PRENATAL MASSAGE / PREGNANCY MASSAGE

Performed by a trained perinatal specialist, many methods of massage and somatic therapies are both effective and safe prenatally, and during labor and postpartum periods of women’s pregnancies.

Prenatally, specific techniques can reduce pregnancy discomforts and concerns and enhance the physiological and emotional well-being of both mother and fetus.

Skilled, appropriate touch facilitates labor, shortening labor times and easing pain and anxiety. In the postpartum period, specialized techniques rebalance structure, physiology, and emotions of the new mother, and may help her to bond with and care for her infant.

Specialized, advanced training in the anatomy, physiology, complications, precautions, and contraindications is highly recommended, and many practitioners require referrals from physicians prior to therapy.

(See also: PREGNANCY MASSAGE, Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

Tuina (tway na)  (Chinese Massage Therapy, Push Grab Massage, Tuei-Na, Tui Na An Mo, tuina therapy): Ancient Chinese form of remedial massage that regulates the circulation of chi and restores the balance of yin and yang (cosmic poles).

(See also: Tuina, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Hot Stone (La Stone) Massage: Bodywork involves the use of heated and cooled stones (Thermo therapy) applied to the body in various ways to bring about relief to stiff and sore muscles 

(See also: Hot Stone (La Stone Massage, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

neo-Reichian massage: System based on theories developed by Wilhelm Reich (see orgone therapy and Reichian Therapy). Practitioners locate and dissolve holding patterns (body armoring). Reich principled that obstructions to orgone cause neuroses and most physical disorders. Muscular contractions (body armor) in various parts of the body manifest such blockages.

(See also: Neo-Reichian massage, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Cayce/Reilly massage (Cayce/Reilly approach to massage, Cayce/Reilly method, Cayce/Reilly technique): Holistic form of massage named after psychic Edgar Cayce (see The Cayce Approach to Health and Healing) and physiotherapist Dr. Harold J. Reilly, coauthor of The Edgar Cayce Handbook for Health Through Drugless Therapy A.R.E. Press, 1975). It includes energy balancing.

(See also: Cayce Reilly massage, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

marma therapy (Ayurvedic lymphatic massage, Ayurvedic massage, marma technique): A form of massage that stimulates marmas - 107 vital, epidermal, invisible but palpable junction points between mind and matter.

(See also: Marma therapy, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Polarity energy balancing massage: System based on the work of Randolph Stone (see Polarity Therapy). It has four branches: (1) energy balancing bodywork technique, (2) Polarity Yoga, (3) diet, and (4) body/mind/spiritual psychology.

(See also: Polarity energy balancing massage, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Reichian Therapy (psychiatric orgone therapy, Reichian bodywork therapy, Reichian massage; called vegetal therapy in Europe): Psychoanalytic form of bodywork developed by Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), the discoverer of orgone (see orgone therapy).

According to Reichian theory, blockages to orgone cause neuroses and most physical disorders. Muscular contractions (body armor) in various parts of the body manifest such blockages. The Reichian therapist intuitively decides where the greatest body armor is and seeks to dissolve or dismantle it. Approaches to dissolving this armor include massage and having the patient breathe deeply, cry, gag, kick, make faces, scream, and roll his or her eyes. Reichian Therapy is also called Reichian vegetotherapy.

(See also: Reichian Therapy, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

zone therapy (Reflex Zone Therapy, reflex zone massage): Early form of Western reflexology introduced in the United States in 1913 by William H. Fitzgerald, M.D., a specialist in diseases of the ear, nose, and throat. Fitzgerald, author of Zone Therapy, or Relieving Pain at Home (1917), divided human anatomy into ten zones and professed that bioelectrical energy flowed through these zones to reflex points in the hands and feet. His method, which was also called zonotherapy, included the fastening of wire springs around toes. Fitzgerald's associate, Edwin F. Bowers, M.D., coined the name zone therapy. Today, zone therapy may include the attachment of clothespins to fingertips and the use of pencils and aluminum combs.

(See also: Zone therapy, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Qigong therapy (buqi, buqi therapy, external qigong, external Qigong healing, External Qi Healing, medical Qigong, Qi An Mo, Qigong healing, Qi healing, Qi Massage, wai Qi liao fa, Wai Qi Zhi Liao):

1. medical application of short-distance psychokinesis. Qigong therapy is comparable to Non-Contact Therapeutic Touch. At most, it includes light touching.

Its theory posits healing Qi and diseased Qi. (Buqi means spreading the Qi. Wai Qi means external Qi and refers toa shield of chi at the surface of the body. Wai Qi liao fa means curing with external Qi.)

2. Subject of Qigong Therapy and How to Use It (East & West Publications, Ltd.), by Linhai; a combination of acupointing, chiropractics, massage, physical therapy, Tuina, and qi transmission.

(See also: Qigong therapy, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

shiatsu (acupressure, schiatsu, shiatsu massage therapy, shiatsu therapy, shiatzu): Healing art whose major types are acupressure, shiatsu massage, and Zen Shiatsu. Its theory posits ki (vital energy), meridians (energy pathways), and tsubos: vital points or holes on the body that are susceptible to healthful stimulation. Shiatsu is the abbreviation of a Japanese word that literally means finger-pressure treatment (shi means finger, or fingers, and atsu means pressure). Practitioners may be called shiatsuists.

(See also: Shiatsu, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

BODYWORK: The term bodywork refers to therapies such as massage, deep tissue manipulation, movement awareness, and energy balancing, which are employed to improve the structure and functioning of the human body.

Bodywork in all its forms helps to reduce pain, soothe injured muscles, stimulate blood and lymphatic circulation, and promote deep relaxation.

(See also: Bodywork, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

hand-mediated energetic healing (HMEH, HMEH approaches, HMEH traditions, hand-mediated healing modalities): Group of healing methods characterized by the principle that the practitioner's hands are agents of the transfer or interchange of energy.

Hand-mediated energetic healing encompasses acupressure, external qigong (Qigong therapy), Healing Touch, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Polarity (Polarity Therapy), reflexology, Reiki, shiatsu massage, Therapeutic Touch, and Touch for Health.

(See also: Hand-mediated energetic healing, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

MASSAGE

Hands-on manipulation for healing is probably older than any other healing tradition. The oldest written records of massage go back three thousand years to China, but it is much older than that. Touch and the laying on of hands are human tendencies that seem to be in our genetic makeup.

Perhaps the most basic principle in this field is that improved blood circulation is beneficial for virtually all health conditions. Tension in the muscles and other soft tissues can impair circulation, resulting in a deficient supply of nutrients and inadequate removal of wastes or toxins from the tissues of the body. This in turn can lead to illness, structural and functional problems, or slower healing. Recognition of the importance of blood circulation is implicit in all forms of massage and bodywork.

Massage includes a number of disciplines that share the use of pressure, friction and strain upon the muscles and joints of the body for therapeutic or physical responses. Swedish massage (which is a proper name, not a reference to Sweden) refers to a collection of techniques designed primarily to relax muscles by applying pressure to them against deeper muscles and bones, and rubbing in the same direction as the flow of blood returning to the heart. Shiatsu (pronounced shee-OTT-sue), on the other hand, is a system based on the body's energy meridians. Shiatsu massages are normally done fully clothed and involve pressing points on the body and stretching and opening of the energy meridians. 

There are massage therapists experienced in working with the elderly and terminally ill, the chronically ill and disabled, and those persons recovering from trauma as well as infants. A range of gentle and noninvasive techniques tailored to each client group and treatment includes the therapist's sensitivity, responsiveness, and presence through subtle touch. Ill children feel better when touched in just the right way.

(See also: MASSAGE, Alternative Health, Holistic Health, Body Mind and Soul)