#massotherapy

1. Definitely start with Swedish. It’s the base course for many different types of massage so that’s great in case you want to branch out into Deep Tissue and Therapeutic like I did. You may want to take something like Shiatsu later on, but it’s not as much of a foundation course as Swedish is.

2. Be mindful of your posture and stance. It’s extremely important- especially when you get to the point when you’re doing 4+ massages a day. Besides that, the maneuvers you will learn are more about body weight than you’d think. Your posture and stance are often what determine how much or how little pressure you put on a client.

3. Remember to stretch  a bit before each class or client. It will keep you from straining your own muscles in the long run and also give you some time to focus on your breathing and get in the proper mindset to give a massage.

4. Anatomy is very important. Make sure you have good knowledge of all the muscles, where they’re located and their functions. 5. There’s no room to be shy so try your best to be open minded and willing to try new things. It’s a very intimate trade and you’re going to have to learn and deal with a lot of embarrassing things like erections, excessive body hair…etc. Try to remain professional but also remember not to take things TOO seriously. 6. Be mindful of your attitude and energy. Massage is not only physically beneficial but also mentally and emotionally beneficial. It’s important to go into each class and session with a positive and calm mindset. It’s an energy transfer and if you’re in a bad mood, anxious or nervous, your client will sense it and feel uncomfortable.

7. Don’t worry too much about the order of the steps or being able to finish a massage within the allotted time. These are things that come naturally with experience and are honestly not as big of a deal as you’ll probably make them out to be in your mind. When you gain experience over time, I promise you’ll very rarely do each step the way it was taught and rather develop your own style with the maneuvers you find most beneficial. 

Deep Tissue is a type of massage that targets connective tissue. It’s used to promote circulation and help with limited movement and inflammation when there are adhesions in muscles, tendons, and ligaments. It is pretty similar to Swedish only a lot more pressure is used and cross grain strokes are used as well. 

Therapeutic is a type of massage that is designed to target specific long-term or chronic issues such as Carpal Tunnel, Sciatica, Bursitis…etc. There is also quite a lot of force used in Therapeutic but in more of a pressure point type of way rather than an overall type of way. Your thumbs are what’s mostly used during this type of massage in order to administer the pressure points, whereas in Deep Tissue, you mostly use your knuckles, elbow and forearm.