6 Tips for Giving a Better Massage
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
- My new book is out! It's called Massage Is Weird: massagesloth.com/book/
Here are six tips I wish I had known at the beginning of my massage career. By the way, I'm releasing another video today, just for my supporters on Patreon! / massagesloth
0:00 Introduction
0:48 Tip 1: Remember the beginning and end of your massage techniques. It can be tempting to let your focus wander away from your hands when you're not in the "meat" of the technique. Realize that this can feel unsatisfying as the client, as it can make the moves feel short and disconnected. Instead, consider the way that you place your hands on the body, and try emphasizing the ending with extra time for finishing the technique.
3:00 Tip 2: Airplane landing and take-off. This one's pretty easy: When placing your hands, do so gradually and conscientiously. When removing your hands, same deal. A small change, but important for the overall quality of your massage.
3:34 Tip 3: No throw-away moves. If you've made your way past your area of attention, make the best of it! Instead of mentally skipping this part so that you can get back to the good stuff, take the time to make it meaningful.
4:43 Tip 4: Layer your techniques. By moving one hand at a time, you can blur the barrier between your techniques and leave the massage feeling continuous and flowing. This can take practice to develop, so just make it your intention to play with this one over time.
6:41 Tip 5: Make the client's body move. Basically, trust your client's body with your pressure, throw your weight around, and make your massage techniques feel like the crashing of a wave. See my videos on deep tissue massage for more!
7:49 Tip 6: Put yourself in your client's place. This is a kind of meditative exercise where you try to "feel what your client feels." As your hand squeezes your client's trapezius, what would that feel like to you? As you manipulate the scapula, what angles would feel good to you? Basically, maintain contact with your hands and imagine your client's experience, and try to stay immersed in that world as you work. This is another skill that gets easier with time, and dipping into this mental space can help you sink into a state of flow.
Don't feel like you need to implement all of these simultaneously! I recommend trying one at a time and seeing how they affect your massage session. I'd love to see your advice for giving a better massage in the comments!
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I graduate from massage school and take MBLEx next month. Because my Swedish instructor was so horrible, I felt so overwhelmed at first (she has since been fired). And then I found your channel. My client feedback sheets for clinic have consistently started to read things like “one of the top 3 massages I have ever had.” So thank you. From “lazy” body mechanics to how to approach a client’s body. Deep tissue to all the other tips and tricks. You have helped me so much over the last several months and I am so thankful for your videos.
Ah, that's so great to hear! The fact that you went out and filled the holes in your schooling yourself bodes very well for your future success. Massage school is just the beginning, and there's no telling what cool stuff you'll learn and develop in the coming years. Congrats!
How’s the career going?
@5:35 - lumbar spreading -> two fisted lumbar steamroller -> airplane takeoff
Tony Hawk Pro Skater combos up in here
lol
Great massage tips, Ian! I’d add: don’t be afraid to touch the entire body. Some of the best moves have continuity into an entirely different region. All my clients love longer strokes as opposed to shorter strokes-strokes that revisit areas already worked on or that are about to be worked on. Blend it all together!
100% agree, I have the same experience with my clients.
Love it thx
Yes, yes and yes!!!!
One other point that really helps here with mindfulness is to RECEIVE therapy as often as possible. Take note of what feels good and to remember to use that technique when next giving therapy. Continually observing our own responses to others work helps a lot. Thanks for all these wonderful suggestions😊
Ooh, that's an excellent tip, and so true!
It's so hard to shut off that bodyworker brain sometimes and just enjoy receiving
I find your method of instruction the most comprehensive of any youtube videos. I graduated massage school in 1997 and I will always be a student of massage. Glad i found you!
I am a beginning therapist and I find your tips very helpful. I appreciate how you speak with knowledge without belittling our own. Thank you for sharing!
Ian, I LOVE your intentional work. Makes me feel good just watching your massage techniques. Thanks for sharing!!
Great important techniques. Thank you.
You look so healthy!
Also, nice to see a more realistic client model; rare in massage videos IMHO.
Awesome Ian. ALWAYS awesome!!
Rebel Massage - you are another I really appreciate and use many of the techniques you post on you tube. Always well received by my clients! THANKS
Very good video! Mindfullness is so important. I also like to start each session with a gentle reminder to the client that they have permission to tell me if they need more or less pressure. I always tell them you won't hurt my feeling, feel free to tell me what you need.
I do that too! When I think about how being a client tends to make it harder for me to find my voice, it makes me realize how crucial it is to encourage frank communication during the session. Good one!
You have literally the most soothing voice!!!!
yes!! and while watching him massage I almost fell asleep
I fell asleep 😁
Just started massage training and I love hearing this ‘ wisdom ‘ from experience stuff.
It puts things into context and focuses on the holistic experience which is a great thing to keep in mind when you are starting to learn techniques .
Thankyou !
Ian, thank you so much for your videos. I’m getting so much out of them! I’ve been doing massage professionally for 30+years before it became the industry it is today. Your videos are beyond excellent...they give me a new enthusiasm for my craft!
Jane, that means so much, thank you!
Very helpful video. I'm a new therapist and still trying to work on getting a flow where the client feels a seamless beginning and end of movements. Thank you.
Making the body move. Yes! I like to think that it reminds the body of when it was rocked as a baby. Incredibly soothing and helps those clients who are stiff limbed and find it a challenge to relax.
This was greatly appreciated! Very helpful! All your videos have been wonderfully laid out for the best instruction.
I love your videos thank you! I would be interested in a video that touches on how to massage people with different more unique or “problematic” body types. Such as a very exaggerated curvature of the neck, dowager’s hump, a very large “fleshy” neck or “no neck”, or the opposite when someone has very very narrow shoulders. I mention these neck issues here because I’m finding that these are the body types that have a lot of neck pain due to their physiognomy but they are also a bit of a challenge to work with.
Thanks for this video. I have done massage for years and combine various techniques and now my son has just done a massage course and I showed him your channel and this video has inspired him so much and confirmed for me how I do my massages. Mindfulness and flow are so integral to a great massage. Great Channel!
These are all great techniques. I’ve been doing massage 23 years and I intuitively do these things and my clients are very grateful for it.
The creating movement tip is great, I'm going to start incorporating that into my massage!
Yes to the take-off and landing! I really try to be conscious of this. I haven't thought about the movement piece, but I will try this with clients today :) Thanks for another great video!
I definitely think receiving feedback from the client will help the therapist treat more effectively as you obviously want your client feeling better than when they came in. Seeing improvement is important over time so having regular treatments is definitely the key to seeing results.
Thanks Ian , some great tips ,been a therapist for five years now and it's great to see a different way of approaching massage holistically
Thank you so much. Such useful, meaningful, calming, authentic content.
Love it! This is exactly how I’m always trying to think as I work!
Thank you so much for helping me with a little bit of thought processes!
Great tips! Reiterating things I forgot from Massage school 3 years ago!
Love this!! Thank you Ian🕊💙
I’m about to give my wife a two hour massage on our brand new massage table and I am so stoked for these fantastic ideas. TYVM! Wonderful tips and techniques
In my last semester of MT school, loved it very helpful :)
So much good stuff in this one.Thank you!
Excellent video and tips! Thank you!
Excellent, thank you so much for your help
Welcome back bro!!
Being playful = a must, I'm going to incorporate more playfulness in my sessions
These are absolutely my favorite sessions, both as a therapist and as a client!
Awesome videos, keep up the great work! I am just coming out of massage therapy school and you have definitely been a big help for me. Thank you!
Great to hear, and congrats on your new journey!
Awesome video! Great tips for me as new massage therapist
Thank you for another great video.
Thank you Massage Sloth! You make a good video. I am working full time in my first year as a RMT. Ive watched this video and the forearm stretch video from a little while ago.( you look way different in the two videos) and they helped me a lot. Keep it up. I am subscribed and notifications are turned on.
I am very young and I watched this video understanding the techniques used. I want to give my mother a massage that she will enjoy❤
Definitely helping me. I'm thinking of going into massage therapy. Thank you for the tips. Some of the moves you're doing seem like it just came to me naturally when I give someone a massage.
I always do your last technique, of being mindful.. projecting and feeling what they're feeling etc. it's actually great meditation for self too!! I wouldn't be able to get through my handful of back to back clients a day, without using that thought process. It definitely makes for a better massage too, I've been told ☺
Great tips. Thank you....
This is wonderful I am so glad I came across your site. Keep being detailed while explaining types of massages. I am in massage school now and they are not like this. You are amazing!
Glad it's been helpful! And consider joining us on the forum (search "massage sloth clubhouse" on Facebook) for support as you go forward. Cheers!
I am a massage therapy student and my mentor who is amazing introduced me to Massage Sloth after 1 video I am hooked thanks soo much for your knowledge, humor and amazing techniques I am learning and honing in on my developing skills more and more everyday keep the videos coming. Many thanks thanks thanks
Thank you 💜🌎💜 your videos are the best I've found for massage technuques. Thank you very much 😊😊
thank you! love these tips of yours.
So well explained 😊 Thank you ❤
GREAT video!! keep it up, you seem so skilled I really want to sign up for a session!! Thank you for sharing your talent and skills with us!
You are the man! Thank you!
Your videos have been a wonderful affirmation of the Ayurvedic massage training I received in India and the intuitive techniques that I've added to my massage therapy practice. Gratitude abounds:)
Those tips were very helpful; thank you 👍
SO helpful! Thank you 😊 🙏🏻
Good! I like all of them, thanks a lot .
Thanks Ian, this is a mindful video!
Great job
Great demonstration of mindful movement
This is exactly what I needed to hear today as if you had read my mind. Your tips are on the mark. Btw, I miss your dressy pants and shirt!
Massage is more emotional than anything else...fantastic!!!
Thank you ❤
Great content
so aPPRECIATE videos !!! thank you!!1
Yes ... i like your explain, good job
I love your sloth approach and use it when I massage, loosing myself in the massage is part of the connection I think you get with a client. I probably have 50% of my routine structured, the rest is free flow and this ensures a new experience every time for my clients. I do always ask if there is a particular move they like/dislike after and note to include it/exclude it next visit. Saying that I’ve never had anyone dislike anything so far!!
I think that's a great way of going about it! I've got a baseline routine as a starting place, but especially as I get to know someone, that can go waaay out the window.
So wonderful to have this tutorial back in my recommendations - so awesome to see i actually picked up some of your tips and apply them. Go Me!!
Nicely done!
I love the tip on making your moves blend together. I love the technique you used and I think I’m going to replace my Petrissage of the back with that technique. It seems like it flows better! (And I struggle with Petrissage of the back
I watch your videos to help me fall asleep, and I mean that in the most flattering way possible lol
Same..relaxing & educational
Leading edge of massage therapy
Good tips! Thank you. I
You should do a video explaining body mechanics and table height. I noticed in this video that you have the table quite low and you keep yourself in a wide and low stance which is much different than what I’m being taught in school. I find it very interesting and would love to hear about your preferences and how they differ based on the client and type of massage.
He has one called Body mechanics for low tables. I was trying to drop the link but it's not happening right now
Here's how I go about it: czcams.com/video/DGIkIU_1Bns/video.html I love this way because it lets me really pour my body weight into my session rather than having to use my muscles. When clients ask me how I do what I do, I say I "lean for a living."
Thank you very much man ❤️
Thank you so much.
Muchas gracias por su video, usted es fantanstico!!
Good job
Really so awesome. Like this Channel to much.
These are excellent tips.... All of which are effective ways to improve touch and massage techniques. I must add, these tips also provide a holistic approach to massage while at the same time they will help therapists who might be having a challenge with giving longer massages. Keep uploading new videos.... waiting for your next.
Thanks for this! It's been a long break, but I can feel my brain gearing up for a new video...
I love the technique sir
Hi Ian! I am a later life LMT! There are only a select few I follow on youtube and you are one of them! I appreciate your videos and teaching style so much. I utilize many techniques you teach in your videos! Thanks again!
Thanks Kim, happy to hear it!
To me; your the best teacher👔💼
Good tips
Here to refresh my memory.. it been 16 years since I've graduated from massage therapy school..
Superb intentional work, what we are thinking during the session spills over onto the client. My client's bodies move often. 💜
I need a massage from nobody, but this guy.
great! thanks! i got an idea.
I wish to meet you one day fellow fsm brother! I'm buying your book soon too :) amazeballs.
Thank you. I am going to practice these on my very next client in 30 minutes! I like the airplane analogy. I think I get a little turbulent sometimes! ✈
Update: wow, I really slowed down and was super aware of what my hands were doing. My client gave me huge thumbs up!!🤘
Thank God you made the encouraging statement that continuity takes time because I'm the queen of junkie moves lol thank you so much!
Thanks a lots Sir. 🇮🇳🙏
Great tips. More on body mechanics would be nice Ian
I have my first student clinic shift tomorrow morning, these tips are awesome! Thanks!
Congrats on getting that first one under your belt! I am certain you kicked butt 🙂
This is a great list! I have been focusing lately on making all touch intentional and effective, so I really appreciate your distillation to "no throw-away moves". In 50 to 80 minutes there's no time for filler!
thank you
As always, excellent job bud. You help me more than you even know...
Just too good.
More power sir..👊👊👊👊👊
Thank you for your vids Ian. I've been incorporating a lot of your suggestions into my treatments. Question, is there a particular amount of time you would have a client lying prone? I have performed some 60 minute BNSh MFR treatments on prone client as part of a treatment plan. Clients have not complained, however, I am worried it may be too long, with neural/circulation issues in the arms?
Amazing tips Ian, thank you, when I do massage also I always put my self in their situation so it’s really helps to give the best I can n make them feel better 🥰 ❤️
I'm rewatching this as I come back into massage therapy after an injury. I miss this so much!
Best of luck! If you could use some support (ways to support any part of you that still has pain, getting around mental blocks, etc) please join us on the forum. Search "massage sloth clubhouse" on Facebook and hit us up :)
Excellent descriptions, and you did a really good job navigating the harder to explain aspects of massage, using phrases like "make it feel more profound." And the description of helping them understand the story of their body and how and where all their muscles connect.
I don’t know any therapist who does massage like this except myself.
Is this ”sloth”-style common in Florida? What is the style called?
Have you tried revolving or rolfing? That’s what have inspired my personal approach.
Thoroughly enjoy your videos, Ian! Thanks for the quality content.🙏
I do a slower method. Intuitively, it felt that is was my personal best way to approach healing. My first instructor was also a slower gower. 🤗
U da best