The first modality (type of massage) you learn in massage school is Swedish massage. It's perfect for relaxation, which is its primary use. Most of us go on to learn all kinds of more technically challenging modalities and we often forgot about poor old Swedish massage. In fact, some massage therapists (not me! not me!) may have been over-heard referring to Swedish massage as "fluff and buff" and not in a complimentary sort of way.
I recently had a chance to get back in touch with my Swedish skills and I'm so grateful!
A regular client had a nervous system that was so tightly strung you could have used it for banjo strings. Between a stressful job, a tweener at home, and a medication not behaving as it normally does, the client's nervous system was in overdrive. The client hadn't slept more than a few hours in 5 days and was getting desperate.
Rather than the "advanced" techniques available to open up tissue and get things moving again, this situation called for Swedish, pure and simple. So that's what we did. Low lights, quiet music, sloooooow strokes, and a couple of extra minutes at the end of the session to not go anywhere and not do anything.
I know it worked well for the client, whose voice was several notes lower at the end of the session and who reported finally feeling appropriately tired. It also reminded me how relaxing Swedish massage is for me as the massage therapist! I was pretty darned zen at the end of it too.
Swedish massage. An oldie but a goodie.
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