Foundations Upper Back & Neck Pain 6 NCBTMB Approved CEs

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By the end of this course you will be able to:

Watch the videos and identify the techniques I am using
Start experimenting with these techniques on colleagues and clients
Differentiate this work from Swedish massage
State the 5 therapeutic techniques
Begin getting reviews on Google so that you can get client testimonials. These reviews and clients will help you transition to your own successful business.

It’s imperative that you connect with clients and form a strong bond for rebooking and ongoing work. Part of that is caring about the client and asking information about their condition to see how we may be of assistance to them.

You’ll get much more from this course by grabbing a colleague and practicing techniques by giving and receiving. This will be the best way to use the course and add this material to what you do currently for maximum benefit for yourself and clients.

Grab a friend. Get them to subscribe.

My system is a revolutionary way to make a living as a massage therapist by helping people to get out of pain. By committing to this program, you will learn a unique skill that helps you to stand out from other massage therapists in your area. You will be able to:

Charge more
Save your body
Work in a way that protects your safety because your clients are fully clothed, and
Promote your work on social media

Much of what we’re doing is connecting with the client. It’s imperative that you bond quickly regarding their issues. Support them in exploring those together for mutual benefit.

For liability reasons, massage therapists always need to document their work on paper. However, I want to stress that I don’t think the bulk of your intake should be on paper. Although that is part of how we collect information, it’s important to address the client verbally and make eye contact. This increases your chance of getting additional information on the client. It also helps you assess how they interact with their own body experience and pain.

Massage is a physical skill that you must learn in your body, just like dance, or riding a bike, or driving a car. Whether you are learning to be a prima ballerina, want to become the next Tour de France winner, or become a NASCAR driver, becoming a true expert takes time. A prima ballerina started by learning the basic dance steps from a dance teacher. A Tour de France rider started riding by wobbling shakily down the street with his or her parent steadying the bicycle seat. A NASCAR driver started to drive with a nervous parent in the passenger seat as they lurched around the block.

Even though you are already an expert at Swedish massage, the techniques you are learning in this program are so radically different from what you learned in massage school that it will take dedicated practice before you feel truly comfortable taking your entire practice off the table and onto the mat, as I have done.

Be patient. Give it time. Add what you can and make the work your own. Use what’s easy and beneficial to you and your clients.

As you try these new tools out, you can expect to feel awkward, just like it was when you first learned Swedish massage techniques. But, you CAN get there, and it’s really worth it, not only financially but emotionally because you can really change people’s lives by taking them out of terrible pain. I will guide you along the steps of your journey.

Just as with dedicated effort you became a licensed massage therapist, which is a huge achievement, with that same dedication you can become fluent in these techniques. Eventually, they will become second nature to you.

I love teaching on video, and this online program is packed with valuable information. I felt it was best to package it this way so that I know that every single person who comes through my program has the same solid foundation in the key concepts.

However, because massage is a physical skill, to really understand this work, you need to study with an expert in person to “get” it. In order to receive a certification as an approved branded and trademarked professional, you must complete an in person program with myself or a certified trainer.

This is a fundamentals course, the first step on your path toward receiving your certification. It is a requirement to become a certified expert, or even a trainer. This program also qualifies you for massage CE credits.

As we go through training together you’ll get to know me. Things of note:

I’m an iconoclast and question things
I’ve a deep heart centered resonance on helping people of chronic pain from my own experiences with it
I’ll give more than most educators for nearly free
You’ll get much more out of your training if you’re asking questions
Our greatest assets are curiosity and refining our questions

Join the private facebook group if you have not. Your comments and questions help us build together.

My name is Robert Gardner. I am here to assist and educate massage therapists seeking to stimulate more potential for their clients. All of the things I offer in my practice are things that I’ve used to help heal myself and my own clients, who primarily consist of people experiencing chronic pain.

I am a licensed Thai massage instructor, therapist, and yoga teacher in Austin, Texas. I use Thai massage, yoga therapy and group yoga classes to help my clients and students to stimulate their own healing. AI came to this work seeking relief from injuries I sustained in a drunk driving accident in college. Due to one tourist’s decision to get behind the wheel, overnight I went from feeling healthy, vibrant, and youthful into severe depression and unending pain.

Seeking relief, I found no help from the traditional medical establishment. Unable to manage my pain, I promptly dropped out of school. Seeking to regain my health, I began working at a health food store. There I discovered some relief for the first time in years through massage. So I went to massage school where my healing process really began.

From massage, which consisted of Swedish and deep tissue work, I discovered craniosacral therapy, then later yoga and Thai massage.

In addition to my passion for yoga and bodywork I also enjoy playing poker (specifically no limit hold’em) and gardening. I raise composting worms and garden at my home in Round Rock. I spend time feeding my family, working with urban sustainability, permaculture and cooking from scratch.

I don’t have all of the answers but I do encourage you to grab onto your life, your health and your prosperity. Don’t allow anyone to tell you you’re too sick or too old to improve and get better. Life happens to those who show up!

In contrast to Swedish based massage my manual therapy system has four hallmarks:

Little to no lubricants or oils
Fully clothed
Mat based
Full use of your body including legs and feet

My sessions:

In my sessions the client comes into a well lit room. After a thorough intake and discussion about their issues and what we think we can do today, they lay down on a mat and I begin to immediately work with them. Because the client is on a mat and fully clothed, I can move the client into many positions that would not be possible on a table and if the client had to be draped. I can work with the client for several hours (my sessions average 3 hours currently) and hopefully significantly reduce or remove pain.

Once the appointment is over, the client leaves the space, which I was able to supervise the entire time. They never needed to leave any valuable items unattended. This situation is Very different than what most would consider a massage.

Many of you will start on a table and that’s a perfect place to begin. Right where you are is the best. 🙂

As you work on completing the fundamentals course, my hope is that you begin incorporating some of the techniques I am teaching in this course with your regular clients as you work with them on the massage table so you can see how effective these techniques can be. Start to get a feel for them in your own body. Remember, it’s going to feel awkward at first. Keep with it and it will become more natural as you practice.

This course includes informational videos explaining key concepts of my system.

These practice videos allow you to practice these techniques on a friend before you start working on your own clients. I Absolutley Recommend you find another Licensed therapist to practice and trade with. Get them to subscribe and go through the curriculum with them!

This will be The Best way to learn this work and feel it in your tissues other than being in class with me in person consistently.

You have access to me through my Facebook group if you have any questions about the content in this course. Please use it and I’m happy to answer your questions.

How do we transition to the mat from the table?

You don’t have to leave behind the table. I’m a dedicated mat practitioner and love that format but once you truly understand what I’m teaching you can perform it everywhere. You’ll Want access to the mat for deeper compressions and easing your own body strain by using your legs but you won’t be limited to that.

1st step – introduce the work on a table

The challenge is transitioning the client to the mat. I prefer you offer clients a 90 minute mat session for what you usually charge for a 60 minute on the table. This is a solid incentive that removes the price factor and allows you to practice.

Most of the people who can do that are in private practice. Spas wouldn’t allow it. I’ve seen this time and again and as frustrating as it is…give yourself a raise. Figure out how to quit. You’ll make 2 times as much in private practice if you build and grow incrementally over time. That’s a 100% raise.

I’ll continue giving you skills to start up private practice as we continue teaching

Now we will help you build a client base that is going to be the seed group for your private business.

Many of you will start on a table and that’s a perfect place to begin. Right where you are is the best. 🙂

This course includes informational videos explaining key concepts of my system.

This will be The Best way to learn this work and feel it in your tissues other than being in class with me in person consistently.

You have access to me through my Facebook group if you have any questions about the content in this course. Please use it and I’m happy to answer your questions.

What make my system and sessions different?

After today’s lesson, you will be able to:

1) Name the 4 critical differences between a standard Swedish massage setting and the therapeutic space I’m teaching you to create

2) Identify benefits of each difference

Although this program has many advantages, one of the top advantages is that you can work with people fully clothed. Pay special attention as we go through those points.

What’s a typical massage appointment look like to consumers?

In massage school, you learned Swedish massage techniques. There are 4 hallmarks of Swedish massage:

Effleurage or glide
Nudity
Performed on a table
Use of hands and arms only

This is what we expect when we go to see a massage therapist – a dimly lit room, a table, a therapist who will leave the room so we can undress and lay under a sheet. The LMT then puts oil on their hands and begins to use a variety of techniques (we will discuss these specific techniques in the next module) to relax the muscles. The massage therapist will be using their hands to touch us. After the appointment, the therapist leaves the room so the client can put their clothes back on.

What I’m teaching you is radically different from this. This is why what I teach is often told to me by massage therapists to be something other than “massage.”

Learning just the techniques in this foundations course will change your massage practice.

As you work through this fundamentals course, you will be able to begin trying out some of these techniques with your clients, which will help you to save your hands and arms from the repetitive stress injuries you can get with swedish massage techniques. This will help you to work with less damage to your own body.

I once thought I had carpal tunnel syndrome. I worked obsessively and I kept tweaking what I did to arrive where I’m at today pain free and better than ever. You can do this.

You must do 2 things:

Help clients with pain
Ease your own strain while working.

If you don’t do both it’s incomplete. Either or will not work.

If you do Both….oh we’re gonna sizzle and take over large parts of our industry. You’re going to have longevity and be a respected member of your community for helping people. <3

Benefits for therapists:

Flexible time between clients and booking arrangements are easier
Professionalism. Clothes on means that we look more like physical therapists or high grade manual therapists
Helping others effectively and quickly. Clinical experience shows me that people improve from pain conditions more rapidly using our system.
Room is never left unattended
Massively eases our physical strain while working
We don’t have to deal with sexual innuendo or harassment since clients are clothed

Key Benefits of changing the setting: Increased Safety and Professionalism

Benefits for clients:

Increased physical mobility and no wasting time getting undressed
Increased sense of emotional and physical safety. Any issues with nudity are removed.
More effectively able to reduce pain or help clients with conditions rapidly
Different service creates a different mindset in the client as to its value
Clients often feel better paying More for a service they feel is superior to massage. I’ve heard this repeatedly from clients over the years.

Swedish massage has limitations. It’s not bad but it does like any tool have limits.

I started out learning Swedish techniques and they are wonderful for stress reduction. However, to work with someone who is experiencing pain, the setup itself creates a lot of limitations on how effective our work can be.

I’ve also talked with massage therapists all over the world, and one of the number one concerns that I hear is that the physical setup of a massage appointment puts therapists at risk. The low lights. The oil. The nudity. The fluid strokes. It creates a sensuous atmosphere that some clients mistake for other, non-licensed services. The setup itself puts massage therapists’ safety at risk. Because of this safety issue, many massage therapists prefer to work in spas or other settings where they have others supervising them. These settings tend to pay less than if you were working on your own.

Changing the dynamic of the appointment means that you can keep yourself physically safe, while still delivering a powerful touch experience for your clients. In fact, the way that you touch clients can be more nurturing than Swedish massage.

Once you change the setting to a more professional health care service, you reduce some of the physical risks of going into practice for yourself.

If you don’t have a hydraulic table I’ll generally recommend you set the table at the height that works best for you to do swedish and deep tissue so you can flow right into the routines you learned in school. If you’re an adept you’re likely to drop the table as low as it can go because you want to use your legs and feet more.

The lowest table..is a mat. 🙂

Key points

In this initial session you must address the issue that the client came in for
It’s imperative that you connect with the client
Explain what you’re going to do to them before you touch them
Prep them for rebooking their appointment

This work is easy to do and you should add this immediately to your practice. I cannot stress enough that you must must must Use the work to see how effective it is. The largest challenge to online education is that you cannot feel pressure. If possible I highly recommend finding a massage therapist colleague, getting them to subscribe and then going through these lessons with your friend.

If you give and receive the work will make much more sense that simply watching the videos.

You will get out of the course thousands of dollars of benefit to your practice if you do this. You’ll still pay $7 a month but you’ll make

T H O U S A N D S of extra $$$ if you implement what I’m teaching you.

I mean it. Those are big words…I had to caplitalize but I’m telling you, you Can Do This. You should do this. 🙂

Another issue therapists are having is not using social media to engage your target audience. Follow me on whatever platforms you use and get a sense of how I’m using #socialmedia to engage potential customers.

Working the paraspinals with your fingers is an option that’s more labor intensive but easier for many receivers. It’s not an either or proposition and I show you both for a reason. One will work and the other will not. Go at your own pace and be sure to ask in our private facebook group if you’re having questions I can answer for you.

The lowest table..is a mat. 🙂

Key points

In this initial session you must address the issue that the client came in for
It’s imperative that you connect with the client
Explain what you’re going to do to them before you touch them
Prep them for rebooking their appointment

If you give and receive the work will make much more sense that simply watching the videos.

You will get out of the course thousands of dollars of benefit to your practice if you do this. You’ll still pay $7 a month but you’ll make

T H O U S A N D S of extra $$$ if you implement what I’m teaching you.

I mean it. Those are big words…I had to caplitalize but I’m telling you, you Can Do This. You should do this. 🙂

What’s the Real Problem?

80% of the clients I saw presented with upper back and neck pain. I had to relook at how I delivered the service because clients weren’t improving from the Swedish routine I was taught in school.

Muscles in the front – pec, pec major, serratus anterior were pulling the client forward into a slouch. Some people would call it kyphosis. If I released these muscles, the shoulder blades would float on the ribcage and the pain in the upper back would diminish before I’d even pressed where the client said they hurt.

The clients would always press to the junction between the upper back and neck when asked what their issue was. The muscles in the posterior were overly lengthened. They’re are weak and long. Muscles in the front are tight and short.

I touch the area they feel pain so they feel heard, then begin the process of rolling the shoulder blades back and open. Once I opened it deeply enough so they could feel it in that problem spot in their upper back and neck, they would allow me to continue to work on them even though it was different from what they were used to receiving.

Once they knew it was effective we created a solid platform for build therapeutic rapport.

What is massage to customers?

Swedish

A typical Swedish massage was more labor intense and less effective for pain in my experience. When I broke down what I saw as my work developed I notice these 4 characteristics and how this changed the nature of our treatment specific work.

Most massage was:

Prone or supine – access to the pec, pec major, serratus anterior is limited
Out to in – client stays in pain for most of the session and not enough time on their real issue.
Full body – not enough time to address the problem area
Deep tissue – pressing on muscles that are already lengthened.

In this lesson I want to explain the overall progression of a session to help a client find relief from upper back and neck pain. When you understand how this work is structured, it will help you think creatively about how to help your own clients.

By learning this new structure of work, you will be able to significantly reduce the pain that clients report, and help them to remain out of pain longer.

Let’s begin by looking at 4 key elements of a typical massage approach:

The client is prone or supine on the table
The Lmt massages the entire body
The Lmt moves from extremities in toward the heart
Pain is addressed by deep tissue or more aggressive pressing on the area where the client is perceiving pain

Addressing upper back and neck pain is the most commonly requested service for a massage therapist for a reason. In our society, we sit a lot at desks, in cars, and we focus on activities in front of us. As a result, most people have developed a slouching posture where they are collapsed on the front of their torso, which lengthens their back muscles. If they are looking up, such as at a computer monitor, their head juts forward. If they are looking down, such as to check out a phone, they bend their neck and head forward.

When someone is able to maintain a great alignment, their weight is distributed evenly across the structural frame of the body, their skeletal system. Little effort is needed to maintain this position because the posture is structurally sound.

When someone slouches, their pecs contract in order to bear the weight of their skeleton and the uneven distribution of weight forward. Women are 80% of massage clients. For many women, breast tissue adds to the weight on the front of their bodies that they must support.

In a person who slouches, the back and neck muscles become overstretched and they experience pain in their back and neck as a result.

So let’s take a look at how working in a traditional approach becomes problematic for addressing these alignment issues and then look at how I approach it.

So let’s take those 4 pieces we discussed earlier in order.

Supine or Prone position: For someone with overly contracted pecs , it’s impossible to work efficiently on these key muscles when they are prone. If the client is prone, the clients own weight makes it taxing on the LMT to work with the pecs, and the client’s position on the table makes it hard to access the pecs. In a supine position, the LMT runs into the issue of their client being undressed and draped. Even when you have a familiar relationship with a client, it’s more challenging with boundaries to work with tissue beneath the breast. If you are a man, like me you’re even more cautious.
The Lmt massages the entire body. The LMT has generally 45 – 50 minutes to address the entire body. Although many people have issues in their legs that are creating problems for their stance and posture that affect their upper backs and necks, for most people, the tight pectorals are pulling them so off balance that addressing this is the most important issue to help them get out of pain. Spending so little time on the major issue means that the client may find some temporary relief but that issue will recur again.
Movement in toward the heart. Beginning work with extremities when the client is in pain in their back makes them feel unheard. Swedish is a fine technique but it doesn’t always address the core issues needed.
Deep tissue. Pain is felt mostly in the overstretched muscles of the back and neck. Effleurage on a muscle that is overstretched does temporarily feel good at the time; however, it does not address the root cause of the pain.

In the previous video I talked about how upper back and neck pain relief work progresses in a regular massage session. Now let’s talk about how the work progresses in my work:

Sidelying: One of the most dramatic changes you will see between most massage work and mine is that the client is side lying throughout almost the entirety of an hour session. Simply by changing the position of the client to sidelying, I now have access to the large underlying muscles that are most directly affecting her pain.
Focused pain relief: Even though I work with a client for 3 hours at a time, I rarely work their entire body. Instead, I focus on helping them to find dramatic pain relief in the areas that are most affecting the position of their skeletal system. When their skeletal system can move into a more supportive role, they can experience what it’s like to have freedom and ease in their own bodies. If I can help a client to experience tremendous relief in pain, then I feel a great sense of satisfaction and they’re more likely to rebook.
Movement progresses from large muscle groups to smaller, remember superficial to deep, general to specific first to help the skeletal system to come into a more supportive position, then to fine tune the client’s experience.

We’ve talked about the techniques I’ve used previously, but I want to mention them here again to help you understand why I use these techniques Instead of adding more pressure using effleurage to overly stretched muscles, I implement traction, mobility, shearing, and compression. I focus on reducing the forces that are creating the strain on the back and neck, causing those muscles to overstretch passively in response to those forces.

4 Key Elements to our work we introduced in lectures above:

Sidelying
Focused Pain Relief
Large Muscles Groups to Small, (superficial to deep, general to specific) and
Traction, Mobilization, Shearing and Compression

Creating Space for the Upper Back and Neck Using Compression
Creating Space for the Upper Back and Neck Using Traction

Using these techniques we being releasing some of the key muscles that are causing problems And touching the area the person says hurts so they feel heard and understood. That’s a key component to a good session.

Isolating the Upper Back
Easing the Pecs Open
Using Leverage to Open the Back

These 3 go together and mostly what we’re doing is honing in the on the problem area (likely the clients are groaning by now 🙂 and it’s isolating what muscles may need more specific work. This is broad opening and lengthening first in most cases. It’s more gentle and easier for clients to receive initially.

Using Compression to Relieve Strain on the Head and Neck
Lazy Shearing on the Neck

This compression and shear isn’t swedish. This just isn’t effleurage. Those tools are good but I don’t feel they’re optimal for pain relief that we see in our practice. We’re expanding your toolset, not focusing on getting rid of swedish but you already have those tools and we want to add more to your toolbox. When we talk about compression this isn’t pounds per square inch. This can be very gentle but it does stretch skin.

Using Side Position to Access Muscles Hidden in Swedish Massage
Scalp Massage

The client being on their side provides ample opportunity to get into areas many cannot. Changing positions is so amazing it’s hard to explain how such a simple thing can produce profound results. The posterior cervical paraspinals and serratus anterior in particular for what we’re doing are Far easier to address and we get to Pull the Shoulder Blade Open! We mostly get to relax while helping clients.

I usually end with the scalp because I love it myself. Make my work your own. 🙂

Levator scapula and the trapezius are issues on many people and they’re two of many muscles you’re addressing when you access the posterior cervical spine. Don’t be overly fixated on origins and insertions and this material will always be available to you here should you need to review.

These muscles-are they tight? Or are they lengthened long and weak?

This is something I encounter in my practice regularly and while I don’t have research studies to back up everything I see I suspect that even though people feel pain in this area they’re actually having pain because the muscles need to be strengthened.

In the short term we’re going to apply tissue techniques that make the client feel heard and at least help their problem temporarily.

Can massage therapists legally teach therapeutic exercise? Think about it..think about it. 🙂

For now let’s just make our clients aware.

Awareness is how we’re going to draw them into our story get them to come back so we can work on the area and show them how we’re going to slowly improve their pain alignment posture and life. Don’t worry about perfection. Let’s work on being better. 🙂

Trapezius

Anatomography (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trapezius_back.png), „Trapezius back“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/legalcode

Levator Scapulae

Anatomography (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Levator_scapulae_muscle_animation_small.gif), „Levator scapulae muscle animation small“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/legalcode

If you give and receive the work will make much more sense that simply watching the videos.

You will get out of the course thousands of dollars of benefit to your practice if you do this. You’ll still pay $7 a month but you’ll make

T H O U S A N D S of extra $$$ if you implement what I’m teaching you.

I mean it. Those are big words…I had to caplitalize but I’m telling you, you Can Do This. You should do this. 🙂

This is amazingly important and one of the reasons I think many massage therapists struggle. Rebooking is a core skill we have to learn and making that process part of your intake has worked very well for me in managing client expectations.

Many consumers just don’t know what we can do or how many sessions are needed to deal with most musculoskeletal pain that is soft tissue based. We can go a long way to helping people but we’ll often need multiple sessions and the capacity to educate our clients as we go.

This is something that will always and forever be a part of your practice. Once you’ve mastered how to do this easy lengthen and pull on muscles through the upper back and neck you’ll never look back at side lying position the same way again.

We want to help open the chest and this long length and stretch helps open the front..from the back. This is a really wonderful way of working with clients to open their horizons to different styles of work and trusting us as therapists by helping them with specific problems.

The rhomboids are one of those muscle groups that I think are not tight so much as they are weak and lengthened. They’re pulled over the thoracic spine like a bow string…pulled taught.
This area clients will always want some pressure in but I think that’s part of the illusion. I’l deliver pressure here but it’s to Open The Chest. 🙂 The issue is that falling forward slouched posture.

Rhomboids

Anatomography (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhomboid_muscles_animation_small.gif), „Rhomboid muscles animation small“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/legalcode

This has some nuance and will depend on body size between the giver and receiver. Follow along and see if you can use the ball pad of your foot to press along the paraspinals. As you work up to the shoulder blade see if the blade will slide over your toes making a comfortable shelf. It’s imperative that this feel easy and comfortable on your foot as you work.

Pectoralis minor is an ornery dense muscle. I love using a knee on this but as we’re still getting used to our legs and feet we’ll do that later. For now we have to make clients aware of where some of the issues are coming from.

It’s been amazing to do slow methodical work to pectoralis minor then have clients stand up and notice that their upper back pain is mostly gone. It’s strange at first but I think what they notice is the balance of their shoulder blades and how that muscle that was shortened and restricted in the front is making the muscles in the back work from a lengthened position and leading to some of the back pain they experience.

Our work at first can seem counterintuitive but I always lean towards what seems to work. If it doesn’t work? We research experiment and try to find what does for our clients. It’s imperative that we question norms in our industry to keep growing to help our clients.

Pectoralis major and minor are in my clinical experience major issues for clients. The muscles are a leading cause of the upper back and neck pain we see because they’re setting the posture and position of the shoulder blade along with serratus anterior.

We can argue about this and I’m completely willing to be wrong. In the end in clinical experience these muscles are shortened tense and tight. It’s an area I prefer to use my knee to access. Yes, I kneel on people’s chest in mat work. Yes I find it works better than a sharper pointier elbow. Let’s do what we can with what we currently have where we currently are.

Pec major is problematic but pec minor the muscle underneath is the real deal issue. It’s so tense on people and pulls from the coracoid process to pull the shoulder blade forward. Applying soft tissue techniques to the area can really wake up an old dead dinosaur. Since it’s not visible it’s often forgotten to the more superficial pec major but sustained compression from a broad surface area seems to create space for it to wake up more easily than other tools.

The muscles in the back like trapezius and the rhomboids are in my experience the muscles that need to be strengthened. In the short term let’s do work the area and see if we can lengthen the area and allow the shoulder blade to free float on the rib cage without encumbrance.

Notice how large and broad pectoralis major is? Rarely do I find people have any pain in this area but it affects their posterior chain deeply by pulling the shoulder blade forward. When dealing with women we’re even more so having issues because breast tissue is pulling the area down and forward.

Part of the way we Really win is putting clients in side lying position to pull this area open safely in a way that our clients can receive.

Pectoralis Minor

Anatomography (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pectoralis_minor_muscle_animation_small.gif), „Pectoralis minor muscle animation small“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/legalcode

This area can be really tense and I think it’s a great way to access something so that both therapist and client feel safe. The elbow is less pointy this way and in the instance of women as receivers they feel more covered and safe.

Go slow work with the clients tissues and don’t force your way in.

Rotatores and Quadratus lumborum (QL) are two muscles or groups of muscles we’ll access in a twist. Notice that we don’t have to touch the muscle to have an effect. Mobilization twisting and passive movement will access it for us.

When we go to an area do we actually ever touch a rhomboid? No we touch..skin. Then that accesses the nervous system of the person we’re working on.

As we’re mobilizing remember these aren’t the only tissues we’re affecting and I’m always going to refer to the science that we understand that at it’s core we’re working on a person like Karen. Goddammit Karen! 🙂

As you twist and use the arm as a handle you’re rolling open the rotatores on one side and a QL on that side as well. This is a very deep feeling movement even if from the outside we’re just moving someone around.

Rotatores

Anatomography (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rotatores.png), „Rotatores“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/legalcode

This is a potentially deeper option and changes some of the body mechanics for those of you who couldn’t quite handle the first version. It’s challenging to determine how do to this in Every situation due to size and limb length discrepancies between givers and receivers. Always remember that all that we do should feel comfortable.

Opening the upper back this way feels amazing. We’re pressing where people often feel discomfort but what we’re Really doing is opening the chest and lengthening pec major and pec minor.

Splenius Cervicis

Anatomography (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Splenius_cervicis_muscle_animation.gif), „Splenius cervicis muscle animation“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/legalcode

Neck work in side lying is devastatingly effective. I’ve worked with many Lmt who tell me they never use this position and if we had a secret weapon on a table..this is it! Side lying changes clients presumptions about what we do and creates a situation where we’re delivering on our promises of pain relief while also exploring new terrain with more clients.

Clients don’t care what we Do they care what Results we get.

Don’t be shy in exploring this and you’ll be amazed that you ever spent most of your time working the neck in supine.

Adding easy to use techniques to your arsenal can make a huge difference to our practice long term. Many students tell me they find this work easier on their bodies and after showing them 3 or so moves in a class I’ll ask them what would happen if they did both sides. Their answer is that that’s already 30 minutes or half a typical hour session.

Clothes on. Mat based. Longer sessions is the future.

You don’t have to go whole hog immediately and I understand the pressure Lmt are under. We not only have to build a new business we have to build a new practice and sometimes get new clients. Time and patience but what do you want to do?

Your heart? Deep down. What do you want to do? 🙂

You always want to work in a way that eases your own bodies strain. If you ever feel tense what can you change to make it feel easier and less obstructed?

A seated version is a really nice option and keep in mind we’re moving around regularly as we work. My work in particular as we build towards a mat based practice is amazingly diverse in the body positioning you’re experience.

The goal as always is to help people and have as many tools in our arsenal as possible.

Serratus Anterior

Anatomography (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Serratus_anterior_muscle_animation_small.gif), „Serratus anterior muscle animation small“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0/legalcode

Serratus anterior is a hidden muscle. Danielle Omo made me more aware of it a year or so ago for a nagging shoulder issue on my left side. As it’s on the side body it’s harder to access and address but wow did I have some tight immobile tissue there.

Go slow and use the broad portion of your forearm flexors to sink into this area broadly. Don’t dive in with an elbow. As always our pressure is general to specific superficial to deep. Have them breathe. We’re over the intercostals as well.

Here’s a good overview of the work we’re doing with some variations. When you put the work together it looks much like this. I want you to practice with someone giving and receiving and going through this sequence. It’s the easiest way to really grab this work and get it into your cells.

After you complete this course, my hope is that you will begin trying to incorporate some of the techniques I am teaching in this course with your regular clients as you work with them on the massage table so you can see how effective these techniques can be. Start to get a feel for them in your own body. Remember, it’s going to feel awkward at first. But keep with it and it will become more natural.

I hope that when you FEEL how valuable these skills are you to you, that you will continue studying with me so that you can move your clients off the table and onto the mat.

When the full course is complete we will likely have an ongoing series of these that will last for many 6 month series to keep walking you along online at a distance so we can work together. We have more ideas for education and we’ll mainly be sharing those through the private facebook group.

Even if you never complete an additional programs in my system, learning just the techniques in this course will change your massage practice.

When you complete this fundamentals course, you will be able to begin trying out some of these techniques with your clients, which will help you to save your hands and arms from the repetitive stress injuries you can get with Swedish massage techniques. This will help you to work with less damage to your own body.

Please follow me on instagram. It’s a great way to promote our work and an easy quick way to make photos and videos to show off our work.

Reviews are hugely important. I recommend you start getting reviews in the following order of importance. Google is #1. Facebook is #2. Yelp is a paltry #3.