spa|finding the stretch in your massage treatment
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2 THE NECK CAN BE STRETCHED WHILE THE CLIENT IS IN THE BODY WRAP, OR ADDED BEFORE OR AFTER A FACIAL SERVICE TO RELEASE TENSION.
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achieve just a minute earlier. This is a passive stretch. It is a great way to access the muscles and bring them past the usual stopping points. It also helps to retrain the muscle memory and increase flexibility and range of motion. You can use the contract-relax-stretch application for every muscle in the body.
Active stretching
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1. Ear to shoulder 2. Nose to diagonal of shoulder 3. Nose to opposite shoulder diagonal 4. This is what a stretch to the neck would look like in a Thai massage session 5-6. Active stretching 7. Thai massage
Both active and passive stretching One form of passive stretching is to simply extend your client’s leg and lift it as high as it will go. However, people often cheat during this stretch by lifting the opposite hip off the table. This negates the stretch. You may avoid this by adding in a technique called contract, relax, stretch. For this technique, place the client’s straight leg up on your shoulder for support and ask them to tighten the muscle and push against your shoulder to activate it. This is the contract part of the equation (active). The client’s part is now done, and you will ask them to stay in the same position but stop flexing the muscle and relax (again passive). Once relaxed, the therapist is able to take the leg further into a stretch that they were unable to
The therapist might have the client participate fully (active stretching), and ask them to hold their own leg. Once comfortable, the client lifts their head toward the knee and walks the hands up higher toward the ankle. Once the leg becomes comfortable in that place, your client will lower their head down and continue to hold the stretch. Just putting the head back onto the table will immediately increase the range of motion in the stretch. It is important to note that when the client puts their head back down, they should tuck their chin in to make this stretch more effective. This elongates the spine and deepens the stretch by being in better alignment all over.
Passive stretching During a Thai massage, the client lies fully clothed on a mat on the floor. As the therapist, you do all the work for the client to increase the range of motion of the hamstrings. Use the client’s own relaxation as the pathway to increase the stretch. n
The photos shown on this page are from the book Stretch Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Basic and Assisted Stretching by Emily A. Francis.
Emily A. Francis is a continuing education provider through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork for Stretch Therapy. Francis studied clinical and neuromuscular massage therapy at the Atlanta School of Massage, and is a graduate of the Dr. Vodder School International, where she was educated in manual lymphatic drainage and combined decongestive therapy. Francis is also certified in both pediatric massage therapy and kinesio tape. She is the author of Stretch Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Basic and Assisted Stretching. Learn more at emilyafrancisbooks.com.
Page 58 • LNEONLINE.com Les Nouvelles Esthétiques & Spa • June 2014