Swedish Massage (Back to Top)
Swedish Massage is a very relaxing and therapeutic style of bodywork. It combines oils or lotion with an array of strokes such as rolling, kneading, and percussion to help the body improve its circulation. The benefits of this type of bodywork are wide-ranging and include relief from aches and pains, decreased stress levels in the body, enhanced mental clarity, improved appearance, and greater flexibility.
Deep Tissue Massage (Back to Top)
Deep Tissue Massage is a form of bodywork that aims to relieve tension in the deeper layers of tissue in the body. Deep Tissue Massage is a highly effective method for releasing chronic stress areas due to misalignment, repetitive motions, and past lingering injuries. Due to the nature of the deep tissue work, open communication during the session is crucial to make sure you don’t get too uncomfortable. Keep in mind that soreness is pretty common after the treatment, and that plenty of water should be ingested to aid with the flushing and removal of toxins that will have been released from the deep tissue during the session.
Sports Massage (Back to Top)
Sports Massage is a type of massage designed for highly active people who engage in athletics. Engaging in sports is harsh on the body and can often lead to injuries in both the short and long term. Sports Massage enhances performance and prolongs a sports career by helping to prevent injury, reduce pains and swelling in the body, relax the mind, increase flexibility, and dramatically improve recovery rates. Sports Massage is also highly effective in aiding the rapid recovery of an athlete from an injury by encouraging greater kinesthetic awareness and in turn promoting the body’s natural immune function.
Lomi Lomi (Back to Top)
Lomi Lomi Massage Some of the Lomi Lomi strokes are similar to a Swedish massage in that they both use long soothing strokes. These long strokes called effleurage are usually done with the hands, but in Lomi Lomi they are performed with the hands and the forearms. The forearms give the stroke a broader feel than the hands. In Swedish massage, effleurage strokes are the essence of the massage. But in Lomi Lomi effleurage strokes are used to primarily feel the tissue that needs treatment and the therapeutic component comes next. After identifying the area that needs treatment, Lomi Lomi uses a therapeutic static compression to facilitate relaxation of the muscles. Therapeutic static compression is the primary tool for healing. Other modalities use stripping, or cross-fiber work to release muscles. The Lomi Lomi practitioner uses elbows and forearms to compress and stretch the tissue. The compression is done slowly and held longer than other modalities, such as Shiatsu. The body will subconsciously react at first by tightening the muscle but, after a few seconds, will relax with the comfortable compression of the forearm. Holding the compression allows the client to become aware of the tightness in the tissue and allows them to consciously relax. http://www.hawaiiantherapies.com/ Alice Belusko, LMT
Medical Massage (Back to Top)
Medical Massage differs from regular Massage and Bodywork in that the treatment is specifically directed to resolve conditions diagnosed by a medical doctor. I may use a variety of modalities or techniques during the treatment, but I focus the treatment only on the specific areas of the body related to the diagnosis. This enhances the body’s natural self-healing process and reduces the needed recovery time from injury.
