What Is Swedish Massage?
Learn about Swedish massage with this massage techniques video. Expert: Renee French
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Learn basic massage techniques from massage therapist Renee French with the demonstrations in these Howcast videos.
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Transcript
Hi, my name is Renee French and I'm here at Practical Massage Therapy in Nashville, Tennessee, and I'm going to be talking about massage therapy. Swedish massage is the most commonly offered technique of massage therapy, and it's usually the basis of most of the massages that you will receive in the United States. It involves the use of 5 strokes that include long gliding strokes, kneading, tapping, friction, and vibration. So Swedish massage is one of the basic techniques that most massage therapists will use to build other techniques on. There are lots of things, different combinations that you can use on the body. With the cross-fiber friction, you can get some nice warming of the muscles, and getting the connective tissue to start to release. With the long gliding strokes, you can apply the massage oil and the cream, and that's also really great for warming up the muscles. And kind of getting that person in a relaxed state to start receiving massage, and to get their breathing nice and even flowing. It's a nice technique for opening and closing the massage. You can the end the massage. And one of my favorite things to do is to end the massage with the tapping. And it's kind of like a percussion drumming on the belly of the muscle. Kind of the thicker part of the muscle. you want to make sure and stay away from the bones, as this could be really uncomfortable. But if you do some tapping on the muscles, it can just really get the muscles to release any tension that might still be kind of stuck in the muscle tissue.
