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Swedish Massage – For Relaxation & Wellbeing By Kelly Price

The Benefits of Swedish Massage By Erica Brooks

The non-Swedish Origins of Swedish Massage By Terry McDermott

Swedish Massage – For Relaxation & Wellbeing By Kelly Price

Swedish massage represents a general massage system that uses a variety of techniques specifically designed to relax muscles and increase circulation.

Swedish massage works by applying deep pressure to muscles and bones, by rubbing in the same direction as the flow of blood towards the heart.

What are the benefits of Swedish Massage?

A Swedish massage is a relaxing and invigorating experience that increases oxygen flow in the blood and releases toxins.

By using gentle, but firm pressure, a Swedish massage can:

• improve circulation
• ease muscle aches
• reduce muscle tension
• improve flexibility
• create relaxation

Swedish massage stimulates the skin, the nerves, muscles and glands, while promoting health and well being.

When used for injuries such as muscle strain, Swedish massage shortens recovery time by flushing the tissues of uric acid, lactic acid, and other metabolic waste.

Swedish massage increases circulation without increasing heart load, and stretches the ligaments and tendons keeping them supple and pliable.

A Swedish Massage is excellent for reducing both physical and emotional stress and can be used as part of a stress management program.

Swedish Massage – How Does it Work?

Developed by physiologist, Pehr Henrick Ling at the University of Stockholm in 1812, Swedish massage is perhaps the most popular and commonly known of all massage treatments.

The techniques of Swedish massage involve long gliding strokes, kneading of individual muscles, friction, hacking or tapping, vibration and effleurage.

• Effleurage: Gliding strokes with the palms, thumbs and/or fingertips
• Petrissage: Kneading movements with the hands, thumbs and/or fingers
• Friction: Circular pressures with the palms of hands, thumbs and/or fingers
• Vibration: Oscillatory movements that shake or vibrate the body
• Percussion: Brisk hacking or tapping

Passive and active movements: bending and stretching

Each type of stroke offers different benefits.

Is Swedish Massage Safe for Everyone?

In general, Swedish massage is considered relatively safe. However certain medical conditions require caution. These include cardiovascular conditions and heart disease especially in cases of thrombosis, phlebitis and oedema.

Pregnant women should avoid massage on the abdomen during the first three months of pregnancy when the risk of miscarriage is highest.

If in doubt you should inform your physician prior to seeking treatment.

Swedish Massage – What Happens During a Session?

During a Swedish massage your body is draped in a sheet. The therapist uncovers one part at a time, massages the area, before covering it up again and moving on to the next area.

Oils and lotions are used along with mostly gliding and kneading strokes in order to promote relaxation. A full body Swedish massage usually lasts 60 to 90 minutes.

Swedish Massage – Choosing a Therapist

Choosing a Swedish massage therapist will be dependent on your individual needs and preferences. Both men and women tend to prefer a female therapist.

Men because they feel uneasy with the idea of another man touching them, and women because they feel safer being half dress in the company of a strange woman rather than a strange man.

Salons, spas, health and fitness clubs typically offer Swedish massage or it is possible to have a Swedish massage in the comfort of your own home.

More FREE info on Swedish massage and other massage techniques and the beneifts are avilable at http://www.privatelyyours.co.uk

The Benefits of Swedish Massage By Erica Brooks

Swedish massage is the most common form of relaxation massage offering many relaxing as well as healing properties to your body. Swedish massage combines the use of long strokes, kneading and friction techniques to manipulate the soft tissues of the body causing a variety of benefits to your body to help it to heal itself. Below is a list of benefits that you will receive from Swedish massage:

*Reduces stress and anxiety

*Promotes relaxation

*Improves circulation

*Relieves general body tension

*Relieves aches and muscle stiffness

*Improves muscle tone

*Removes toxins from the muscles

*Improves flexibility in muscles and joints

*Improves immune system

*Improves digestion and elimination

*Promotes healthy skin

For added relaxation and health benefits have your therapist add essential oils such as lavender, chamomile or ylang ylang to your session. Essential oils can be customized by your therapist to suit your needs which are absorbed through the body via the skin and deep breathing to relieve your body of toxins, increase circulation, affect specific emotional or physical conditions and produce an overall feeling of well being.

Are you ready to relax and to reduce the stress in your life? Get a Swedish massage and start relaxing and reaping the wonderful health benefits Swedish massage has to offer today! Swedish massage should be performed by a Licensed Massage Therapist. To locate a licensed therapist in your area visit The American Massage Therapy Association at www.amtamassage.org

Erica Brooks is Owner of Stress Away Family Shop which includes Stress Away Bath Shop and Stress Away Bridal Shop. She specializes in offering products, tips and resources to help you to combat the everyday stresses of life. You can reach her at http://www.stressawayfamilyshop.com

The non-Swedish Origins of Swedish Massage By Terry McDermott

People we like to classify things based on their origin. French fries, Chinese checkers, English muffins, Turkish baths, Danish pastries, Canadian bacon, etc. (Sure is a lot of food in this list!) For the most part, these items or practices did, in fact, originate in the country specified. But in the case of Swedish massage, the association with Sweden may be a complete misrepresentation of the true source of this therapy.

Swedish Massage is, by far, the most popular form of massage in the United States. This type of massage is intended to increase oxygen in the blood and remove toxins from muscles. This is accomplished by using a variety of techniques that apply pressure to surface muscles with movements that follow the direction of blood flow to the heart. The result is improved circulation, reduced stress, relaxed muscles, greater flexibility and improved overall health and wellness.

Traditionally, the development of the techniques of Swedish massage is credited to Pehr Henrik Ling whom Wikipedia, the online-encyclopedia, describes as a “medical-gymnastic practitioner.” Now I don’t know about you but the term “gymnastics” conjures some pretty specific images in my mind and none of them are medically related. Tumbling, balancing, swinging and sticking a landing are what comes to mind. But apparently gymnastics, in its past life, included a variety of disciplined activities intended to improve overall health and physical performance. These activities were actually quite similar to calisthenics and other exercise regimens practiced today and very little like gymnastics as we would interpret the term.

Pehr Henrik Ling was intellectually curious for all of his life. He was a voracious reader and developed a great appreciation for languages. This fascination with languages led to a desire for travel and Ling spent time sailing on Danish ships. It was on these ships that Ling was introduced to the sport of fencing. He found himself a quite adept competitor and soon his prowess was renowned. Eventually, he was invited to teach fencing at the University of Upsala in his native Sweden.

Now pay close attention because here is where things get murky. Apparently, at some point, Mr. Ling developed some rather painful joint malady. But he was quite a disciplined fellow and maintained a regular routine of fencing exercises. Over time, his joint problem dissipated and he attributed the “cure” to his fencing routines. This healing inspired Ling to bone up on anatomy and physiology and to give serious consideration to the relationship between health and exercise.

Around this time Sweden was recovering from a failed military confrontation with the forces of Napoleon. The military setback was a grave concern of the King of Sweden who began exploring methods of improving the prowess and effectiveness of the members of the Swedish military. When Pehr Ling got wind of this he arranged to see the King to present the techniques that he had been developing which Ling now referred to as “military gymnastics.” His techniques were primarily focused on fencing and marching activities.

At first Ling’s offer of assistance was rebuffed. But Pehr Henrik Ling was a determined character and he persisted in his efforts to convince the King and his advisors that his methods would be beneficial to the military. Finally, they relented and Ling was appointed the director of the newly established Central Institute of Gymnastics. Here Ling was able to put his methods into practice and refine his techniques.

Ling and his associates began to focus on the therapeutic benefits of the use of specific physical movements. Sessions with groups and individuals became more interactive as Ling and his team used their methods to address specific physical complaints. Particular attention was focused on the lever actions of joints and exercises were devised that applied resistance to the movement of these joint areas. “Military gymnastics” were now becoming known as “medical gymnastics.”

These techniques had little resemblance to massage as we know it today. While there was a hands-on relationship between therapist and subject, the activities were more like those used by physical therapists than massage therapists. Ling’s perspective on the practices he was developing was evolving and he began to consider the relationship between the physical and mental aspects of wellness, the mind/body connection, if you will. Certainly, this consideration is very much a part of Swedish Massage and other massage modalities.

But, in fact, Pehr Henrik Ling and his followers were not using or advocating massage as a therapy. Ling’s theories and practices were eventually refined and adapted and are the basis for much of techniques used by physical therapists as well as the aerobic, cardio-vascular and strength and resistance programs commonly practiced in gyms and health clubs throughout the world.

So where is the connection, if any, between Sweden and Swedish Massage?

Well, it seems that the methods advocated by Ling became known as the Swedish Movement System. As we noted earlier, physical movement was a principal component of Ling’s gymnastic techniques. It seems that descriptions of these movements and methods were interpreted by later readers to be similar to the five classic techniques associated with what we call Swedish Massage. They are, of course:

• Effleurage: Long, gliding strokes
• Petrissage: Lifting and kneading the muscles
• Friction: Firm, deep, circular rubbing movements
• Tapotement: Brisk tapping or percussive movements
• Vibration: Rapidly shaking or vibrating specific muscles

In fact, these particular techniques were developed and named by Dr. Johan George Mezger a Dutch physician. Apparently, when researching Pehr Henrik Ling’s techniques in later years, researchers noticed some similarities between descriptions of Ling’s techniques and the terms already in use as defined by Mezger. These terms were applied to Ling’s methods and, because he practiced in the decades before Mezger, he received credit for developing and naming these techniques. The Swedish Movement System somehow became known as the Swedish Massage System.

In Sweden, there is no such thing as Swedish Massage. This approach to massage is referred to as “classic massage.” If it were to be associated with any country, it should be referred to as “Dutch Massage” which, somehow, doesn’t have the same exotic appeal. Pehr Henrik Ling deserves a great deal of credit for the methods and techniques he developed and promoted. Swedish Massage, however, was not one of them.

J. Terrence McDermott is the administrator of Massage Schools Guide at http://www.massageschoolsguide.com, a website offering resources for prospective massage therapists. He specializes in online continuing education resources and also administers Access Online Degrees.

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