Massage Techniques

Sean teaches at Healing Arts Institute in Fort Collins, Colorado. He incorporates Body Insight^TM in both teaching and his private practice.

Body Insight^TM

Body Insight^TM is a Neuromuscular therapy that is designed to return the body to its natural balanced state through bodywork and stress relief. The bodywork frees up muscle adhesions and chronic tension. This results in better posture, pain reduction and overall improvement in health.

Body Insight^TM offers relief from the discomfort resulting from years of bad posture and alternatives to the habits that hold it in place. It helps clients become aware of how their unconscious stress manifests in repetitive muscle tightness over and over in the same parts of the body. If not dealt with properly, these patterns become the reasons for chronic pain and limited mobility over time.

The information below is offered for the convenience of our clients – it can be easily found on a variety of websites, and several are referenced below.

Manual therapy, manipulative therapy, or manual & manipulative therapy is a physical treatment primarily used by massage therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, and osteopathic physicians to treat musculoskeletal pain and disability. It most commonly includes kneading and manipulation of muscles, joint mobilization and joint manipulation.

Deep Tissue Massage concentrates on the deep layers of muscle and fascia in the body with deep finger pressure and slow, firm strokes.

The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that deep-tissue massage can be more effective and affordable for relieving chronic pain than conventional medical remedies. Because deep-tissue massage increases the flow of blood through through the body, it helps reduce the inflammation that causes pain. Deep-tissue massage can also help alleviate muscle tension that is often a side effect of chronic pain by loosening the tight tissue clusters.

Swedish massage is one of the best known types of massage and though definitions vary to some extent, it is described the use of hands, forearms or elbows to manipulate the superficial layers of the muscles to improve mental and physical health. Active or passive movement of the joints may also be part of the massage.

The benefits of Swedish massage include increased blood circulation, mental and physical relaxation, decreased stress and muscle tension, and improved range of motion.

Neuromuscular therapy (NMT) is an approach to soft tissue manual therapy in which quasi-static pressure is applied to soft tissue to stimulate skeletal striated muscle.

According to WebMD, this medically-oriented form of massage addresses trigger points (tender muscles points), circulation, nerve compression, postural issues, and bio-mechanical problems that can be caused by repetitive movement injuries. 

PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching) refers to stretching techniques used to enhance both active and passive range of motion with the ultimate goal being to optimize motor performance and rehabilitation.

Sources: Wikipedia, Web MD, University of Maryland Medical Center, Encyclopedia.com.