The office recently sent out letters announcing my arrival to Waterbury Chiropractic. This letter- like my bio- lists the modalities or styles of massage I am trained in. While this list makes sense to other massage therapists, unless you've heard of the specific modality you're not likely to know what they are or what benefits they have. So today I'm going to tell you a little bit about each one!
Shiatsu- it's a Japanese style of massage based on the same principles as acupuncture and accupressure. Shiatsu is traditionally performed over clothing and involves a mixture of rocking, compression, and accupressure. While I don't usually perform a full traditional Shiatsu massage I love to use the tools over the blankets on the table or on clients who are not comfortable completely disrobing.
Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy- This is a very unique style of massage where the therapist uses their feet to deliver "the most luxurious massage on the planet!" While I do not have the bars necessary to perform Ashiatsu massage set up currently, I have translated the techniques for the slow, deep, and relaxing style of massage so that I can utilize them with my hands and forearms. These techniques allow me- a skinny lightweight woman- to go very deep without hurting and bringing great relaxation into the massage.
Deep Tissue/NST- Normalization of Soft Tissue (NST) is what massage therapists are taught as being "true deep tissue". What this means is that most people ask for deep tissue because the want deep pressure in their massage, however this is not a deep tissue massage in the same way NST is deep tissue. NST is a heavily focused style of massage based primarily on neuromuscular techniques (specifically trigger point therapy) used to balance or "normalize" the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc). This form of massage is great for specific issues and addressing muscles individually.
Sports Massage- This is very similar to NST as it is a focused style of massage that provided me the education and protocols to work with physical conditions specifically related to sports enthusiasts. The knowledge I gained from this also taught me how to use NST techniques to increase range of motion and how to identify key issues that cause limited mobility and how to address them.
MFR- Myofascial release is again soft tissue therapy meant to aid in increasing mobility. I use this particular modality to work with releasing fascia a web-like tissue that wraps and connects all tissues in the body. Why do we need help releasing this you ask? Well, the easy answer is that if our fascia is tight it can really limit our mobility and create a feeling of tension and discomfort and releasing that relieves those feelings.
Swedish Massage- as the name suggests, this style of massage originates in Sweden and has become known as an all-purpose general massage. It's the stereotypical relaxing massage in a lot of ways. I like to use it because of its many amazing benefits like relaxation, blood pressure regulation, improving circulation, and increasing your blood oxygen levels.
Lymphatic Drainage- This is a very simple set of techniques used to improve lymphatic circulation which boosts your immune system and generally encourages the system to work the way it should naturally if for some reason it cannot or is not.
Prenatal- Pregnant women need a little extra attention and care in order to ensure safety and comfort for her and the baby, I learned this style of massage so that I could meet the needs of a pregnant woman.
Reflexology- Massage for the head, hands or feet working with reflexology points in order to affect change in other areas of the body. Whether you believe the ancient techniques and their effects, it simply feels amazing and I love getting to use it if only for two minutes to take you from relaxed to living in bliss.
Polarity Therapy- is a mixture of techniques both energetic and physical to create energetic balance in the body by creating communication between polar energies within the body.
Vibrational Therapy- this is a form of energy work (that is sometimes hands-on) to influence and work with healing the chakras.
Reiki- is defined as "a healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient's body and restore physical and emotional well-being." I can think of no better way to describe it. I am a Master of Tera Mai Reiki.
Raindrop Therapy- is a powerful protocol using essential oils created by Gary Young in 1980 to bring balance and alignment to the body in a non-invasive and deeply detoxifying way. This therapy is phenomenal and is great if you feel you are coming down with a cold or if you have one.
I hope this provides some clarity to some of you. As I have said before my style of massage is intuitive and incorporates pieces of each of these styles and techniques. I look forward to furthering my education so I can bring more into my massage sessions and ensure that I am able to meet the needs of my clients.
