Swedish Massage

Written By Jean Mallard
Revive Natural Living Helston
Dated: September 11, 2007

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Swedish Massage

Originally developed in the early nineteenth century by Swedish physiologist Henreich Ling, Swedish massage can be defined as the manipulation of soft tissue for therapeutic purposes, as it helps to maintain or restore good health through careful manipulation of joints and muscles.

There are four core movements to this type of massage;  Effleurage – long strokes using the flat of the hand, enabling the Practitioner to feel where particular areas of tension are and to help relax the surface muscles for deeper, stronger movements. Petrissage- involves the kneading of large muscles, Friction – involves small circular movements to the tissues against the bone. Cupping– also known as hacking, this is a quick movement and is achieved with the edge of the hands, mostly used on the back, neck and shoulder area, this is a deep pressure movement and almost sounds like the trotting of a horse. The pressure movements help to speed up the body’s physiology, whilst the slow and gentle movements have a soothing effect, calm the nerves and bring about a relaxed state of mind.