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Intuitive Hands of Healing
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History of Massage, in Brief |
Mark E. Raymond, CMT {03.13.2005(second version); 05.08.2006(third Version)} |
| Human contact is an essential need of life. It has been documented by psychotherapist that a human being can not live a long life without the touch of another human. A child who lives with minimal contact, touch of another human, tends to be ridden with many illnesses along with depression. Massage Therapy and Bodywork can not be compared to the power created by the touch of two people who love each other. It is not as ethereal as love. Massage Therapy and Bodywork has more of a medicinal and physical effect on the being. Massage Therapy and Bodywork is in many ways the most primitive and needed form of healing, which I feel has been with us since before the written word. Some of the first books writing have mention of the benefits to therapeutic touch. It can be traced to "The Cong Fou of Tao-Tse", (a book from the Chinese culture dated 3000bc) saying that the Chinese used a method of massage for treating disease and maintenance of health. Hypocrites, the fore father of western medicine, introduced massage therapy as an essential aspect to the healing process. He stated that by applying medicinal herbal remedies using a technique now known as effleurage (long flowing strokes massaging in the direction of the heart) the healing time decreases. He also mentioned that when using an effleurage technique he noticed an increase of circulation of a persons body fluids. Massage Therapy, is an important part of the solution to the question of what can we do to promote longevity and good health for ourselves. The United States is one of the few places in this world which has only started to incorporate Massage Therapy and Bodywork into a daily regimen. Many countries in Europe as well as, Asia, Middle East, Mediterranean, and Australia have used Massage Therapy to maintain healthy life styles and work through various physical ailments since before the Roman Empire. Massage Therapy became shunned in the United States around 1920 as a result of the "modernization of medicine". The term Massage Parlor was used more to refer to dwellings of sexual pleasures. In United States social pressure deterred people from Massage Therapy and directed them towards more "conventional" means to become healthy. Mechanical devises were replacing Massage Therapist.
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Intuitive Hands of Healing |
| It was not till the early 1970s and late 1960s that massage was being reintroduced. Once again Massage Therapy was being used in the United States for its healing abilities. It has only been since the mid 1980s when Massage Therapy started to regain its place in the medical community. In the 1900s Massage Therapy started to combine techniques such as "Swedish Massage", "Acupressure", "Russian Deep Tissue Massage", and "Tshanpau". The use of the understanding of energy fields which surround and are a crucial part of the life force of the body has been incorporated into mechanical techniques. The blending of the two aspects of Massage Therapy is the foundation of Polarity Therapy and other similar techniques. It has become in the past 30 years common place for massage therapist to integrate various techniques of massage and bodywork. In the nineteen sixties eastern bodywork became popular in United States. It was during this time that a change in Massage Therapy occurred. People moved away from the limitations they had placed upon themselves. No longer following a more strict practice in Massage techniques. As Massage Therapist moved away from staying within the guidelines of the modality they were taught in they ventured to learn other modalities. As Massage Therapist and Bodyworkers learned multiple modalities they strived to combine the techniques they found to be most effective first for themselves, then for their clients and later combining techniques which best help to address the ailment presented to them.
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Intuitive Hands of Healing |
| It has been in the past fifteen years where schools of Massage Therapy and Bodywork have ventured out and teach multiple modalities to their students at the same time. Prior to this Massage Practitioners would go to multiple schools to learn different modalities. The majority of Massage and Bodywork Schools taught only one modality and if a practitioner was interested in learning more then one technique (modality) they would have to attend many different schools. In the last five years clients of Massage and Bodywork have sought out Massage Therapist and Bodyworkers less for the modality under which they practice. Clients seek out Therapist more for their abilities and effectiveness to heal and address specific issues. This may be a trend present more in the New England area then else where. I am more aware of the trends for Massage Therapy and Bodywork of the New England area and therefore can not make this assessment from a personal perspective outside of the area I maintain my practice. I have been told of this trend occurring elsewhere in the United States and therefore feel that I can make this statement with confidence that indeed it is a trend of Massage and Bodywork within the United States. I shall conclude here noting that in the past two years Massage Therapy has become more accepted amongst the western practitioners of "Modern Medicine". Insurance companies are allowing people funds to use Massage Therapy as apart of the healing cycle for many ailments. I feel that there will be a separation of the two fields of medicine for still quite some time. It will remain this way because Massage Therapy and Bodywork are not a field where Scientific studies can at this time qualify that the results of massage therapy and bodywork are fully owed to what occurs during a session. I do feel that as scientific tools for measuring results become more advanced there will follow a greater acceptance of how beneficial Massage Therapy and Bodywork amongst the scientific community. Mark Edwin Raymond, CMT May 08, 2006 |
Mark Raymond, CMT |
| Publications of possible interest:
"Job's Body" ; Polarity Therapy (Vol. 1) (Vol. 2), Dr Randolph Stone, D.C., D.O.; "Milady's Theory and Practice of Therapeutic Massage" |
Intuitive Hands of Healing 38 Park Place, Suite 4 Brattleboro, VT 05301 (802).275.8697 |
