So, You think That Deep Tissue Massage is Deep?

The world views Rolfers as the Marquis de Sade of the massage profession. It has been interesting as Rolfer, who has been a part of that community for 26 years, to observe a tug of war between those who believe the technique shouldn’t be painful and those who who think painful touch is a part of the process. Much like the martial arts tradition of hard and soft styles. Each often scoffs at the other in condescendence. Its the Peter Melchior versus Emmet Hutchins syndrome. Rolfers who have been plying the trade for awhile know exactly what I am talking about. Some love it light and some love it hard to the point of masochistically brutal. Its a strange species and a strange world I inhabit. I would have to say being a practitioner of Cranial Sacral therapy for almost 21 years in tandem with my Rolfing work, that I tend to live more in the soft style. That being said, I do bring my client/patients to their edge from time to time Rolfing them, but I believe they would say Rolfing Structural Integration is not a painful process…just a wee bit intense on occasion.

I think that if you meet hard tissue with hard force you aren’t connecting to the person and the tissue pattern that you are trying to unveil, will elude you. Minimum touch at the most effective point, which I am sure would probably correspond with an acupuncture point, sets in motion a wave of beneficial effects. Because all connective tissue is connected as we now know, much like a geodesic dome, we can effect deeper tissue with a lighter focused touch. Banging away at hard connective tissue will ultimately cause problems to the practitioner and probably not achieve the desired result. I like to “push” wait for a response, potentially push a wee bit harder, but then aim the tool in a slightly different direction and listen carefully for the response. Sometimes I will softly touch the resistant tissue and wait, oftentimes the tissue responds to my passive attitude and relaxes. The body has the innate wisdom and knows way more what it needs then a hard external force being applied by a practitioner of the massage genre. Our touch only awakens the homeostatic response which their body is capable of mustering at that moment. 

Let your fingers float down through the body electric’s connective tissue and when you meet perceived places of resistance wait with your intention and wonder at the miracle of the human organism as it responds to the electric touch of another human whose focus and intent melts the resistant tissue. I hope that a softer touch will be taught at the many massage schools as we realize the power of a lighter touch and the transformation that occurs under the educated wisdom of a partitioner who has experienced the results that come from less from a plundering and pummeling vision that the client’s body receives as more of an insult, then as a healing response. It is steering students away from deep tissue damaging techniques, to tissue release which doesn’t require so much force. I would suggest that every student might be attracted to learning the acupuncture/acupressure points and see how that might effect the results. Strain counter strain, Dr. Jones work, would be another road to travel in learning “deep tissue” techniques that affect our clients deeply without causing any discomfort.

So in ending this brief discussion of Deep Tissue massage, I hope that I have been able to guide you away from the idea that deep means plunging with a severe angle into your clients body and thinking for some reason that that “technique” will be effective in creating the structural changes you had hoped would alleviate their suffering. Now, I do know from teaching Structural Integration at three massage schools under the guise of a Deep Tissue instructor, that some clients just love to be pummeled. And some can’t get enough pressure. I have had very thin women under my hands at the beginning of my career who wanted more pressure then I could really give them and still stay comfortable in my own body. And that is no fun in the present or long term. Those clients need a different type of work, and I suspect that as children they just didn’t receive much touch growing up…just a thought.

So, slow your technique down if you want to illicit change and wait for the body to respond. Remember force often responds with force. Begin to use your mind more, and let the Force Be With You!