Nigel, Author at Natural Touch Massage

Give great massage without hurting yourself

floor_work_b&w_c If you want to give massage that your partner, family and friends will love without breaking your back then read on.

I believe that anyone with the right intention can learn the basic principles which will make their massage effective and not only easy, but enjoyable and rewarding.

What do you need to begin?

To start with you will need to be:-

in reasonably good health yourself
able to listen and work sensitively with other people
have one or two people you can practice with at home
have a positive attitude to massage

What you will learn

To enhance your sense of touch and start to be guided by it
To position yourself and partner so that you can use your body weight effectively
To build an appropriate rapport with your partner
Tell the difference between bone, healthy and unhealthy muscle
Some techniques to work in different ways on different parts of the body

If this sounds like you, take a look at my Introduction to Massage course.

Call now 07941 094318

Email: enquires@naturaltouchbath.co.uk

Client Profile – Musician and teacher, John Diver

John came to Natural Touch when his wife bought him some vouchers. “As a guitarist I divide my working time between playing, practising and teaching which means I’m often in the same position for some length of time. Even though I’m fairly active I noticed a few years ago that my shoulder and neck began to ache and became stiff.

“I use yoga to help stretch as regularly as I can but have found that a deep massage can really help loosen up tight spots and knots that build up over time. After a massage I feel a bit looser which gives me motivation to stretch and also importantly relax. Nigel has helped me to think about my posture a lot more which helps me to manage and balance my lifestyle.”

Hear more from John at www.jd-guitar.com, www.guitar-lessons-bath.co.uk and www.guitar-skills.com or listen on YouTube.

Recipe for the Perfect Massage

When I go for a massage I want:

The environment to be warm, comfortable and inviting.
To feel at ease with the therapist and have confidence in them.
To be treated as an individual.
The therapist’s full attention and for them to understands what I say.
The pressure to be just right.
To relax and get absorbed in the massage.
To get what my body needs.
It to help with any problems I have.
The therapist to look at the wider picture and maybe help me realise things I hadn’t noticed.
The therapist to care about my progress.
To feel comfortable enough to ask the therapist to work differently, but I won’t need to because they intuitively get it right.

With more than years experience and a history of happy clients, you can expect the best from Natural Touch.

Recovery and injury from the Bath Half

It’s normal to feel achy and stiff after a hard run – especially if you’ve pushed yourself to the limit.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) usually comes on the following day and will be familiar to anyone who has ever pushed themselves physically. A day or two later you should feel fine. In the mean time, look after yourself with good food and plenty of fluids.

If beyond that you’re noticing your muscles feeling tight then a massage can help. At this stage massage can help lengthen shortened muscles and break up any of the congestion which makes muscles feel hard.

If you’re suffering other problems such as back, hip, neck or shoulder pain, massage can help too.

Muscle Injury (Sprain)

If you have pain, redness, swelling and heat which came on immediately these are the symptoms of a muscle injury. You should immediately:

Rest the affected part
Apply ice to cool the area (not directly on the skin)
Bandage the area to help limit swelling and
Elevate the limb

Seek medical advice if you are unsure.

When these symptoms have gone you can gently return to stretching and exercise, being careful not to cause more damage to the weakened area.

As scar tissue forms, use massage to help it’s fibres line up with the muscle fibres. Scar tissue is not as strong or flexible as the original muscle.

First massage course better than I dreamed

My first Introduction to Massage course finished yesterday. The group enjoyed working together and opening into the experience. They made excellent progress – more than I had hoped for – finding their sense of touch, learning more about bodies and how best to work with them. Here’s what the participants had to say about it.
I loved teaching the course and feel really enthusiastic about the work. It reminds me how much I enjoyed my own training at BCMB.

The second run of the course in January is fully booked. I will be running more, so please let me know if you are interested and I’ll arrange dates to suit.
I’m also planning to offer workshops, practice sessions and a follow-up course in 2012.