How to Use Compression for a Swedish Massage

Video Transcript

MELISA BROWN: Hi, my name is Melisa Brown and I'm a licensed massage therapist here in Miami, Florida. I'm with U Need A Massage. In this clip, I'm going to be talking about compression in Swedish massage. Compression is very basic. It's what I say hello and goodbye with when I'm starting a massage. My hands are in a butterfly position. That means both my palms are just about together or my thumbs are together. And using the back foot, I'm going to be pressing in, and I'm just leaning in. I'm not using my shoulders. I'm not using my elbows. I'm just leaning in. And I'm very careful that I'm not hyperextending my wrists too much. You can give a whole massage just by compression. Maybe somebody feels very delicate or they are in a position where it's very sore where they can't take too many gliding strokes. This is just a very wonderful relaxing technique, and I can do the whole body this way. I can also do all the compressions with or without clothing. I don't need necessarily to have any type of oil on it. With the compression, I just go straight down with my hands and press and press. I'm pressing all the way down.