Carrying out a massage procedure

Ruta Stratkauskienė, founder of the Ruta Stratkauskienė school of holistic massage, international level teacher, participant and judge of many spa championships (Lithuania)

“You close your eyes. You sit comfortably on the couch. Calm music sounds quietly. Four hands gently touch the body. There was a whiff of mint. Excitement takes over the whole body, then calmness. Hands continue to stroke. They caress, squeeze, knead, make circular movements... They touch the legs, feet, neck, back, buttocks. It's like you're flying. You don't think about anything. You don’t feel where whose hand is touching. You get stuck on a swing of touches and caresses. You forget... The touch of the fabric, the smell of another aromatic oil, the movements become more intense. There is tenderness in them again. They stroke you, caress you, you feel the warmth of your hands, but you don’t feel your body... An hour has passed in an instant, you feel as if you’ve been in space. Or on vacation. You feel so rested, as if you had been blissfully making love for an hour. Miracles of massage...” (“The Pleasures of Massage”, Reda Baltinaite)

Miracles of massage?
They begin when, during a session, I leave the client in the office alone with himself, his loved one... Just for a few minutes... The culmination of therapy is the return to the office and the beginning of the “awakening ritual”, the purpose of which is to return the client to the “here and now” "so that he smiles at himself, his beloved.. The reaction can be different...

I can’t forget the time when I quietly opened the doors and saw my client... sincerely crying. Our eyes met and she said: “Don’t be afraid, everything is fine. I'm crying with happiness... I can't understand what happened? It would seem that everything in my life is fine. I have a wonderful family, healthy children, I love my job...” A little later, she found the answer herself: “During the massage, I felt a wave of unconditional love, which I really missed as a child, and self-pity. I feel that now I can forgive myself and my parents.” And she probably succeeded...

The miracles of massage begin even at the moment when I meet a client with a gift coupon. I see how uncomfortable he is. I suggest drinking tea so that he relaxes a little, and I have time to gain his trust.
A few sips of warm tea help the client calm down... We choose a bouquet of aromas of essential oils that will enrich the massage, and I hear a frank confession: “I couldn’t find peace all day, I couldn’t concentrate even with a tutor, I kept thinking about the massage, about how it would be will... I was in a cold sweat just thinking about it!” The miracle is that there is an opportunity to introduce this young man to the world of massage. This is an exciting moment that requires professionalism and empathy.

Such moments happen every day in a massage therapist’s practice. And there is no need to be afraid of stories about energy “vampires”, because people simply do not have enough love, and they look for it in various ways. The more complex the client, the more I look at him, like a child who grew up without love. Unconditional love destroys any negative energy!

A person who comes to a massage session brings with him all his emotions, moods, experiences, and they are reflected on the physical body. In the words of Vidunas, whom scientists identify with Indian thinkers, “it is extremely important to note that the body easily absorbs the weight of all our thoughts and feelings... As are the thoughts of a person, such are his feelings and desires, such is the life of his body and life , and his whole life... And the body is like a kind of soil on which thoughts and feelings fall as seeds, and this, of course, affects the health, youth and beauty of a person.”

The duty of a massage therapist is to “hoe the body like soil” with his own hands and remove those seeds that harm the health, youth and beauty of the client...

Today, more and more often I meet people who begin to remember themselves. More and more people are looking for ways to self-knowledge, more and more people are trying to take better care of their health. “When the human principle is strong, it constantly corrects and strengthens the interconnection of various levels of human existence (physical, spiritual, mental), and then health comes. This is proven by the fact that a person who acts morally does not get sick so quickly. The one who thinks better and more firmly has better health, and illness does not overcome him as easily as a person of a bad, poor culture. With enough wisdom, every person can be healthy throughout their life. We must remember that the essence is spiritual, it comes from it and life is established and maintained in it, as the already mentioned Vidunas said.

Massage as a combination of seven touches

Our body absorbs all emotions, and a massage therapist can help eliminate them with his touch. This is the very first aid. As soon as we feel the slightest pain, we intuitively want to stroke or strongly rub the affected area.

Today you can easily get lost in the variety of types and technologies of massage offered. We live in a touch-deficient age. Therefore, everyone is looking for different sources of love and care. Massage is one of many expressions of unconditional love and empathy. Therefore, mechanical touches alone are not enough - the touch of the hand and thought is necessary. Therefore, we, massage therapists, must rely on the “subtle human anatomy” (OM Aivankhov). Moreover, this does not require any special talents: the massage master must simply respect every person who gave him the right to touch him.

We experience quite a lot of touch in our environment. This affects the five senses: touch, taste, vision, hearing, smell. With the help of these senses we understand the world. “But there are other keys on the keyboard of nature... Yes, we have a sixth, seventh, eighth sense, of a completely different nature, a completely different force” (O. M. Aivankhov).

The five senses determine the physical body, and we directly encounter them in our practice. “They are all arranged in a hierarchical order. We can only touch solid or somewhat liquid bodies. The flavor is intended for liquids. The sense of smell helps to sense odors, that is, gas emissions, which means that the nose has a connection with matter, but invisible and subtle matter, particles of which linger in the air. Hearing is associated with immaterial particles - waves, vibrations, and vision leads us to the threshold of the etheric world. As you can see, the five senses are arranged in a hierarchical order - from the grossest to the subtlest (OM Aivankhov).

In the world of massage, all these feelings are very important, and they begin with the most subtle ones. It is precisely that “sixth key of a more subtle nature” that brings our clients to us. Guided by intuition, clients choose us. They walk into a massage room and their vision and sense of smell help them decide: is it possible to take risks and move on? Music played during a massage ritual helps or hinders. There may be sounds from the radio (I hope this is a thing of the past), the same melody that plays in the reception area, corridor, toilet may sound. However, when the music intended for body therapy begins to sound along with the first touch of the hand, the massage becomes completely different. The touch of a hand is the roughest sensation from the realm of the material, however, guided by thought and intuition, it becomes gentle and caring. The first touch of the hand determines the success of the massage therapy, and the last touch determines whether the client will return. “The seventh key of subtle nature” is a state when the client, after a massage, very sincerely smiles at himself, his beloved.

This result can be achieved when the client and the massage therapist become partners who trust each other. It is important for a massage therapist to understand what the client wants, what his desires and goals are. This determines what massage technique, music, essential oils and even tea the master will choose. Our bodies are different, and we also react differently to the same emotion. Men and women have different physiology, different muscle tone, different skin elasticity, and therefore the massage techniques applied to them should be different.

The good news is that the number of people who perceive the massage service as a means of prevention is increasing. I dare say that relaxation massage is one of the most popular and most difficult to perform. It is quite difficult to perform a relaxing massage correctly, because gentle touches and aromatic warm oil are not enough. The master’s duty is to feel the accumulated tension and eliminate it, and eliminate it skillfully. A client sleeping during a massage is not the best achievement. During the massage, the client should feel as if in meditation. And they don’t sleep during meditation! This is a special state when the brain begins to emit theta waves and we are visited by various visions, pleasant memories... And after such a massage ritual, when saying goodbye, clients most often say that they received answers to the questions that concern them.

The forbidden word "relax"

There are people who find it very difficult to relax. They believe that it is impossible for them and even harmful to go for a massage. Indeed, if a massage therapist continually reminds the client throughout the session about the need to relax, a sensitive person will only think about how to do this. Such thoughts cause stress and guilt in the client, because he feels uncomfortable, believing that it is very difficult for the master to work. As a result, we get the opposite reaction: massage becomes torture. This is one of the many reasons why people sometimes refuse this service.
During the massage it is forbidden to say the word “relax”. The wise master pronounces the word “relax” using his hands. Our working tool is our hands, so they must speak in the form of a subtle, warm and caring touch. It goes without saying that this requires a special technique for such relaxation.

Three stages of massage ritual

Of course, all stages are necessary and important.

The first stage is acquaintance. With the first touches of our hands, we must earn trust so that the client will relax and “let us in.” This stage is also important because the massage therapist must collect anamnesis and decide which technique he will prefer.

The second stage of the ritual is the massage itself. Its duration and methodology depend on what we energetically sensed. It happens that you feel fear in the client’s body, and then you want to massage the feet or palms using the reflexological massage technique. By touching our feet, we touch the totality of body, soul and emotions. We all know that in the feet you can find strings to all internal organs, all systems (nervous, lymphatic, etc.). If we also remember the “subtle human anatomy,” then we can say that the heart is not only an organ that pumps blood throughout the body, but also controls our ability to experience joy, pain, our life goals and connection with the world. The kidneys filter the blood and at the same time control our ability to feel fear, strength of spirit, motivation and faith in life. The lungs supply our body with oxygen and enhance the ability to experience sadness, allowing us to recognize our own victories and the victories of others. The liver controls the body and feelings of hatred, vision and creativity. These are just a few examples of the connection between mind, body and emotions. Reflexology believes in this connection. Warm feet or palms give the client a feeling of calm. Then you can open your body, take warm, fragrant oil and continue the massage.

Spinal massage can be performed in different ways. Sometimes you just want to “squeeze out” the tired muscles of the shoulder girdle, the tight lumbar region. And sometimes you feel that the causes of pain lie somewhere deeper. You stroke, rub, press, knead the corresponding muscle areas or segments of the spine. Of course, vertebral injuries cause problems in the relevant centers and can cause illness. Moreover, certain mental or spiritual problems also impair the function of the corresponding vertebrae.

Tanja Aeckersberg, in her book Spiritual Healing of the Spine, describes the connection of all vertebrae with the physical and spiritual body. For example, the C2 cervical vertebra is connected to the eyes, auditory and optic nerves, bones, nasal sinuses, tongue, forehead, and joints. Spiritual state – dreams, imagination. Diseases – allergies, eye diseases, strabismus, deafness, ear pain, fainting. Affirmation: “I am one with nature.”

Connections of the thoracic vertebra Th 12 in the physical body - small intestine, lymphatic system. Diseases and their symptoms - rheumatism, bloating, infertility, growth disorders. Spiritual state - love for one's neighbor. The affirmation for this vertebra of the spine is “I have the right to live, joy gives me strength back.” The massage technique, which is accompanied by thought, acts much more subtly and much deeper, so you cannot talk to the client during the massage. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to concentrate and follow your intuition.

To get the maximum result from a massage, we must not forget about the stomach. This is the place where life begins. Even the Bible says: “Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water” (Gospel of John, 7:38). Ayurveda teaches that the stomach is the seat of the nervous system. For Japanese sages, “hara” (Japanese for “belly”) is the center of life, harmony and the universe. Russians and Bulgarians call this area "belly", that is, a word related to the word "life". It is interesting that the ancient Christians also knew about “hara”; this point is recorded in their writings. The medieval alchemist Basil Valentine, in his book The Twelve Keys, invites the student to descend to the center of the earth to find the philosopher's stone. He says: “Visit the interior of the earth... Once you cleanse it, you will find the hidden stone, the real medicine.” In fact, Basil Valentin did not propose descending to the center of the planet - he was talking about the depths of our physical body, since there are special substances, riches and treasures there. “In the West, people have problems because it has long been believed that the centers in the lower part of their physical bodies are unworthy of participating in spiritual life” (O. M. Aivankhov).

Our traditional school of classical massage strictly prohibits touching the stomach for the reason that it is supposedly an erogenous zone. However, it all depends on the thoughts with which the massage therapist touches the client’s body. If the abdominal area is tense, this means that the person’s nervous system is disturbed. We all know the saying: “I was so worried that my stomach turned.” This is the simplest example, many people have experienced this themselves. It is clear that during abdominal massage you need to be especially vigilant and listen to your intuition. In no way should you “invade” a client if you feel that the time has not yet come.

During the first session it is rarely possible to perform this fully. After all, first of all, you need to earn trust. If your stomach is “closed,” then you need to “clear” your thoughts. I have noted more than once that negative emotions are perfectly eliminated by touching the head and face. That’s why I call head massage “crown enlargement.” If the muscles surrounding the head are tense (frontal, frontotemporal and parietal areas), and this occurs all the time, then it is difficult to even think about smiling at yourself, your loved one. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully work with these head muscles. Their improved trophism will eliminate the feeling of tightness in the head.

Facial massage is the culmination of therapy. Moreover, the methods for men and women are different. So, while women will probably enjoy a massage with oil or cream, for men, a large amount of oil on the face can cause an unpleasant feeling. Massage of the periorbital area also implies its own specifics: gentle pressure on sensitive points around the eyes absorbs all meridians (map of sensitive points according to F.B. Kandarov). I also always emphasize the chewing muscle of the face, since the internal meridian of the liver passes through it. Tension and hatred accumulate in this zone.

The third stage is calming and awakening ritual. When I leave the client alone with himself, then the greatest miracle of massage happens. Returning to return the client to the “here and now”, I see how fully the massage was performed. Anything can happen... We are only human, we have five senses and several more “keys of a more subtle nature”...

First published: KOSMETIK international journal, No. 1 (55) / 2014, pp. 88-92