Ari Daniels, CMT

How should I dress for my massage?
I can work over clothing or on bare skin.  Each has its own application and benefit.  For table massage, clients generally undress to some degree for bare skin exposure.  For mat bodywork, appropriate dress is determined by the type of work being done.

Table massage:  I instruct each client to disrobe to their individual comfort level.  Some clients choose to wear nothing at all, and some wear shorts and a sports bra.  I use a top-sheet to drape, meaning that I cover whatever parts of the body I'm not massaging at the time, and private parts will always be covered by a sheet.

Mat bodywork:  For Thai-style bodywork, I recommend wearing loose-fitting clothes made of natural fibers.  For barefoot deep tissue and myofascial techniques, it helps to have skin contact.  If the client is undressed, I will drape to cover the parts of the body I am not massaging.


Summary of primary modalities, styles and techniques I employ

A more extensive glossary of massage terms and types is available at the NCBTMB and ABMP sites on my links page.

Swedish:  This is the modality most people associate with the term "massage."  Swedish massage uses four basic strokes — effleurage (long, flowing strokes), petrissage (kneading, lifting and squeezing), tapotement (percussion — slapping, chopping, cupping, etc.), and friction (rubbing the muscles through the skin, often moving across the direction of the muscle fibers).  Lubricant oil is generally used.

Deep tissue:  This is a very general term for massage that addresses the deeper tissues.  After warming up the superficial layers of muscle and fascia (the connective tissue the surrounds muscles and organs), I work on the deeper layers of muscle and soft tissue.  If you have really stubborn knots in your shoulders, or a painful piriformis, deep tissue is likely the route to relief.

Myofascial release:  I favor myofascial release among the modalities I perform.  Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds all the muscles, organs, and literally makes a continuous, web-like network throughout the body.  When you (if you) are preparing raw chicken, this is the whitish sac around the muscles.  This fascia runs around and through every part of the body.  Fascial fibers have four times the tensile strength of muscle fibers, so if your fascia is tight, no amount of stretching will allow your muscles to release properly.  Incidentally, some of the most effective work for releasing fascial tightness is extremely gentle.  Fascia is made up of tough fibers suspended in a ground substance called (this is my favorite part!) colloidal thixotropic mucopolysaccharide.  I'll give you an extra five minutes on your session if you can say this five times fast!  Slowly warming up and stretching the fascia allows postural realignment, gives space for muscles to release, and can break up adhesions that crimp your style, literally.  Sometimes this work seems like watching paint dry.  It can be veeeeeerrrrry sloooooooooow.  A lot of people fall asleep during the truly soft, slow styles of myofascial release.  There are quicker ways to do it, and I employ these methods sometimes, but the faster it goes, the more you feel it.  Fascia responds best to the slow work.

Sports massage:  Before engaging in rugged sports activity, it can be a good idea to help move blood and oxygen to the tissues to help with high-demand function.  After exercise, sports massage helps move stagnant fluids out, flushing lactic acid from the muscles so they don't get as sore, and moves fresh blood and oxygen back in.  If you're a serious athlete looking to achieve top-notch performance, I'll refer you to a friend who specializes in sports massage.  Ernie Kidd is an 18-year veteran of the trade, and worked the 1994 Olympics.

Trigger point therapy:  There are certain points along various lines in the body where fascial restrictions are more likely than others, and certain muscles get particularly overworked and sore.  These restrictions and angry muscles have tendencies to cause problems elsewhere.  When your serratus anterior (muscle under your armpit pulling your shoulder blade forward) gets worked up, it can cause pain in your upper shoulder in the muscles that counteract its actions.  When the fascia along your IT band (outer edge of the thigh) get particularly tight, it can cause pain in all sorts of places in the leg and thigh.  Working some of these key points can help greatly in places related, but seemingly disconnected.  The hip bone's connected to the...

Assisted/facilitated stretching:  We can stretch a lot of muscles effectively ourselves, but sometimes it helps to have someone else assist us.  I can get a stretch in one muscle without you tightening up all the rest of your muscles to get into that position!  Also, some muscles are just difficult to stretch by yourself.  Using various techniques including one of my favorites, PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching, I can help you release very stubborn muscles, and give you some techniques you can use on your own.

Aromatherapy:  The use of essential oils can produce profound effects, quickly and reliably.  The sense of smell is the one sense out of the classic five (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) we have that is directly connected to the limbic system in the brain.  It doesn't go through any intermediary processing.  Have you ever smelled something that simply made you feel something from your childhood?  I use a few drops of essential oils, or blend them with the lubricant oil I'm using to affect certain changes in your energy.  Have you felt scattered all day, or week?  Perhaps some sandalwood would help.  Have you been wound up and stressed for days?  Lavender might just do the trick, in seconds flat.  Eucalyptus helps soothe sore muscles, and also aids respiration.  You get the idea!

Lymph drainage:  I employ a little lymph drainage sometimes.  Lymph is the fluid in which your body fights many of its invaders and carries certain waste and over-abundant products to the trash chute.  The lymphatic system, unlike the vascular system, does not have a pump!  Walking and exercising helps it move along, but sometimes it helps to have someone else do a little pushing.  This work is extremely gentle.  I occasionally use a little lymph drainage to complement a treatment.  If you have lymphedema or other serious lymphatic issues, I will direct you to another therapist, Karen Binney, who specializes in lymph drainage and is certified in treating lymphedema.

Thai bodywork (often called Thai yoga massage):  I perform something akin to what Chuck Duff calls Commoner-Style Thai, or HandsFree Thai, but I don't have a set routine like most Thai practitioners.  Almost all contemporary Western modalities are at least partially based on traditional Eastern techniques.  The Thai energy lines are correspond to fascial lines and trains, blood and nerve channels, and the pressure points along these lines are often the same trigger points found in trigger point therapy.  There is a great deal of crossover between Eastern and Western modalities.

Barefoot deep tissue and myofascial:  The deep tissue and myofascial release techniques are very similar to those I perform using my hands, but I don't use oils.  This means that instead of the deep-pressure Swedish techniques I might employ on the table, there will be more compression, friction, and vibration for deep tissue.  The feet are suited to the task of applying a great deal of force.  However, because the area over which it is applied is greater, the pressure is technically lower.  More force, less pressure.  I would see another massage therapist who had huge hands like bear paws and think, "man, he must give a great massage."  Well, my feet are bigger and stronger than just about any man's hands.

If you have any questions about these techniques, or anything else I do, please feel free to contact me.

Ari Daniels, CMT
434-409-3075
aridaniels@massagetherapy.com