I Heart You, Massage
I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine’s Day, especially after reading Decadent Dessert First.
Recently I came across an article about, and another written by, a massage therapist with 45 years experience. That’s longer than I’ve been alive. I didn’t know that kind of career longevity was even possible in my profession. Benny Vaughn is 69 years old and still does hands-on work as he maintains a private practice in Fort Worth, TX. He collaborates with other health professionals as he works with pro and non pro athletes as well as non athletes.
He’s inspiring. He’s put into words what we do as massage therapists. He explains that technique is based on one’s massage philosophy. If I were to apply pressure to a very specific spot as I massage and asked what technique I was using I could list several different types such as neuromuscular therapy, trigger point or acupressure etc. Based on my personal massage philosophy, I can call it whichever technique I may know but foremost, techniques are a way to elicit a reaction from the nervous system, whether it be the parasympathetic (rest and digest: helpful in stress or pain reduction and health recovery) or sympathetic (fight or flight: helpful for athletes about to go into training or competition) nervous system.
Says Vaughn in Massage Magazine Feb 2021:
“Touching the skin is touching the skin is touching the skin. And the factors that we can manipulate are where we touch, what region of the body we touch, how much pressure we apply when we touch, the angle of that pressure, and trigger point; it might be a straight 90-degree angle. Whereas, in effleurage, it may be at a 45- or 50-degree angle.
The last factor we control is the speed of the movement of that pressure, angle of pressure, and the region of the body. So, the speed that our hands move across the surface of the skin will elicit different neurological responses, whether it’s a soothing, relaxing, activating that part of the nervous system that’s responsible for that, or if it’s something that’s stimulating that part of our nervous system. It’s all about those factors there.”
Describing massage like this is a beautiful way to include all the massage techniques and all the conscious and unconscious decisions we make as therapists to treat our clients with massage specifically as we do. It simplifies what it is we actually do, which is help people. Before I read this interview with Vaughn I didn’t have the words just so, but this is exactly how I came to call what we do at MMNYC Intuitive Massage.
One more thing. When asked how to maintain career longevity he mentions, “be thrilled to serve and see that your work with other human beings is a privilege.”
Since that’s how I feel everyday it seems I can look forward to some longevity in my own career as a massage therapist.
Mahalo;
Mrs. Bob