Good technique forms a solid foundation for the massage itself, so it is important that the therapist has had adequate training and that they understand the workings of the body in order to know how to treat your injury or condition. This is super important and can’t be dismissed in any way. However, is good technique alone enough to offer the body the opportunity to truly heal?

What if there is another ingredient that offers the muscles and tissues not just a relief from the ill or condition, but true healing in that the muscles and tissues have the opportunity to return back to homeostasis.

This ingredient is the quality in which the massage therapist delivers the massage.

So what do I mean by quality? Quality is the WAY in which the massage is delivered.

As an example, have you ever had a massage where you can feel the therapist just going through the motions and that they are not fully present with you whilst they are massaging? They may talk to you the whole way through, be distracted, perhaps be rough in their movements and you can tell that their attention is elsewhere rather than being there with you in the room.

I know that I certainly have experienced this and at the end of the massage, I can’t fault what they have performed on a technical level, but I am left feeling like something was missing.  That missing ingredient is the lack of good quality that the massage was offered.

Having massaged for many years what I frequently experience in my clinic in Balgowlah is that clients respond to the quality of how a massage is delivered and this plays an equal role to the knowledge and technique.  I have a firm understanding that it is my presence and connection first of all to my own body and then to the body that I am working with can be felt and received by the client.  When I bring my quality of connection to the session, I can feel the client’s body respond with the muscles and tissues relaxing and letting go.

As an example, the way I do trigger points in remedial massage and deep tissue massage is to not push into the tight spot and try and release it with firm pressure, but I find that a gentle approach using anti-clockwise circles enables the muscles fibres to release.  Along with my presence of feeling exactly what is going on underneath my thumbs or fingers, this supports the person’s tight toxic spots (trigger points) to release. The use of effleurage after brings in fresh blood supply into the area so the muscles and tissues can return to their innate state of health.

Often clients are surprised at the results that can be achieved by not pushing into the body, but rather through the gentleness and care that is offered in the session.  This is the quality that they are feeling and the body does respond.

So next time you are getting a massage, tune into what you feel and the quality in which the massage is being delivered, knowing that the quality of a massage plays an equal role to technique in your overall healing.

Donna Nolan teaches Remedial Massage for Australia’s leading massage school. She runs her own massage clinic in Balgowlah and enjoys supporting people for many common conditions such as back pain, neck pain, sciatica, shoulder impingement, postural imbalances, stress, anxiety etc. Contact her.

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Deep tissue as the name applies, refers to the deeper soft tissues within the body including muscles and fascia. A common way that many therapists work with accessing the deeper tissue is to press firmer or harder in order to try and access the deeper tissue or muscles in the body. This can sometimes be painful for the client (and draining for the practitioner) and in some circumstances can cause bruising. Of course there are many clients who enjoy this type of massage and subscribe to the “no pain, no gain myth” and will request this and enjoy this style of massage.

However, if you are like me and avoided receiving massage for a long time as I didn’t like how much it hurts, then you may be pleased to hear that there is another way of releasing the deeper fascia and muscles in the body that is not painful, and rather is relaxing, enjoyable and has amazing results.

In clinic, I often have people asking for a deep tissue massage, without really understanding what it is that they are asking for. I like to share and educate clients as to what deep tissue means and the way that we can access working with the deeper muscles and fascia without having to hurt them.

The industry is changing and the way we are now teaching massage has taken a turn to support the client to relax, so that their muscles can release and relax. Ultimately it is important to remember that relaxation is at the basis of any form of remedial massage. If the person is tensing up due to pain, then we are promoting a protective mechanism in the body, muscle constriction, rather than the muscles letting go.

So how do we release the deeper lying muscles in the body without digging deep?

Warmth is the key – use plenty of effleurage strokes to warm up the outer, surface layers of muscles and tissue. Once these are warm and feel softer, then we are able to gently use techniques such as trigger point therapy to access the deeper muscles that lay beneath.

There are many deep tissue techniques that can be used with one of the most common being trigger points. The way I work with trigger points is through feeling and sensing what is happening in the muscle and the client’s body. Having warmed up the area that I am working on, I use gentle circles over the area where I can feel the built-up point in the muscle and gently release it using thumbs through the small movements. Feeling when the muscle releases beneath my thumbs I then use effleurage again to allow for the fresh blood flow into that area to promote restoration of the tissue and reintegrate the local area with the rest of the body.

Whilst receiving this technique, the client may feel a different sensation in their body with the release of the trigger points, but it should not cause a flinching or a high level of pain in any way. I often find clients relax deeply and sometimes even fall asleep.  They commonly report on how lovely it is to receive this type of massage and the results are long lasting and not a quick fix.

Donna Nolan works as a Remedial Massage Therapist in Balgowlah on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and teaches the Diploma of Remedial Massage at one of Australia’s largest and most reputable massage schools.

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