This article will discuss massage techniques and 3 methods that will take your stress away. If you need to relax and release some tension, the techniques outlined below are all excellent options.

1. Swedish Massage: Effleurage, friction, petrissage, tapottement, and vibration make up Swedish massage techniques. Effleurage is long sweeping strokes given from either the padded parts of your fingertips or the palm of your hand.

The next two techniques, friction and petrissage, help to relax the muscle and involve squeezing and kneading the muscles of the body. To energize areas of the body, tapottement, rhythmic hitting or chopping is used and to help loosen the muscles, finally vibration is used.

2. Deep Tissue: Slow and focused massage techniques, otherwise known as deep tissue massage, are designed to relieve muscle tension and alleviate inflammation and joint pain. Using many of the same techniques as Swedish massage, deep tissue massage uses a variation that works eash muscle more thoroughly.

Deep tissue massage shouldn’t hurt, but it can be a little uncomfortable in the beginning. About a day after the massage you will start to notice the benefits of this therapeutic massage technique.

3. Hot Stone: Getting hot stone massages is probably the most relaxing thing you can do. As far from a deep tissue as you can get, a hot stone massage is completely about relaxation and is very enjoyable.

Each massage will start by using traditional Swedish massage techniques followed by hot stones placed upon a person’s back and extremities. Each stone helps draw out tension in a person’s muscles and can be very relaxing as the stones take away the stress from the body.

In this article we looked at massage techniques and 3 methods that will take your stress away. Swedish massage techniques are the most common, but deep tissue and hot stone massages can also provide excellent benefits if you are experiencing muscle tension and/or pain.

Want to know more?

Tess Rainey, an advocate for alternative medicine, created a website that can help you find the relaxation your body needs. Her website, SwedishMassageTechniques.NurturingYourBody.com, has a massage technique as well as a back massage techniques.