: Drew Humecomment

sensing a good spot for massageThis is perhaps one of the most common questions I get from people taking training with me, and it’s a brilliant question. It’s not the easiest to answer though, because there can be quite a lot to it – but it’s still an important answer to give because it can help you feel more immediately successful in giving manual therapy. When you can conceptualize this particular element of any manual therapy style, your results immediately improve.

It’s the answer to this question that takes a massage from “feeling nice, for a home massage” to “Oh wow, I didn’t realize you knew how to give a proper massage!!”

So let’s pull it apart.

First thing I’ll say is that there’s probably more than one “the” spot – it’s good to know that right from the beginning, because we can often get caught up in the little joy of having found one and forget to keep searching afterwards. Rarely will there be a single culprit point for any pain situation.

So then, how do you know what you have A spot:

  • • Often, the muscle fibers under your touch feel slightly denser than the rest of the muscle (this can be hard to detect initially but gets easier with practice).
  • • In the instances where the density of the muscle doesn’t feel any different, you’re usually looking for something like a local “twitching” response of surrounding muscle. It’s more correctly known as “fasciculation” and is a sign that you’ve found a trigger point (not the only sign).
  • • Breathing typically changes – each inhalation typically becomes deeper, signalling a higher intensity in that particular spot which can often be a sign of a good spot to be on.
  • • The rest of the body tends to respond with a slight initial increase in “alertness” – things that follow a deeper inhalation for example, but is followed by a “releasing” response where things seem to settle after you’ve been on the point long enough.

Those are some things you can pay attention to and observe as you deliver pressure. But there are also some very simple verbal checks we can use to get more information as well – which is especially something to use more of as you begin exploring the application of manual technique:

  • • Sensation referral – if the person you’re giving a massage to reports feeling it *here* when you massage *there*, that is another great sign of a good spot to press on.
  • • And then you’ve got the good old “does that feel like the perfect spot there?”…. “Not quite, just a little to the left”. This exchange can rapidly help to calibrate your touch sensitivity to the non-verbal cues by helping you get to the spot and note what you feel.

After some practice you’ll also realize that for many of us, we have at least some “standard” spots that pretty much everyone has, given the similarities of how we tend to live our lives.

With just a little bit of practice, you’ll begin to hear things like:

“Your hands are so intuitive”
“I didn’t realize that there were so many sore spots in my shoulder”
“You found things I didn’t even know existed”

The first step though, is to start – and verbal feedback will help you work on the other elements over time.

That’s how we work in the massage club. An open dialogue with the people we work on. Join in now to start working on your touch sensitivity.

Touch, Oxytocin & Autism

April 2, 2024 By: Drew Humecomment

massage and autsim

Image source: dallasnews.com/

In my last post we talked about touch, Oxytocin and the social bonding that occurs as a result of the physical contact that produces Oxytocin release.

The conversation of touch, Oxytocin and social bonding leads us into a conversation about autism. So here we are – let’s explore this.

A couple of things that are characteristic in people with autism:
  • Altered social bonding
  • Touch sensitivity or aversion
  • Generally lower baseline levels of Oxytocin

We also now know (from the last article) that touch types and situations are important for the production of Oxytocin. Considering that people with autism process stimuli and emotions differently to people without autism, it makes sense then that there would be even more factors to consider around the touch requirements for producing Oxytocin (and thus having the same effect).

A really small study has actually shown some really interesting increases in Oxytocin levels in children with autism resulting from consistent (daily) massage from mothers. A few behavioural changes also occurred as a result – things like: improved attention, improved communication and calmer.

There’s also been some work done around the application of intranasal Oxytocin (spray) for people with autism and then the continued application of massage. Seemingly when used in combination, the nasal spray of Oxytocin reduces the initial neural and behavioural resistance that often occurs in folks with autism.

This might be a bit of a window into an enhanced sense of bonding for people with autism, along with behavioural shifts that are also seemingly advantageous and reduce overall stress.

It’s important to note that the expectation of touch and the expectation of the person applying the massage (the mother) were also noted as important factors in the increase in Oxytocin levels.

Check out the paper over here if you’d like.

Yet another incredible application for massage. Remember, it’s not just about sore body parts – or at least, the function of massage can be so much more than helping people get out of pain (as if that’s not enough).

Something to ponder. And also something to remember, for when you’re out there in the world offering touch/hugs/greetings; that there are a LOT of factors that go into touch-induced Oxytocin release, and that for different people those factors might be different.

If you have any personal stories about this you’d like to share, I’d love to read them 🙂 Pop them below.


You might also like to read “We’re going to have our work cut out for us, you and I”.

Touch & Oxytocin: Nuance

March 31, 2024 By: Drew Humecomment

touch and oxytocin

Image source: >neurosciencenews.com

We often talk about how touch can be really beneficial, how it leads to the increase in release of the feel-good hormones – which includes Oxytocin, which the “bonding hormone” and so it helps us build social connection (which, if you haven’t heard is a really key component to longevity).

You might have even heard about needing to get a certain amount of hugs in per day or time in hugs, and that kind of thing. Because touch does increase the production of Oxytocin. But does it happen every single time you make physical contact with another person?

No. Context is important. So not ALL touch gives you that same series of interactions and therefore not ALL touch gives you the same results.

A few things that seem to be important:
  • Type of touch (is it soft or is it rough?) – Oxytocin production is increased only in pleasant situations of touch.
  • What’s the intent behind it (is it caring or not?) – Whether by some other mechanism or perhaps via the effect intention has on execution of touch, depending on someone’s intent we might increase Oxytocin levels or not.
  • Time in contact – as you can imagine, the more time in contact (when the other elements line up) is going to lead to more Oxytocin.
  • Familiarity with the person touching you – interestingly, we produce less Oxytocin when people we don’t know are touching us.
  • Area of the body touched (is it the back or the face or your leg?) – different areas are likely to elicit different degrees of responses depending on your personal preferences. For example, someone who likes their back being tickled, will get more Oxytocin from that experience than someone who doesn’t.

This is why we focus so heavily on HOW to touch in class. The intent, the pace, the trust, and the understanding of touch biology – this all comes together to set you up with a recipe that is most likely to get the best response from your time together.

More Oxytocin equals a faster bond with your client. That means more visits, which is great for you as a practitioner, but more importantly it means a higher chance of them getting out of pain (your client) and feeling better in their bodies – overall better outcomes for them.

These are things to think about not just as a practitioner, but also if you’re wondering why certain interactions with people have different feelings, even when they might appear similar on the outside.

Learning touch literacy goes beyond massage. It reaches out into everything you do – and all the relationships you have and will have. That’s really why we teach you massage techniques through the lens of touch biology. Because evidently, the nuanced details are extremely important.

Drew.

It’s a millimetres game.

November 9, 2023 By: Drew Humecomment

The other day a client asked me if everyone had tension in the same spots or if I was specifically finding the spots that needed attention.

And the answer is yes and yes.

Yes, people mostly carry tension in the same areas. Almost everyone in the last couple of weeks of treatments needed attention to the shoulders, neck and chest. And so to some extent there are patterns there that set me up for a certain degree of success (success as in, successfully finding the spots that need attention).

AND, at the same time it’s not just a matter of pressing on exactly the same spots for everyone. This is where it becomes a millimetres game. Because each of these areas have almost endless possibilities for where trigger points could be housed.

So whilst it would be a decent treatment if I were to just generally press the same areas for everyone, it wouldn’t be “mind-blowingly awesome”, which is what I’m aiming for.

That takes detail. It’s a millimetre to the left on this side of their body and 2 mm to the right on the other side. It’s an extra mm deeper in the muscle for today’s client than yesterday’s. The slight shift of the angle at my elbow makes the world of difference for the trigger point I’m seraching for right now. The extra mm of rotation of my arm takes me from being “oh so close to the right spot” to “stay there and don’t move”.

It’s in those details on a person-by-person basis that make all the difference.

It’s also the process by which this work takes on so many potential shapes, so many (almost endless) options for the application of pressure. It’s the investigation required in this process that makes the client feel like they’ve just had the most thorough massage treatment of their lives.

And on the practitioner side of things it’s also the process by which the work never gets boring.

Because when we’re working the millimetre game, you have to be so deeply attentive to what you’re doing and to the effects of what you’re doing, that there’s simply no time for feeling bored.

It’s an exploration of living tissue and at this minute level it’s remarkably different every single day, for every single person.

That’s the game I try to teach you when you come and study with me.

If you’re reading this with a keenness to explore on such a detailed level, check out our course calendar over here.

And if you hear your massage therapists mentioning that they’re getting bored of their practice – send them my way please. We’ll peel back the next layer of their explorations together.

Drew.


You might also enjoy reading “Sometimes leave it alone.“.

Sometimes leave it alone.

October 4, 2023 By: Drew Humecomment

thai massage on the table
Mostly I teach you to wait for some kind of change in the tissue when you’re applying pressure. You maintain your weight on the spot you’ve found until you notice some change in texture – hopefully some kind of softening or the sensation that there is now some more space in the tissue.

That holds true for the majority of people.

But of course, there are exceptions. You may have even encountered an exception to the “rule”, where no matter how long you wait, there’s no change in the texture of the muscle.

Now, if you’re experriencing that with a lot of clients, I’d say you’re probably not waiting long enough. If instead you’re on a spot for more than 3 consecutive minutes (with the one touch) and there’s been no change, you might have found someone who breaks the rule.

In this instance I give it the full 3 minutes or so – and then, I leave it alone.

Yep, that’s right – I’ll give it what would normally be considered a generous hold, wait, and if nothing changes, then I leave it alone for a bit.

I’ll continue with the session and see how many other points I can find in the area and throughout their body, but for the time-being, I’ll leave that stubborn spot alone.

Why?

A few of reasons:

  • We get nowhere we want to be by forcing the issue. You’ve given the tissue and the nervous system time, and it hasn’t responded in the way you were waiting for, so trying to force it to is definitely not going to be the best choice. Especially because those points usually are some of the more chronic and persistent points a client might have.
  • If it IS one of those chronic and persistent points, we have to remember that one treatment vs. the years it took to get chronic is a drop in the ocean. Play the long game and remember that the best impact we can have with people is over the long-run. This will also ensure they feel good tomorrow (even if the point didn’t release), rather than beat-up.
  • The work/pressure continues giving, even once we leave. Notice how the benefits of a massage keep rolling in after the session is done, through that evening and even into the next day? Well, apply that knowledge to this situation – sometimes things in the body just need more time to integrate than most points or people.

Sometimes I’ll leave it alone for most of the treatment and then return to see how it’s doing later on. In that instance I’ll often give it a bit more time-under-pressure before once again leaving it be. And other times I’ll leave it alone entirely. I’ll just let it settle. And if they rebook for the following week it gives me a chance to continue working on it in a way that is gradual and in collaboration with the body, instead of something forced for a quick outcome.

Have you encountered any of these points?

If you have, you might try giving it this approach – after some solid time under pressure, leave it be.

It’s a detailed an intricate thing, this work we do – and sometimes it means the occasional contradiction of the main advice I give.


If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy: “What does “release” in massage even mean?“

That “Delicious Pain” Sensation in Massage.

September 21, 2023 By: Drew Humecomment

delicious pain massageYou know when you get a massage and your practitioner is on the perfect spot and with the perfect pressure that it feels so intense and yet you don’t want it to stop because there’s some part of you that knows that this is exactly what you need?

I’ve been thinking how it is we distinguish between that “delicious” pain and other intensities that might not be beneficial for us?

As in, how is it that we interpret some intensities to be beneficial in the long run – and so we even like it and pay money for it (hello our profession), whereas perhaps a slightly different degree or type of intensity is understood by our brains to be undesirable and something we don’t want?

There are of course subjective elements to this equation – like how much pressure is needed from the practitioner in order to get that “delicious” sensation, but for the most part the sensation itself is reasonably universal – a shared experience by many, regardless of how much pressure it takes to get there.

I say “reasonably” universal because I’ve also come to learn over the years that there are some people who actually DON’T get that melty-good-intensity sensation in massage.

Once upon a time I wrote this article (here) and in a course soon after, a student said “there’s no such thing as “delicious” pain – pain is horrible and we shouldn’t say that it’s anything but that”.

At the time I thought “there’s definitely a deliciousness to that pain”, but I didn’t respond that way of course. I took the time to explain that we’re certainly not diminishing anyone’s experience of pain by describing certain versions of it as delicious, and also made a mental note about it. Because I wondered if that was a product of the fear of pain and perhaps having had that dimisihed by others over the years, OR if there was also something else happening there – like that this person actually didn’t feel that same melty-ouch that most others do.

Sure enough, years later, I’ve now come across a handful of people who don’t experience massage pressure this way. Instead, the sensation is tolerated because they logically understand what’s happening instead of an intrinsic feeling of benefit.

At least in a couple of these people I’ve noticed traits of EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) as well and I wonder if that has something to do with it, but it also hasn’t been a mutually exclusive relationship.

I’m also wondering, how many of you are there out there? Are YOU one of these folks that scratches their head when hearing “delicious” pain, wondering what we’re on about? I’d love to know. I’d also love to know how often you get massage – or do you? Let me know if you can take a moment.

In terms of how we distinguish between those beneficial degrees of intensity from other, less-helpful degrees – well, I had a theory back in 2017 when I wrote that article above. I’ll stand by it for now until I can come up with a better reasoning. Here’s the link again if you’d like to read it.

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