Massage isn’t about ‘poking the angry bear’ 
If we think of pain as a scared angry bear (trying to direct your attention to a part of your body that it thinks need your attention)..just poking it isn’t going to have lasting positive outcomes!
Instead I go about finding out why the bear is angry and giving it what it needs.
When I come across a tender area I’ll assess what’s causing that tenderness and treat that, I won’t just poke the bear in the hope that the area will become temporarily desensitised….I will look for the source and treat that.
Muscles are held in a tone, length or contraction by the nervous system, the skin is packed full of receptors, fascia links the whole body. Pain, tightness and inflammation are nervous system responses and rarely localised to one spot…wider muscular, fascial and nerve areas are involved and need to be considered and cared for.
This week I saw….
Shoulder pain that was released by work to open the upper chest
Lower back pain that was released through work on foot and leg
Shoulder pain that was released by work on the neck
Neck pain that was released by work on the hands and arm
Mid-back pain that was released by work on the tissues in the lower back and mid shoulder
I will hold, knead, stretch or use another technique in the tender area…but only gradually, always in a way that feels comfortable for the client and in communication with the client and always combined with techniques to address the root cause.
But your body needs softness, too. It needs a slow pace, space for stillness, so your nervous system can begin to settle, your breathing can deepen, and your body can gently shift into a more restful state.
A massage should feel not like poking a bear, but…
A body listened to and cared for, shown the way to letting go of holding patterns that aren’t serving the whole and finding new holding that does 
After a massage I want every client to feel
A lighter body.
A quieter mind.
A softer breath.
A sense of finally letting go.
Looking forward to the next one.
, Chris 