When I first received my massage license back in 2012, Deep Tissue was definitely the most popular type of massage around. While other gentler approaches to bodywork are being discovered by more people these days, Deep Tissue is still often the assumption when someone hears the word massage, and there’s an expectation that a massage needs to be “deep” with a lot of pressure (and usually painful) to be effective. It is my experience that the opposite is usually true.
Disclaimer
I do not mean to insinuate that all Deep Tissue therapists will give you a bad massage or that deep pressure is never necessary or useful! My goal here is to explain how the term Deep Tissue is misleading and can create expectations that can be dangerous or counter productive. While we often have physical restrictions that are most effectively released with a firm pressure or manipulation, more often than not when these areas are released they give way to layers of restriction that respond best to a subtler touch.
Pressure Without Sensitivity Increases the Potential for Injury
I am not fond of the term “Deep Tissue” because it’s a misnomer. It seems to assume that “deep” is necessary for effective treatment, when in fact we can find and release restriction at any depth. Sometimes more pressure is needed to get to restrictions that are deeper in the body, but often the restrictions are more superficial, and therefore defaulting to deep pressure is likely to miss the areas that need work the most.
At best this is making it less likely you’ll get a great outcome from your massage, at worst it puts you in in harms way as it increases the potential for injury. Bodywork does not have to be painful, and to expect a massage to be painful is downright dangerous. Sure, sometimes working out tissue restriction can be a little uncomfortable, but for the most part you should be in a relaxed and comfortable state for healing to take place effectively, and it should never be painful. Pain is our body’s way of telling us something is wrong.
One of the most important skills any bodyworker should have is a sensitive touch. By feeling what’s happening in the client’s body the sensitive therapist can be constantly adjusting pressure and techniques used to allow for the most effective treatment at any given moment. I’ve had massages where the therapist was sensitive enough to find areas that needed attention only to then start pounding on the area relentlessly, with all sensitivity somehow instantly absent, leaving me sore and bruised. This kind of invasive and insensitive approach causes the client’s body to resist the work rather than to soothe and support the body, which encourages it to unwind and release tension at it’s own pace, without forcing it.
Then how can Deep Tissue Massage be Effective?
I’ve given it a lot of thought over the years as to why/how painful deep tissue massage can be an effective treatment. The only thing I can come up with is that the invasive nature of the deep tissue techniques actually cause some minor injury to the client’s body, which stimulates their natural self-healing ability to repair. That’s why after the massage and the next day you feel sore and pretty awful, but another day or two later you feel great. With the proper sensitivity and approach, we can engage and support this same natural healing power without first causing any injury. Instead we work with the body and it’s processes, supporting it’s natural function. By creating a sense of safety and relaxation your body can skip the painful, injured part of the process and get straight to the feel good healing stuff.
Deepest Tissue
In my experience it’s clear that our bodies respond profoundly to a gentle touch. When we connect to each other through a compassionate, inquisitive, attentive touch, with the intention of hearing what the body has to say and to support it’s natural ability to self-correct, a special magic happens and a safe space is established where you can truly relax. The body responds to this by really unwinding, opening and purging unneeded stress and tension, releasing emotions and traumas held in it’s tissues. A non-verbal communication has been established and intuition is invited to guide our movements, getting to the roots of our issues.
Another interesting facet of this discussion is rather ironic, and that is that to get at the deepest structures in the body, the core of our fascial network surrounding the central nervous system, you need to employ a lighter touch. Insensitive deep pressure signals to the body that there is an outside force that needs to be met or resisted, whereas a gentle, supportive touch registers safety to the body. When the body feels safe it can communicate what it needs in the moment and your therapist can adjust accordingly.
In a nutshell, a gentle approach helps your body know it’s safe and then it can guide the session in the most effective direction, and forceful pressure registers as a threat that needs to be dealt with. This creates an antagonistic relationship between therapist and client and the client’s sympathetic fight or flight nervous system response is triggered, the lines of communication are broken down, and the therapist is effectively flying blind.
Why Shiatsu Alchemy is so Gentle
My interest in bodywork is to help people heal and feel better in their bodies. Over the years my experience working with countless clients has shown me more and more that a gentler, sensitive, and focused approach is the fastest and most effective way to do that. Every body is different and has different needs at different times. By establishing a connection through gentleness each individual’s body can communicate what it needs in the moment, allowing me to feel whether an area needs a firmer or lighter touch, or if the root of a restriction is deeper or closer to the surface of the body.
One of the secrets to the efficacy of a Shiatsu Alchemy treatment is flexibility. By drawing from a variety of bodywork and massage modalities as the client’s body communicates it’s needs techniques from any of those approaches can be employed to achieve the best results. Yes, even from “Deep Tissue”, when appropriate!
-Brian
