- Pressing Pressing is a good way to finish off any of the other strokes, to reinforce the effect and help to release muscle tension. Press using the heels of your hands, or, for small areas, use just your index fingers. For large muscles, place one palm on top of the other for a stronger press and press down ...
- Stretching This stroke exerts a firm downward pressure of the hands as you slide them apart in opposite directions to pull and stretch the skin and underlying muscles. Use palms held flat for this stroke. On arms and legs you can also twist and wring (gently) as you stretch, by turning the hands in opposite directions.
- Thumbing For this stroke, use the pads and sides of your thumbs to knead or deeply stroke into the flesh. You can also use the thumb tips to make circling motions, or to push down, hold, then release over deep muscle tissue. This is an excellent way of stimulating and relaxing the muscles up either side of the ...
- Knuckling This is a firm but easy stroke made with the fingertips flat on the skin and moving in a rolling motion. Make your hands into lose fists and place them with the outer side of the fingertips flat on the skin. Roll them forward, turning them right over so that the knuckles push and slide into the ...
- Pummelling Pummelling is especially good at toning and stimulating fatty areas and is done with hands made into loose, relaxed fists. Bounce the fists rapidly up and down over areas being pummelled in a fast light drumming movement. You can pummel with hands held knockles down, sideways, or palms upwards.
- Raking In raking, just the fingertips are used to rake over the skin in firm, pulling movements. You need to keep them stiffly bent at the joints and held so that only the fingertips touch the skin. Rake back towards you, using both hands together or pulling one hand after the other.
- Kneading This gives a firmer, stimulating massage to the larger muscles and begins with the hands placed palms down, fingers together and thumbs stretched out to the side. Use your thumbs to push into, squeeze and softly pinch pinch the flesh up towards the fingers, moving your hands one after the other over the same area of ...
- Friction Rub This is a firmed stroke which stimulates the circulation and frees the joint. Is is done with the hands held fairly stiffly, using the flat palms or just the stiffly held fingers and it can be done with the hands held sideways so that the sides of the little fingers do the work. The hands are ...
- Circling Circling is similar to stroking in its soothing effect. Both palms are used in just the same way, but as they strokethey move in circles, one clockwise and the other anti clockwise. Sometimes, on large areas of muscle, circling is done more firmly with one hand placed over the other and two hands together making ...
- Stroking The first and simplest movement, stroking, is done to warm and relax the tissue. Both hands are used palms down – held flat over large areas and curved for working on small areas. Stroking can also be done with fingers only, and you can ‘cat stroke’ with one hand following the other, using curved hands, so ...
Massage Strokes
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