Well experienced and trained massage therapist are in high demand. People of all ages and size all of the world recognize and have experienced the many mental and physical benefits of a good massage. The majority of americans are overworked and overstressed. A professional massage can relieve a person of all their stress, tension and relief from neck and back pain. Companies all around the world have recognized all the great benifits of a good massage and have noticed that it has boosted production a significant ammount in the past. With a potable massage chair massage therapist can take their work just about anywhere.
There’s a wide variety of massage therapy chairs available today. From origanal basic models, which allow customers to sit in comfort during a massage to new, advanced, high-tech models that has virtually every possible option and benefit that has been explored. As the industry advances so do the designs of these chairs.
The majority of well trusted massage therapy chairs on the market today have been designed and developed with both the therapist and customer in mind. One of the most loved massage therapy chairs is the folding massage therapy chair. Folding massage therapy chairs are compact, lightweight, durable, easy to store and easy to transport. These lightweight and easily carried chairs weigh under 20 pounds making it easy to transport by just about anyone. The foldable massage therapy chairs are easy to put away and are compact to save space.
There are some benefits of chair massages as opposed to conventional massages on massage tables. Firstly, the massage is done through the clothing. This saves people the time of undressing and any embarrassment they might feel. Because the massage is completed through the clothing, it involves no messy massage oils or creams. It’s simply a direct massage of the muscle tissues to relieve stress and pain. Chair massage is convenient because with the mobility of the chair, the massage can come to you wherever you are.
It can be brought into a person’s home or office and since it doesn’t take as long as traditional massages, anyone can find time to get a massage. The massage makes people feel safe because it can be done right out in the open as complete privacy isn’t needed. It’s inexpensive compared to other therapies and it focuses on quickly targeting the key tension areas of the body: the back neck and shoulders.
One thing to make note of however, is that most chairs massage therapists are not registered massage therapists. This is because they do not focus on therapeutic massage or rehabilitation. Hence, they charge less money per session. However, chair massage therapists are still professionals trained in stress relief and relaxation.
Palmer developed the chair massage to help ease the daily strain that many office workers feel. If you have ever sat behind a desk all day staring at a computer screen you know what he’s talking about. This kind of office environment can lead to back pain, neck stiffness, tense shoulders, aching wrists, and the worst symptom of all which is bad circulation. Most of the aching symptoms that occur at work are caused by a loss of circulation which happens when people are sitting in a desk chair all day. This can lead to mental fogginess, decreased energy, and sore and stiff muscles, as well as more serious injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Chair massage increases the body’s circulation once again, restoring energy and helping to limit any office related repetitive-stress injuries. Since chair therapy is quick and can be easily brought to the office space, it’s a very relaxing, much need break at work. It will improve your overall well-being by reducing stress, boosting your mental alertness and creativity.
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Chair massage, which is also referred to as seated or “on-site” massage, is a brief body massage session during which the patient lays face down on a specially designed massage chair. While in the chair, the patient’s neck, back, shoulders, arms and hips are all accessible to the therapist. Sessions can last anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes.
Chair massage was originally developed by David Palmer, who in 1986 was the first to create a specially designed massage chair that could be taken to on-site massage sessions. Since its development massage chairs have been popping up all over the market and have expanded into health food stores, store fronts, health fairs, airplanes and airports, sports events and many other locations.
3. Kneading techniques: These are circular movements. Like the other chair massage techniques we’ve already discussed, there are ways to do these techniques that put minimal stress on the body. Whereas most schools teach students how to do this with the thumbs, Relax to the Max utilizes unique contact points like the elbows and pisiforms when doing these techniques to save your thumbs and to reduce the amount of effort.
4. Percussion: These stimulating techniques are what many people refer to as karate chops. When applied properly these percussive chair massage techniques feel great. Customers often report that this is the favorite part of their seated massage experience.
5. Friction techniques: This is an adaptation of traditional Swedish style movements and are used occasionally in the chair.
6. Gliding techniques: Although not performed frequently, there are times when these can be used effectively. At Relax to the Max you learn when these kinds of chair massage techniques are indicated.
If you are going to learn chair massage techniques, be sure to get adequate training from specialists who know what they are doing. Relax to the Max is the only massage school in North America that specializes in chair massage techniques and is a first choice for chair massage training by professionals from around the world.
Chair massage techniques are unique. Many massage therapists try to use traditional Swedish massage techniques when doing chair massage, but this kind of approach doesn’t translate well to seated massage.
Swedish massage techniques largely consist of gliding strokes and this method is doesn’t work well because chair massage is done over the clothing and no oils are used.
There are essentially six types of chair massage techniques:
1. Compression techniques: These are what you may think of as acupressure techniques and are the most commonly used chair massage techniques. The creator of the chair massage concept was trained in Amma massage, an ancient system of acupressure techniques and this style of massage is often used in chair massage technique training. These can be hard on the thumbs as they are typically used, especially since many trainers lack adequate knowledge in the application of these techniques.
However, at Relax to the Max, students are taught to do these techniques safely with a great deal of emphasis on the biomechanics of the movements. As well, the thumbs are used very seldom used in the Relax to the Max chair massage techniques as other contact points are often used, including fists, the heels of the hands, knuckles, elbows and forearms.
2. Squeezing techniques: With these types of massage techniques, the practitioner squeezes the muscles between two contact points. These are often performed on large muscle groups and muscles that are not firmly attached to underlying structures. It is critical when doing these techniques to accurately identify the edges of the muscles and this is a big focus on training when learning to do these chair massage techniques at Relax to the Max.
Lomilomi is now a common and popular massage modality throughout the world, especially in Hawaii, Japan and Europe. Many traditionally taught lomilomi practitioners find it virtually impossible to offer authentic lomilomi in a spa setting and are unwilling to work in most spas or massage offices. They prefer to treat selected clients quietly and privately, often in home settings. Lomilomi practitioners may also ask their clients to pray, meditate, change their diets, and engage in other self-help activities usually believed to lie outside the scope of massage in an effort to truly help the clients obtain optimal health.
Unlike traditional lomilomi kupuna (elder) recognized by the Hawaiian community who require students to study with them for years, some massage schools around the world purport to train therapists in lomilomi in a few hours. Some massage therapists may practice what they call lomilomi and incorporate techniques from other massage modalities during the session. While often pleasant, this style of massage is very different from authentic lomilomi.
Although the Legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi banned curing through “superstitious methods” in 1886, massage was not subject to legislation until 1945. In 1947, the Board of Massage was established to regulate lomilomi and massage. The law required practitioners to pass a written test on anatomy, physiology and massage theory. Many renowned native healers were unable or unwilling to pass the test, and thus lomilomi as restorative massage was forced underground.
In 2001, the Legislature passed Act 304, amending HRS section 453, allowing native practitioners to be certified by the Hawaiian medical board, Papa Ola Lōkahi, or by the various community health centers. This law is controversial among some native practitioners, but those who are certified can provide lomilomi without fear of prosecution under Hawaii state law. (Chai 2005)
After American missionaries arrived in 1820 and converted many in the Kingdom of Hawaii to Christianity, traditional healing arts were scorned as heathen and primitive. Various laws prohibited “heathen” worship and any related Native Hawaiian healing practices. Lomilomi as part of medical practice went underground. But lomilomi as restorative massage remained popular not only among the Hawaiians, but among foreign residents and visitors as well. Charles Wilkes describes it being offered after his ascent of Mokuaweoweo in 1841 on the United States Exploring Expedition.[1]
American writer Charles Nordhoff wrote about his experience with lomilomi massage in his 1875 book, Northern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich Islands.[2] For Robert Louis Stevenson it was “disagreeable”, but English adventurer Isabella Bird found it delightful. (Chai 2005: 77) Not only did foreigners receive lomilomi, they also gave it.
According to the first Director of the Bishop Museum, writing in 1908, one of the most skilled practitioners was Sanford Dole, one of the leaders of the overthrow of the Kingdom. (Chai 2005: 26)
Like all endeavors in old Hawaii, lomilomi was conducted with prayer and intention. Hawaiian kupuna (elder) Auntie Margaret Machado describes lomilomi as “praying” work (Chai 2005: 39). Emma Akana Olmstead, a kupuna of Hana, Maui, in the 1930s, said, “When a treatment is to be given, the one who gives the treatment first plucks the herbs to be used. He prays as he picks the herbs. No one should call him back or distract his attention, all should be as still as possible for they do not want the vibration broken. They knew the laws of vibration. They knew the power of the spoken word. They knew Nature. They gathered the vibration of the plentiful.” (Chai 2005: 40)
The early Polynesian settlers brought their own form of massage and, like a canoe plant, it evolved to become something uniquely Hawaiian. It was practiced by everyone, from child to chief. As an indigenous practice that evolved over hundreds of years in isolated valleys throughout the island chain, there are many different “schools” of lomilomi with different approaches and techniques.
