A 25 minute relaxing massage routine

         
To start off a professional massage you should first prepare your room and yourself. (You do this before you even walk in the room with the client.)

 Presuming the lights are dim, music is on, cream or oil is there and the sheets are changed. . . first you will want to wash or sanitize your hands.

Then make sure your mindset is right; it's all about the client. We don't chat about ourselves, and in fact don't chat at all if they prefer silence. You should ask about their preference to talk or not at the "intake" time before they undress. (This is the time where you discuss anything they have written on their paperwork.)

Then coming from the top of them, as they are lying down in a prone position, we place our well lubricated hands on the clients back.

Now (or before) we center and ground ourselves.

The idea that bodyworkers and therapists need to protect themselves from invisible energies is not a conventional idea. In the Western medical model, it may even be considered nonsense. Yet instructors in schools throughout the United States are teaching students the importance of taking time to protect themselves, before and after engaging with clients.

While the practices may vary from school to school, students and practitioners all express the importance of centering or grounding and of reinforcing the boundary of the energy field that surrounds us. When this is not done, practitioners report feeling new identical pains to the client's pains, drained, upset, or not themselves.

 Centering is a way of owning and protecting yourself and your energy or space. Grounding means that you are solidly anchored and connected in the present.
I liked this quote:
"There are many ways to ground yourself before a treatment. You could focus on your breathing, stilling your mind from all those chattering thoughts. As you wash your hands, focus on being tranquil, compassionate, non-judgemental; visualize negativity being washed down the drain. Stand quietly and feel your whole body, from your head right down to your feet; or imagine that your feet are growing roots right down into the earth. If you’re not a visual person, imagine stillness inside yourself."

"During a treatment, ground yourself by being focused on what you’re doing with this client in the present moment. The more you talk to the client, telling your own stories, the more your mind wanders. On the other hand, you may be mentally running through what should be on your grocery list, or silently reviewing what you did right or wrong with the previous client. Before you know it, you’ve detached from your palpation senses and your treatment is less effective."

In another case, the client may be unburdening himself of some past or present experience that he needs to talk about that resonates with you, reminding you of your own experiences and “ungrounding” you. Instead of letting the information or image get stuck in your mind or body, imagine that you are like a screen door, letting everything pass through."
Source

So after a minute or so of hands on centering/grounding,
 the place we start is with. . .

Effleurage This is for the purpose of smoothing on the cream/lotion/oil, relaxation and/or just to get the client use to your touch. Working with the layers of muscles it is also most comfortable to start easy, especially with people who have never had a massage before, as deep tissue massage with too much pressure may actually do some damage if the superficial layers aren't first dealt with, or so I've been told. (Like this picture below.)



Going down the spine and around to the sides, following through to the neck and repeating, we do this for about 4 minutes before going on with the effleurage to one side.

Going to a side, stroke the side closest to you from the hip area to up around the shoulder and down the arm with straight wrists. One hand following the other and one turned with the body more as you lean into the move.

Do this for about 3 minutes.

Then we progress to  Petrissage or "the act of kneading."

Picture playing around with bread. There are plenty of different strokes with petrissage, but with the exception of wringing, they all get the skin lifted in lumps. Never pinch!

Wringing

Do a variety of petrissage strokes for about 5 minutes. 

While retaining contact, move to the head again and resume the effleurage from the neck to spine and back again for a few strokes while you transition to the other side. A nice touch here is adding a long stretch around the bottom of the spine or to the side, like this.

Repeat the side hand effleurage followed by the hand head facing up the spine, as you lean into the body and spread more cream/oil. Do this again for about 3 minutes.


Then move on to the petrissage strokes of choice for 5 minutes on the other side.

Then onto the legs.

Through the folded over sheet, underwear or naked, use your fists on the gluts or bum, like you are a cat pawing away in delight. Go slowly and deeply, as there are many layers to get through there. (Be mindful of leaning with your abs and not using your shoulders.)
















Then starting at the calf on the same leg, use long effleurage strokes (continuing up the thigh) to spread cream/oil before moving onto the petrissage of the whole leg.



 End the leg with a fist in the gluts and the other hand stretching the leg down by the calf. 

Then repeat on the other leg. Take only 5 minutes doing this on both legs combined.

And that is your typical 30 minute massage, including changing and intake.

And don't forget to always encourage your clients to drink after a massage to avoid symptoms of detoxing.