Basic Massage Strokes
FAN STROKES:Place your hands side by side with your fingers
close together and pointing in the direction of the stroke.
Glide both hands steadily over the skin, distributing
the pressure evenly across your hands. When your hands
stroke as far as you wish to take them, spread them both outwards
in opposite directions to make a shape like a fan, maintaining
a steady pressure as you move them apart. Round your stroke
to complete the fan shape, and at the same time, begin to
draw your hands more lightly back together as you do so.
Repeat the stroke as a flowing motion.
CIRCULAR STROKES:Place your hands over the sides of the
body, slipping your fingers slightly underneath. Now
pull one hand towards you, then the other, sliding the pressure
from the heel to the fingertips each time. As one hand reaches
the center, lift it off and replace it over the side of the
body to repeat the stroke, maintaining a continuous pulling
motion.
STRETCHING:Place your hands together, fingertips pointing
away from you, over the center of the spine or the; area that
you want to release with a stretching movement. Firmly
and steadily draw your hands in opposite directions. When
stretching over the spine, take one hand to the top and rest
the other at the base.
RAKING STROKES:Bend your fingers so that just the tips
rest on the skin and make short, firm movements down or out
of the body. Use both hands together or let one hand follow
the other.
FEATHER STROKES:Delicately trace your fingertips over
the skin, using one hand after the other in a continuous
movement, or lingering playfully with just one hand at
a time. Change the pressure and speed of your strokes slightly
to vary the sensations of your touch.
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