Massage & Bodywork Glossary

Acupressure
Acupressure is an ancient healing art that uses the fingers to press key points on the surface of the skin to stimulate the body’s natural self-curative abilities. More About - Acupressure

Alexander Technique
The Alexander Technique is movement education in which the student is taught to sit, stand, and move in ways that reduce physical stress on the body.

Amanae
Founded by Christine Day, Amanae is hands-on, emotional release bodywork that focuses on removing barriers from our cellular body and receiving our light and remembering who we really are. More About - Amanae

Animal Massage
Both pets and performance animals experience soft-tissue damage in their daily lives just as humans do. Therapeutic massage provides significant relief, stimulates healing, and promotes stress reduction and relaxation.

Aston-Patterning
Aston-Patterning is a form of "movement reeducation" developed by Judith Aston in the 1970's. It's designed to teach people how to live optimally in their bodies.

Bowen Therapy
Bowen Therapy, utilizes cross-fiber muscle movement in specific areas of the body. The "moves" are performed in categorical succession with waiting periods incorporated during the session.

Breath Therapy
Breath therapy, which can ease anxieties and reduce stress, is the use of respiratory exercises to open lung passages, oxygenate the blood, and cleanse the body by eliminating gaseous toxins. More About - Breath Therapy

Breema
Effectively practiced for centuries in India, Breema treatments use gentle yet firm movements and postures which support recipients of any level of flexibility to experience health benefits. Breema activates the body's self-healing forces, thereby increasing physical vitality, mental clarity, and emotional balance. Treatments are done on carpets with the recipient fully and comfortably dressed.

Chair Massage
Known as seated massage, chair massage, or on-site massage, this technique involves the use of a specially designed massage chair in which the client sits comfortably. READ MORE: Chair Massage

Colon Hydrotherapy
A gentle infusion of warm water through the colon is used to cleanse trapped impurities, preventing the recycling of toxins into the blood stream.

Color Therapy
An ancient system using specific color rays to treat the body and mind, color therapy is based on the notion that organs and systems vibrate at certain frequencies READ MORE: Color Therapy

Craniosacral Therapy
Pioneered by Dr. John E. Upledger, Craniosacral therapy involves gently guiding and releasing tensions through very mild pressure on the different cranial bones near the sutures of the skull, where one bone lies next to another.

Deep Tissue
This type of massage focuses on reaching the deeper muscles and soft tissues in order to release chronic pain and tension.

Degriefing
Degriefing is the process of recognizing the mental and physical pain that accompanies grief and treating it with a combination of somatic therapies and psychotherapeutic tools.

Dynamic Spinal Therapy
Dynamic spinal therapy was developed by Rolf Ott in Rapperswil, Switzerland, in the 1980s. The technique works with the body’s posture and energetic (acupuncture) system. More About - Dynamic Spinal Therapy

Feldenkrais Method
Feldenkrais consists of two branches, Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration. Feldenkrais believed awareness had to be experienced, not taught verbally. More About - Feldenkrais Method

Feng Shui
Feng shui (translated as “wind and water”) is the Chinese system of balancing the energy patterns of the physical environment.READ MORE: Feng Shui

Foot Zone Therapy
Foot zone therapy is based on the premise that energy flows through the body in meridians from the brain to the feet.

Healing Touch
Developed by Janet Mentgen, RN, Healing Touch is an energy-based therapeutic approach to healing.

Hellerwork
Founded in the 1970's by Joseph Heller, the major components comprising Hellerwork include: deep-tissue bodywork affecting the nervous and muscular systems. More About - Hellerwork

Hot Stone Massage
This is a form of bodywork that involves the application of heated stones (thermotherapy) to the body during massage. MORE ABOUT: Hot Stone Massage

Jin Shin Jyutsu
A gentle, hands-on ancient healing art, Jin Shin Jyutsu allows the flow of energy to be restored by releasing blockages through touch.

Lomi Work
This modality teaches the practitioner to contact the deeper areas of the client's body, instead of just "the tension." In the actual practice of the work, concentration is the most important tool that the practitioner employs.

Lymphatic Massage
While the venous system is responsible for delivering oxygen and some hormones throughout the body, it is the lymph system that plays a far more active role in the removal of wastes and the health of our auto-immune system.

Marma Therapy
Marma Therapy is a form of Ayurvedic massage developed in ancient India. It stimulates what are called "marmas," which are107 vital, epidermal, invisible junction points between mind and matter.

Muscle Testing
Muscle testing involves finding a muscle that is unbalanced and then attempting to determine why that muscle is not functioning properly.

Myofascial Release
Myofascial Release, developed by the physical therapist John F. Barnes, is a therapeutic treatment utilizing a gentle form of stretching the fascia, producing a profound healing effect upon the body tissues, eliminating pain and restoring motion. More About - Myofascial Release

Neuromuscular Reprogramming
NeuroMuscular Reprogramming, utilizes a form of kinesthetic conversation with the body to imprint new learning’s in the motor control center of the brain, replacing damaged imprints created through trauma, injury, operations, or repetitive strain from ergonomically inefficient use patterns.

Ortho-Bionomy
Gentle, relaxing movements and comfortable postures are used to ease the body into positions that unblock tensions and release stressful muscular patterns.

Polarity Therapy
The body is gently manipulated to balance the positive and negative energies. Emphasizing "energy flow" in the body, emotional tension and/or pain is released when the flow of energy is restored.

Pranic Healing
Is based on the fundamental principle that the body is a "self-repairing" living entity that possesses the innate ability to heal itself through breath.

Reflexology
Reflexology focuses on the reflex points of the hands and feet. It was developed by William Fitzgerald in the 1900's in the U.S., but has been known in China as a healing therapy for thousands of years. More About - Reflexology

Reiki
Reiki is an ancient science hidden for thousands of years, until Dr. Usui rediscovered it in the Tibetan Sutras. It is a healing modality to balance the human energy field.

Rolfing
A technique to re-order the major body segments, Rolfing was originally founded by Swiss-born Biochemist Dr. Ida Rolf in the 1940's. Rolfing utilizes a deep-tissue massage technique to bring head, shoulders, thorax, pelvis and legs into vertical alignment.

Rosen Method
The theory of Rosen Method starts with seeing the body's tensions as symptoms of holding our true selves at bay. This stopping of our natural expression most often results in an inner holding that can be felt as muscle tightness and tension.

Shiatsu
Utilizing traditional Chinese acupuncture points, this ancient Japanese technique uses thumb, finger and palm pressure rather than needles.

Swedish Massage
Named for Swedish massage pioneer Peter Ling. Swedish Massage emphasizes that all strokes go toward the heart. This is the most popular form of massage, and incorporated by most massage therapists.

Thai Massage
This method of massage can be traced back thousands of years from Thailand, and has recently gained popularity in the United States. It is performed on a mat in a choreographed series of techniques, much like a martial arts, with the participants wearing loose, comfortable clothing.

Trager Work
Trager Work makes extensive use of touch-contact, and encourages the patient to experience the "freeing up" of different parts of the body. The technique consists of simple exercises called Mentastics and deep non-intrusive hands-on work.

Trigger Point Therapy
This is a therapeutic technique used for the relief of soft-tissue and myofascial pain and muscle dysfunction. The application of pressure on tender trigger points in the muscles relieves pain and tension and helps people to overcome chronic body/muscle pain.

Watsu
Watsu is a bodywork technique developed by Harold Dull that incorporates the moves and stretches of Shiatsu while the client is in water. This is a powerful and relaxing form of bodywork which can alleviate a wide range of physical.