Prepare To Be Offended–My Thoughts on Deep Tissue.

 I have gone on plenty of instagram-story-rants about this very subject, but I thought it deserved an immortalized spot on my blog. 

So many potential clients request deep tissue when they are booking massages. Not just with me, it seems like it's with every massage therapist they work with. So much so, that I have “deep Tissue” in large print on my flyers as a marketing ploy to draw you in. Sorry not sorry. It’s not that I won't provide it; I just think there's a fundamental misunderstanding from the general public about what it is. I think in the mind of the novice receiver, there's an association between the amount of money they spend correlating to the amount of pressure they receive. 

Here's a couple few cents on that subject:

🪙First of all, light pressure given by the practitioner is still hard work. We are still exuding our time, energy and skills to work on you, and it's worth every penny. 

🪙Second, and probably most important: your body accepts the pressure it accepts. There is no forcing it. There is no secret to being able to access piriformis or quadratus lumborum 2 minutes into your session, no matter how badly you want me to. 

I always say beware the ego of the massage therapist who claims their deep pressure is the answer to all the lower back pain you've been experiencing for years. 

Your body has created tension in response to your daily lifestyle. Daily, as in, every single day of your life for however many years you have been on earth, your body, your muscles, your nervous system has been designed and created based on what you do. An hour of the hardest pressure an elbow can provide will not convince your intelligent, complexly interconnected system that has evolved for centuries to “relax” to its deepest fibers. It just can't. 

Heck, even an hour every month of said pressure won't “undo” what has been done, and continues to be done. 

Goddess Pose, photo by Sage Harple

What you need is a systemic overhaul. A standing desk, an exercise ball, an holistic yoga practice of asana, breathwork and meditation. A perspective of deep loving kindness that recognizes itself, yourself, and meets you where you're at. That acceptance should be translated into: stretching, but not over stretching. Not pushing yourself to where you think you “should” be. This acceptance should be reciprocated from a body worker who feels the response of your muscles.

I’m not saying you need to receive lymphatic pressure massage everytime you go (although, that would be amazing) 

What I am saying is to meet yourself where you're at– and ask your massage therapist to do the same. Deep tissue happens s l o o w w l y y y. The techniques I use are a combination of anatomical/kinesthetic knowledge, and a spiritual conversation I have with the tissues I’m addressing. “Hey there splenius capitis, it's ok for you to let go a little bit here. I know you've been working really hard and it might be scary to release control, but I promise you're safe and your person is just doing all the things because they love you” 

It might sound kooky, but your nervous system is a highly sensitive, highly evolved receptor machine. It picks up on frequencies that are hard, if not impossible to put into words in the thinking mind. It feels. It knows. It knows by feeling.  

We’ve all had times when the hair stood up on the backs of our necks. And, hopefully, we've all felt truly held by someone we trust; like a parent, caregiver, or partner. We were able to let all our guards down and melt into their arms. That isn’t a feeling that you can talk yourself into, your nervous system has to be on board with the situation as a whole. 

Plant allies in the green house. Photo by Sage Harple

After frequent massage visits, working superficial —> deep, deep tissue massage becomes possible without it being forced, painful (ie “I felt like shit for three days but then I felt great after” did you really? Or do you just feel better in comparison to those shit three days?). There is also a high expectation for aftercare. Start stretching mindfully everyday, it doesn't have to be 2 hours, but start with at least 20 minutes. Take baths if you can, or foot baths if you can't. The power of hot water and epsom salts is incredibly understated. 

In closing, release the “shoulds”. 

“I work hard, and lift very heavy weights so I should get deep tissue.”

If you work hard, lift heavy weights, sit all day at a desk, have had multiple surgeries etc etc, then you deserve pressure that makes you feel good. A massage that makes your body go: “AAaaaahhhhh….” –a sigh of relief. Not twinging in pain because “that's what you paid for.”

I’ll leave you with this song to inspire you to release the shoulds!