Chair Massage Certificate Course | 3 CEU

Let's take a look at how you can massage from several different scenarios, and which are the best and worst set ups.

You need to make sure that you are first and foremost, using your body correctly . Here I go through what is needed so that when you finish massaging, you are not in pain, fatigued or injured.

There are times when you should not give a person a chair massage, here I go through them for you. As the old saying goes, when in doubt, don't.

We are going learn the individual techniques and practice them and then we will put the whole sequence together

Its go time! So, we start off the sequence with centering to relax and remove any stressful thoughts so that your attention is on the person that we are massaging. This also helps the person receiving your massage to feel at ease too-rather than just start the massage and jolting them. After centering, we do some very light flowing butterfly strokes and then start working on one side of the body and then the other.

Here we start doing some palm walking and double fist techniques down either side of the spine and into the hip/buttock region.

This is like a cat using its paws kneading and we are working the trapezius muscles, thus I call it the cat trap to remember it easily.

This is a two handed technique that feels wonderful as you work your way down either side of the spine along the erector spinae muscles

here we use such little effort by using the outside of our hands to work all across the upper back and shoulder blade areas. It is such a great technique that is easy for the therapist, feels great and hardly anyone knows about using this part of their hand and wrist for chair massage

This may take some time for you to get competent at using your forearm and elbows but if you go slowly and carefully, getting feedback as you practice and stay off any bony prominences, you will find that this will have the person wanting so much more of this technique as it feels amazing. It is also a fabulous way to apply deep pressure with minimal effort on your behalf.

Make sure that you do this technique slowly and quite deeply otherwise it can tickle if you do it too fast. This is another technique that feels different from the others and hence gives the person receiving the massage another wonderfully interesting sensation.

Now, we work deeply using reinforced thumbs along the bladder meridian as it is know in Traditional Chinese Medicine. We work down the first line which is in the gutter right alongside the spine and then laterally along the next two lines from the base of the neck to the sacrum. Don't rush this because it feels so good going slowly and deeply. Keep your thumb presses rhythmical and watch for signs of the person tensing up their shoulders if you are going too deeply. Remember to ask for feedback, especially when you are practicing. In time, you will know the feeling of the muscles when the pressure is correct as you will feel the muscle resisting .

Here is a completely different technique that stretches the erector spinae muscles laterally. Once again, we are mixing up the sensations and this loosens up the muscles beautifully. Remember, to drop your weight slightly when you do this to hook onto the muscle and the lean your body weight into it to pus across the back laterally. As you are on the side of the muscle, you are still perpendicular to it and if you hook and push the muscle you will give the recipient another wonderful massage experience that is different from everything that you have done before this.

Just like a cat clawing on her bed-or your lap- this feels wonderful as you approach the person from the front now, which again gives them a different sensation, and you knead their trapezius muscles. You should angle your pressure at a 45 degree(more or less) towards the midline so that you are perpendicular to the muscles. You the flats of your fingers to pull up on the upper back muscles as you do this as well.

Whilst we are working front the front of the person this is the ideal time to use your forearms and give your hands a rest. Work your way from the base of the neck and don't go too far laterally towards the shoulder as you will hit on bone on the top of the shoulder. Also, when you are starting, use your forearm with your palm facing downwards so that your ulna (forearm bone) does not come into play. Do this technique slowly and deliberately and lean your weight down onto them. When you are close to the neck  angle your pressure more towards the midline so that you are perpendicular to the muscle.

Now, if you have a person in a normal chair like I do you gently ask the person to sit upright and help them by guiding them with your hands pulling them slowly and gently to an upright position in their seat. This now allows you to access their neck. Make sure that you have your hand on their forehead on come beneath the hair so that you don't have your hand on top of their hair squashing it against their forehead because that feels horrible. If you are massaging someone in a massage chair then you do not need to do any of this. You leave them with their head in the head rest and do the same massage techniques as I show in this lecture

Now we do the arms, forearms and hands. Make sure that you use good from pressure through the forearms and hands. It feels fantastic.

When it come to doing percussion please make sure that your wrists are loose and that you are not pounding them. You have relaxed your client into oblivion, they are now in seventh heaven, the last thing they need now is to get a pummeling. By keep your wrists loose and keeping the though that these are more like tapping rather than banging you will be stimulating their body and it will be the perfect end to a fabulous massage experience! Then after the percussion, do the soft feathery butterfly stroke that will tingle for them and have them completely blissed out! Job well done!

Here is a sequence that can be done in a corporate environment or for someone that just wants to get a back and neck massage when you don't have a full 40 minutes. You will see that this has a brisker pace to be slightly more stimulating so you that they will be still able to work after it. This will have them feeling fantastic and re-energized.. it is a combination that I used for years on thousands of people. Practice it and they will be putty in your hands. You can download the PDF file to look at so that you can remember the sequence

This is a sequence that I think is perfect for corporate massage or just if you want to give someone a wonderful 15 minute chair massage.

Here you get to use all of the techniques. It is a slower more relaxing pace that will have your recipient melting in your hands.

Are you ready? Ok, now that you have learnt all of the techniques I will take you through the whole sequence. You can watch this as you do the massage. I will not talk you through this anymore. This is the time to practice what you have learnt so lets start the music as you do your massage. Good luck!

There are many things that you should do and also avoid that will make the experience for your recipient so much better.

Now this may seem like a little thing, but it really does make a huge difference to your recipients experience of the massage

If you are new to massage, I just want you to be aware that there are certain areas that are more sensitive and other areas that can take a lot more pressure, quite often more pressure than most people would think.

So you want to relax the person but it may not be good if you get them too relaxed if they are at the workplace. here is what you need to do.

Getting feedback is so important as you begin doing massage.

How many times I have seen this and it is so bad. Please make sure you do not do these things when you are doing your massage

Well, it was an awkward moment but I had to do it.

If you want to get a little bit into the yin/yang Traditional Chinese Medicine theory then you can start your massage on the side relevant to balancing their energies related to males and females. This is what they would do in T.C.M

You have spent your time and energy massaging the person, don't become the disappearing therapist

Here is a massage chair that I think is really good if you wanted to go out and earn money using a massage chair.

Here is a great little device that I didn't know existed. Here is something that could come in very handy for home use or at the workplace if you are doing corporate massages at companies like I was and they don't have room for a complete massage chair

Chair massage is such a great thing for massage therapists to have in their repertoire. Here is why every massage therapist should have chair massage in their skill set. I have also added a corporate contract form for you

Chair massage has so many advantages over massage on a table, it could just be the perfect form of massage. Here I go through many of the advantages of doing and getting chair massage

You MUST drink water after a massage to DETOXIFY-NO YOU DO NOT. One of the biggest myth perpetuated by some massage therapists all over the World. I was also taught this in massage school. We need to stop telling our massage clients this

Congratulations! You have finished the course. I hope that you have enjoyed my course. You are now fully equipped with the skills do do fabulous chair massages.