Glutes

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Gluteal muscles are commonly referred to as glutes in our industry. I’ve always found it interesting and telling about how we interact with such a physically strong yet socially taboo area. On the therapy side I feel bodywork is incomplete without glute work. These muscles lead to so much back pain and immobility I’m annoyed if I see someone for a session and they don’t at least knead through mine at least once. On the intimacy side, well, Sir Mix-a-Lot writes songs as an ode to the area. Glutes fit right in a middle ground, they need work but also concern intimacy with clients.

Using your knees to work this area is ideal for several reasons. Very few people are going to find your touch suspect while using your knees and your hands will thank you every time you do this. Those large powerhouse muscles love being leaned into with nearly all of your body weight over such a broad surface. Start slow, hands on the ground on either side of the client to step up if you’re concerned about pressure. It’s all flesh that you’re sinking into, no bone.

You’re working multiple layers of muscle in this one move. Gluteus maximus, medius an minimus all get some work as well as the deep lateral rotators. Piriformis is the big guy though, he causes more low back or leg pain than the others in my experience. You’re compressing all of these layers almost all at the same time. Thai massage is effective.

Stay away from the tailbone and the border along the sacrum you can hug up to with your knees. This deep compression can be done for some time and you can also repeat it more than one in a session. I prefer working on clients on a mat on the floor but if your balance is good and you work on a table try hopping up after mentioning it to your client. Thai massage can be adapted to the table but it changes the physics slightly.

Clients will often ask me why this area is so tight when I work on them. Depending on my mood and their psychological set I’ll often reply, “because you’re a tight ass.” I’ll see you soon for Thai massage in Austin, Tx.

Trigger points treatment

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I’ve spent years mashing on myself and others trying to unlock the mysteries of the human body. After ten years I still feel I’ve only scratched the surface. Anything I’ve learned I pass on to clients and help others on their healing path.

Years ago while in massage school I developed horrible pain in my shoulder. I’m left handed and working at a large shipping company doing repetitive manual labor I developed severe pain that eventually made me quit and look for other work. Whatever happened at that job has sat with me in some form for the last ten years or so. While in school I realized that my teachers didn’t know what was going on and after leaving school I continued to work on myself and try to figure out how to get it to stop.

There was a low level ache that ran down my arm and never ceased. Months went by and I’d done things that others consider near torture to get it to stop. At a friends house one day I noticed a baseball bat in the corner. Being the explorer I am I lay the bat on the ground and layed down on the knob end where you hold the bat while working what I now know to be my rotator cuff, particularly infraspinatus.

Infraspinatus is one of the most commonly dysfunctional muscles in the human body. I didn’t know this at the time but as I lay on the bat and pressed into my rotator cuff I noticed horribly sharp pain. This felt good, in the way that deep, intense bodywork can feel but it took my breath away. I relaxed, moved my arm around, got as comfortable as I could and continued to breathe deeply. Finding a single solid spot that seemed the most tender I lay down and breathed for nearly 30 minutes.

At the end I was near tears. The sensation was so deep there was nothing else for a time. The stimulation was so core I could explore nothing else. I finally sat up and noticed that my shoulder pain was gone. My rotator cuff was apparently causing the issue I felt. It was sore but the shoulder pain I felt has never returned. Months of agony, gone in 30 minutes. At the time I was unsure what caused this and am only now starting to put the pieces together.

Trigger points treatment is profoundly healing work. The more I explore, the more I’m amazed. I’ll be shooting videos soon to show you how to treat trigger points and how to do self care for trigger points.

Shoulder blades

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When I teach a yoga class I’m often telling students to roll their shoulder blades back and down. This postural change makes for a relaxed, heart open, improved posture that goes a long way to removing the upper back pain most seem to encounter. Shoulders rolled forward like Smeagol is horrible. In Austin I see far too many computer warriors suffering from back pain that’s easily treatable.

The back and down shoulder blade posture isn’t forced or contrived. Everyone and their spine/posture exists within a set of boundaries and parameters. There isn’t an aggression to the rolled back and down posture of the shoulder blades but most people, when they move this direction, will get a kinesthetic sense of what feels right when they go through the range of motion the shoulder blades allow.

This simple Thai massage twist is an easy way to introduce the range of motion that the shoulder blade and spine will allow. This opens the chest, retracts the shoulder blade and allows the spine to rotate open on one side. This reminder can go a long way to helping introduce better posture by showing the client what feels good. Shoulder blades back and down feels free. Fly away, open.

If someone feels uncomfortable feel free to move away from the lower back so the twist isn’t as strong in that area. If you perform this on someone make sure to get solid feedback. If there is any spine injury or former surgeries make sure to communicate and go slow, even someone with spinal fusion finds this freeing but make sure the movement isn’t sharp or jerky. Slow and smooth feels best and when in doubt, ask the person you’re working on how it feels.

Shoulder blades, back and down..trust me.

Cranialsacral therapy pt.1

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Cranialsacral therapy was the first outside of the box bodywork I ever received. Towards the end of my schooling in massage I knew I’d never get my teachers help releasing whatever was going on with my jaw related to TMJ dysfunction. My basic knowledge base had me know that there were muscles chronically contracting, I was having low level bruxism when I slept and for whatever reason my body couldn’t just let the muscles relax completely.

I pleaded with my dentist and my teachers and both said, “we’ve heard of something called cranialsacral therapy.” A woman came to our student clinic and one of my friends in school introduced her as she said she practiced this healing art. I got a card, made an appointment and showed up for my session.

After a brief conversation I remember being distraught, explaining to her near my wits and emotional end that I don’t know why my body is fighting. She had me slide off my shoes and I lay on a massage table completely clothed. My first thought was, how are you going to massage me with my clothes on? Her being the expert I just let her do her thing. She placed her hands on me and didn’t move. First my feet, then my legs and hips then my head. She’d sit for long periods of time and I just remember feeling calm and relaxed to have someone make contact.

She slid on gloves and told me she was going to do some work on muscles inside my mouth. I was instructed to breathe through my mouth gently and try to relax into what she was doing. Using her pinky she performed what’s basically a deep tissue stripping of a muscle connected to my jaw. She did one side and I remember feeling, “Oh boy! This is doing something…it hurts down in there.” She did the other side and my jaw felt like it was a mile wide. My head felt expansive in a way that it was previously in a vice grip.

She placed both hands on my mandible and unwound it. With a skill and grace I’ve never found again she gently allowed me to let go for the first time in forever. There was what felt like a tissue release and near popping of the muscles in my jaw. The fibers slid past each other for the first time. I had a small amount of drool on either side of my mouth which I wiped and she placed her hands on my head again.

As she finished she said, “I think we got it, it was your sphenoid.” I was elsewhere mentally. I’d been entranced in what she’d done. The work was gentle but it felt SO deep. It wasn’t like massage at all. This was other. I sat up, got my bearings and felt completely different. All this emotion flooded forward as I noticed that I felt clear, in my head. I was stunned and looked at her and said, “It feels like you straightened out my head.” My focus, intensity and then near anger had me stand up and almost corner the therapist. “What did you do?” I was stern, I wasn’t leaving her office until she explained what she’d done. It was as close to miracle as I’ve ever personally experienced.

She wrote down a name and a book. Hugh Milne: The Heart of Listening.

I haven’t had TMJ problems since.

Thai massage for hips

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Clients continually seem amazed that we’re able to ferret out what’s going on with their bodies and make them feel better quickly. In even a short 30 minute session I can usually go a long way to making them feel better and further than that, educate them on how to prevent it from happening in the future.

Low back pain is almost always coming from the hips and pelvic bowl. In my clinical experience most times when someone points to their lumbar vertebrae they’re having issues below, in their pelvic bowl and in the muscular attachments around the pelvic bowl. I’ll soften the muscles around the area, mobilize and stretch them and when clients stand up they’re amazed that the pain is gone or at least lessened.

Massage therapists who are learning Thai massage are changing how bodywork, massage and our profession works in Austin, Texas. I told recent students that they can come in as a licensed massage therapist and leave a healer. That’s a big jump but I stand by my words. You can get CEU’s through the state of Texas taking my classes but we’re more than massage therapists, we’re trying to help people heal. We do that with Thai massage and a heavy dose of educating clients so they can help themselves.

Don’t short change yourself. You deserve to feel better and so do clients. I teach, share and give away this work because I must. No one should suffer needlessly. Try these stretches out on friends. I’ll see you soon.

Hope

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Having a conversation with a client he announced, “you give people hope.” When clients pay small verbal affirmations of my work I’ve made it a point to sit in them, honor them and let them sink in. All too often I finish a session thinking if I could have been more in tune, if I could have used more pressure etc. Being a perfectionist has its downfalls. I’m happy to give people hope, I’ve had it myself for quite some time.

Clients come to me with a list of complaints, aches, pains and usually in 2 hours they leave feeling much better. Their conditions don’t just go away, we’ve just lessened the issue. Their medical complaints are so vast I can’t expect to cure anything, that’s not really what I do. The only cure comes from inside them. Beyond genetics, they control the nurture. You can nurture all sorts of conditions and see improvement. It reminds me of veterans who’ve lost limbs. They seem to have the strongest bodies because the rest of them is compensating for not having the extra limb. They seem stronger than everyone else. I told myself many years ago that my pain may never fully go away but if it cannot the rest of my body will be so strong and so healthy my issue is just an annoyance that doesn’t rob me of my life.

You have arthritis? Carpal tunnel syndrome? Thoracic outlet syndrome? Pain and tingling in your hands and arms? Pain in your feet or lower legs? Pain that runs down your leg from your buttocks? Low back pain? Upper back and neck pain? All of those are the most common conditions I see and I can almost guarantee that within a few sessions I can show you great relief. Beyond that I can help describe what may be happening, how you can work on it at home and how we can prevent it in the future. That’s where hope comes in. I don’t work with you to keep you coming back. I work with you so you get better. I’m happy to work on you but it does my life no great joy to create a revolving door of clients.

Let’s look at something as insidious as arthritis. This one is personal to me since this seems to run in my family. There is I don’t doubt some genetic component but nature/nurture is the battle I see looming large. Until the science steps up and gives us more details I believe most conditions can be made tolerable if not healed. Any kind of -itis is usually inflammation at some point. Inflammation seems to be a normal healing response that goes haywire.

In my case I’ve apparently come from a line of people who are prone to arthritis and I’ve had trauma to my neck and upper back from a car accident. Double whammy. Do I have arthritis? I don’t believe so. Will I have it? A doctor has told me that I will probably get it particularly in areas that were damaged in the accident. That sets up my life and my challenge. I want to be healthy and whole.

Yoga in particular holds great potential. Thai massage and other bodywork is good as well but yoga in particular appeals because it’s inexpensive, noninvasive but goes to the core of your being and you take it with you. You don’t have to keep coming back to me, you know how to care for things yourself, with practice. Along with deterioration of a joint that goes with arthritis I believe there are muscular and structural issues at play. You must keep the joint mobile within reason and help your cardiovascular system flush the area with fresh, clean blood as much as possible.

It’s been my experience that warming the area, flushing it with blood will help with symptoms and long term I believe it may in some instances heal arthritis. Mine, if I have it isn’t bad. Certainly not to the point of taking medications. Currently I take…nothing. Not even an aleve from time to time. So, heat the body up, keep it pliable, strengthen muscles and continue using your body. Very simple health advice overall. This does however go deeper.

The poses in yoga help clean you out from the inside out. Your Whole body. This is the definition of holistic. Part of that work is breathing, the pranayama exercises in yoga. This work regulates the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in your bloodstream and also helps balance the different parts of your nervous system. People’s sympathetic nervous system is often keyed up, fight or flight wins. Problem is in fight or flight your body doesn’t care if you digest food, doesn’t care about cleansing and repair. You Must stimulate your relaxation response. This part of your nervous system that takes over is the parasympathetic. This part cleans, repairs, and nourishes the relaxation response. Your body and your nervous system must be balanced.

Krishnamacharya held that the breath was critical to controlling the inner functions of the body. He would say, in English, “Lungs are pump. Control breathing. Control heartbeat.” ~ A. G. Mohan, “Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings”

Now we get to where it’s really interesting. This is the edge, the area that’s hardly been studied scientifically. Yoga gives you control over your body. With practice you can control things that most doctors will tell you you cannot control. We talked about vascularity and blood flow and how important it is in inflammatory conditions like arthritis. What about the center of the cardiovascular system, the heart? Here’s cutting to the chase. Not only do I think you can make areas more vascular and cleanse them I think that you can fundamentally gain control of your heart and heart beat itself. With practice you can stop your heart. Most will tell you this is impossible and that’s fine.

I don’t necessarily wish to have this control, this is deep, far reaching work that may take a lifetime but if you can control your heart enough to make it stop do you think you could help a case of arthritis? My point exactly. You have Far more control over your health and conditions than most would have you believe.

If you have arthritis I recommend Bikram yoga. The practice works your heart, warms your body and speeds cleansing and repair. The internal tourniquets you form flush the problem areas with blood. This may never heal your condition fully but if the symptoms go away, do you still have arthritis? Let’s explore and see. I’ve been doing so for the past 7 years.

Thai massage for feet

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Thai massage is the most simple yet effective bodywork I’ve ever experienced. Clients walk out feeling taller, more aligned and often give me this look of “how did you do that?” I can tell they’ve never felt this way before, didn’t even know it was possible. I’ve made it my mission to make sure everyone knows what this work is and why it needs to spread to every spa, chiropractors office and private studio in town. If you’re not getting Thai massage, you’re selling your life short.

This sequence is easy to follow, watch it with a friend and practice along.

People have extremely tight feet. Toes in particular are very tight and immobile. The pulling and stretching we do to the muscles that run underneath the arch create space for the bones and move the toes through their range of motion. Feet are often cramped inside shoes so there isn’t much mobility.

Energetically feet are the bottom of the body, the foundation. In Thai massage we encounter eastern theories about chakras and in traditional Thai massage we’re working on the feet first, then move ourselves up through the rest of the body. The feet have much to do with the alignment, balance and foundation we feel in the rest of our lives. Don’t forget, to teach his disciples Jesus washed his students feet. Keep that in mind while you work.

Forearms and Hands pt.2

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Hand pain is something I find fairly frequently as a massage therapist and also something I have to be cautious about from my own practice involving those same structures. Many times I see hand and finger tingling, numbness and pain in various forms coming from the forearm extensors of clients.

In my clinical experience the points that you’re working are primarily at the elbow end of extensor carpi radialis, extensor carpi ulnaris and brachioradialis. Those are big words but don’t let them scare you, people just use them when they’re trying to seem smart. If you watch the video and use these techniques you’ll hit all three points with ease.

If you use these techniques on someone go slow and be purposeful. You can hold a point to get a release or you can roll through it towards the elbow which is also intense. It can feel odd to someone to press in one area and feel it elsewhere so reassure the person you’re working on that you’re not doing damage so long as the sensation is intense but no pain is experienced. To me that means that you don’t contract muscles and pull away out of fear of further harm.

Trigger points can be extremely tender. For people with chronic issues these can be real healers. I wouldn’t doubt there are people who’ve given up their favorite activities, knitting, spinning or playing musical instruments when they didn’t need to. Working as a massage therapist for ten years I use these on myself regularly, it’s allowed me to keep going without fear that I would harm myself.

Good luck and feel free to share your experiences.

2 hours?

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In a Thai massage class I taught recently a student commented that they could never work on someone for 2 hours. I was struck by the statement and opinions and ideas are always interesting as a spring board for reflection. The response was due to my discussing how I work with clients and what I charge for my sessions.

I have no time limit. I currently charge $100/session and a typical session last 1.5-2 hours. A regular client who’s had deep structural issues and the right situation financially, time wise with physical issues has been getting 3 hour sessions from me for some time. Why? To be frank she’s a healer, she’s working on herself and we see in each other our capacity to help others heal. She pays, I have the time and we both don’t know anyone else who can do the work.

It’s about healing, not about money. Money is just stuff to move around and pay bills with. Beyond a certain point attachment to it leads to suffering. I could charge by the hour but why? What’s the benefit? Clients will look at their watch, I’ll be more concerned about booking to the minute. All seems completely anathema to what I’m trying to build. Over the years I’ve struggled to be the best. I want to give clients bodywork they can’t get elsewhere. Who has no time limit? Who does Thai massage this well? Being completely different in its own way is good marketing.

On September 1st, I’m raising my rates to $130/session. I thought about this long and hard. Does it mean I have less clients? Will people leave? I’m unsure. I presume if they do they have their reasons. If I do work on you for 2 hours then that’s less than $70/hour. Still seems reasonable. That income allows me to possibly see fewer clients, reserve my energy for those that are willing to compensate me for my time.

Focusing on another person for 2 hours in a session Is my meditation. Only within the past six months has my back pain receded enough to allow a deeper seated meditation practice. What have I done all these years? Moving meditation. Moving meditation in the form of yoga, moving meditation in the form of bodywork and Thai massage. I’ve spend 10 years working on me, working on you and somewhere in the middle figuring out how to narrow my focus and concentrate on what I Can control. I help you with pain, I don’t hurt. I help me with pain, I don’t hurt. When the hurt subsides enough I sit and meditate and continue a path that’s told to lead to the cessation of suffering. All makes sense to me.

I’m a healer. Healing starts with me. No illusions, no pretending to be something you’re not. If you see me at the office wearing scrubs I’m still a healer, I just disguise myself as a massage therapist. When my student asked about the 2 hours I reminded myself that Thai massage was said to have been created by the Buddha’s doctor. It’s been preserved by Buddhist monks in monasteries. It’s fundamental practice is that of metta or lovingkindness. At it’s core it’s healing work to help those who suffer. When I help you suffer less, I get lost. I embrace the boundary and ego dissolving quality of healing work. You are me. We are no different. If I can ease your suffering, I’ve eased mine. There is no separation.

2 hours may seem like a long time but this is how I meditate. I’ve never done what I’ve done for money. It’s why the money begins to come. A client described a pain down his leg into his foot and I nodded. I told him we would take a look and we did over the 2 hour session he had with me recently. I had time to work with his legs and address other postural issues during our time. When he stood up after the session he looked at me, almost quizzically and said, “there’s no pain down my leg.” I nodded and honestly barely even noticed his comment. He was surprised that I’d somehow helped.

The reason I can help is because I’ve devoted myself to my path as a healer for sessions that often last 2 hours. Healing takes time, tissue change can’t be forced. That built up catalog of observation over the last ten years in meditation is what allows me to help. Thank you to my clients and students who provide space for me to continue that path.

Thai massage for hands

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Hands that get constant use also need regular tlc. As a massage therapist the work I do with my hands keeps me going, allowing me to work on clients without concern that I’m harming myself in the process. Thai bodywork in particular allows a therapist to work effectively using more of your body and leverage to save my digits and carpals.

In this sequence we show a simple to use and learn set of techniques to work on hands and forearms. This opens the carpals and stretches tiny muscles in the hand that are often tense causing hand pain or tingling fingers. The traction to the fingers decompresses joints and creates for space for free flow of blood and nutrition to your hands.

The model in this video is Erika Maassen, a local musician. Her dog Maggie is featured in our how to massage your dog video from a few weeks back. Erika plays ukulele, piano and guitar in addition to spending time at a keyboard so the work we do on her hands is greatly appreciated and helps keep her performing.

Forearms and Hands pt.1

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The forearms and hands are areas that massage therapists are all too aware of. Our work means that if we’re not careful we can develop the problems we see in our clients. My wife Andrea wanted some videos discussing and delving into the work we do together exploring how to keep her in shape to knit and work in fiber arts.

As an avid bodyworker married to a fiber artisan I’m very aware of the areas she’s working and how to release them, thus making her job easier. One of the things we discussed beyond the physical issues we encounter in our work is the mental anxiety that comes with knowing that if you cannot work, then what? This stress led me to figure out my own hand and arm issues and I’m happy to announce that I’ve been doing what I do for ten years with no signs of stopping. Self care is a big deal.

In the video we’re stretching the forearm extensors. I see people regularly who announce they have carpal tunnel syndrome who have horrible trigger points in their forearm extensors. Treat the trigger points and often…carpal tunnel goes away. That’s a large announcement but unless there is actual nerve degeneration my professional expertise is that Good bodywork can ease carpal tunnel issues and lead to a reduction if not disappearance of symptoms.

Stretching the forearms and applying pressure yourself with a tennis ball, baseball, then golf ball in that order is a superb way of having knitters take care of this area. Musicians, desk junkies and massage therapists take note, you need this too. It will help you understand the area we’re working on and how to alleviate the chronic issues you encounter from repetitive motions. If you find the floor doesn’t work for you try the same exercises against a wall.

Good luck and check out part 2. I’ll post that soon.