Swedish Massage Movements

Massage is a thing that is gaining lots of significance all over the world and many people have started practicing it. Swedish massage, a type of massage that is under discussion right now is a form of physiotherapy that was developed in the early 19th century. It basically consists of softly palpating the skin is known as manual lymphatic drainage. The basic Swedish massage movements are as follows;

1. Passive movements: for this you need to clasp the toes with one hand and give the ankle a little support with the other. Now slowly rotate the foot a few times, and flex the toes gently backward and forward. You need to hold your ankle with one hand, and raise the leg and bend the knee forward, again supporting the thigh with the other hand. After this, just straighten up your leg and repeat the movement a couple of times more.

2. Arms and legs: for this routine you first need to follow the sequence for legs and feet in the above paragraph but carefully adapting the movements for the smaller surface area of the arms, working down toward the hands.

3. Chest: then for the chest area you need to place your hands side by side, just below the collar bone will be fine, and start stroking firmly down the chest. Then fan out to the sides, gliding toward the shoulders and then glide your hands down the sides of the neck to start again. This should ideally be repeated six times. For best results use your thumbs and fingers to knead the chest gently and rhythmically. While doing this your best bet would be to try not to pinch the skin.

4. Abdomen: ah the area we need relaxation the most maybe. To start with this, just place a small pillow under the knees to relax the abdomen. You should place one hand on the lower ribs and the other below the navel, facing across the body. When done with this start stroking your lower hand slowly and lightly around the navel in a clockwise direction. The fingers of one should be used to apply gentle, circular pressures working around the navel, increasing the pressure as your partner relaxes.

5. Back: after you are done with the abdomen the area of your back comes next in line. You can start with some gentle fan stroking then place your hands on the lower back, on either side of the spine, and start stroking firmly upward. The moment you reach the lower ribs, fan your hands outward and down the sides. Repeat a few times more for the best possible results. Standing in such a way that you are facing your partner's body, start kneading, grasping, squeezing, and releasing as much flesh as you can with alternate hands. You need to start this on far hip, and then work up the side of the back and across the shoulders toward you. This should be worked twice around the back. You can support the left shoulder blade with your right hand while making circular pressures with the fingers of your left hand in the groove beside and away from the spine. To have the best results work all the way down the side of the back. When you reach the hips, release, glide up, and start again on the right side of the back and all the tension will be ultimately released.

So these were some of the more commonly known Swedish massage movements these days.