Are you getting a name for yourself because of your deep pressure massage?
Or do your clients come to you because you’re the only one who can get that tight spot?
Yeah, well, how ya feeling?
Shoulder a little iffy?
Neck tight?
Fingers numb?
Thumb aching?
If so, there’s a good chance that you’re doing more work than you need to be doing.
A while back my elbow hurt. My fingers tingled. My neck burned. And my shoulder was major crunchy.
It was a rough time for me. I needed to figure out a new way to do deep pressure massage or find a new career.
As I experimented with new ways (for me) to do deep pressure, like lowering my table and shortening my stroke, I discovered something else that was contributing to my pain: I was working a lot harder than I needed to be working.
If you pride yourself on bringing it, then you probably don’t think twice about fully exerting yourself with each deep pressure client.
The question is: Do you need to be bringing it 100% of the time with each deep pressure massage client?
No.
There’s wiggle room with deep pressure.
In other words, at times during a deep pressure massage you may only need to bring 80%.
Have a few deep pressure back-to-backs and that 20% means a lot.
Deep Pressure Wiggle Room
I discovered the deep pressure wiggle room when using massage tools.
Massage tools made delivering precise deep pressure really easy. So much so that I could relax my body.
In such a relaxed state I started to wonder how much pressure did I
actually need to deliver to keep my deep pressure client happy?
So I started to back off my pressure at times.
Guess what happened?
Nothing.
Huh…I had thought that deep pressure was an all or nothing phenomenon, but my clients’ reactions (satisfaction with the pressure) when I did NOT bring it all the time told a different story.
Deep pressure wasn’t and on/off light switch. It was more like a dial.
Between a certain range, like 80% exertion (application of force) and 100% exertion, I could play.
By the way, I don’t work hard even at 100% application of force. Here’s how I deliver pressure with minimal effort.
So how do you experiment with the deep pressure dial and not lose clients?
1. Take time to accurately figure out the deep pressure requirement of the client.
Some clients don’t actually want your 100% deep. They may actually want your 75% deep or 85% deep.
This is easy to figure out with new clients. First, talk to the new client about pressure.
Then on the table figure out what pressure feels best to him.
This is when you can really start to dial in your deep pressure. Let’s say Wil is on your table.
Using your “I’m giving it all she’s got, Captain” (100% deep) pressure as a mental reference point, dial your pressure down to 80% to start the massage.
How does that feel, Wil?
You can go deeper.
You turn the pressure dial up t0 90%.
A little too much, Wil says.
You dial it down to 85%.
Perfect.
But that’s a new client. What about old clients who want deep pressure massage?
Can you dial back your pressure on them?
Why yes you can.
You just need to…
2. Test “less pressure” in areas where expectations aren’t 100% deep.
Linda, a client of 20-ish years, liked deep pressure in her upper thoracic and lumbar erectors.
For the nearly 1000 massages I had done 100% deep over her entire back–but then when I got injured I needed to try something different.
Here’s what I did. In the areas that Linda loved deep pressure (upper and lower back), I gave her my 100% deep.
But in the areas that were not on her radar, like mid- and lower thoracic back, I backed off my pressure to 75 – 80% .
And it worked.
My body was happy and Linda never asked for deeper pressure in the non-primary areas.
At this point I have to tell you that I’m a little nervous for my long-term, deep pressure MTs who are reading this article.
Because even if what I say resonates with you, here’s what’s going to happen next: You’re going to do your next deep pressure massage at 100%.
Why do I know this?
Because that’s who you are.
You’ve identified yourself with deep pressure (100% all in). And you don’t want to lose that identity–even for a couple of seconds–by going to light and having someone ask you go to deeper.
Let me save you a case of cervical radiculopathy.
You can still be Helen-The-Great-Deep-Pressure-Massage-Therapist without going 100% deep all the time.
- At the beginning of the massage figure out the kind of deep pressure the client actually wants.
- Then experiment in non-primary, deep pressure areas to see if you can dial back the pressure some.
Can you be an expert with deep pressure fast and for cheap and get CEU credits for it?
Yes.
Go here.
