This Works Wonders 😲 Full Upper Body Neck, Arms & Scalp Massage Therapy for Ultra Relaxation!

This video is made possible by our loyal Patreon supporters. Visit patreon.com slash Psyche Truth. Hi, welcome. Today I'm going to be doing a neck, scalp, and arm massage and they all fit together very well and you will see how. I'm going to be working on the lovely Lauren and I'm going to go ahead and dive right in. So when I am working on someone face up, one of the first things that I look at is rounded shoulders and that's going to give me a pretty good idea of what's going on in the neck and what muscles might be a little bit tighter. Usually if somebody has more of a rounded shoulder, I'll definitely make a note of it and I know I need to work on the upper trap a little bit more. So I'll actually, you know, in, in the sessions that I do with clients, I will just be sure to set plenty of time aside for that. And it's, you can definitely work on the upper trap in this position, but not as effectively as when the person's face down. So sometimes when I'm working on a new client and they do have rounded shoulders, you can feel, you just naturally feel a little bit more exposed when you're face up. So I kind of like to start behind the table and as opposed to like starting with the arms, because you're kind of like hovering over your client a little bit. And I just like my, my client to be able to really just ease into the massage. And timing is really like interesting too. Like if I'm working on someone in the middle of the day on their lunch break, or if I'm working on someone when they finished work, like it's all just affects the dynamic of the massage. But really the goal is for my client to kind of step outside of time for an hour and just be able to really relax. And just, you know, throughout the neck part of the massage, I'm just kind of reminding these shoulders to relax towards the table, just roll back. And it usually feels really nice, just these compressive movements on the shoulder and dragging my hands up the back of the neck along the upper trap. It's just a really nice way to kind of create some really nice movement. And I'm going to start to just bring my fingers a little bit further down along the upper trap. And I'm going to start moving a little bit more slowly and just really bringing my, my focus upward. And as I draw my hands in and not trying to get, you know, a perfect hold on the upper trap. And I really enjoy when I'm giving a massage, I enjoy just integrating, you know, different techniques. So I, when I was first starting my massage practice, it would be like a little bit more like A to D or whatever. Like I had all these steps and I still do. I still like to be organized in my approach, but just it's more fun to work organically and kind of move from, you know, one thing to the next in a way where you're not overthinking it. Yeah. Just making sure I'm not going to get oil all over Lauren's hair and I'm going to go ahead. And sometimes when the shoulders are rounded, it's a sign that there's a lot of pressure being put on those suboccipitals. So I'll actually start my circular frictions. I'll start closer to the spine. So sometimes I'll start kind of, you know, below the mastoid process by the ear and work my way in. And in this case, I'm going to go ahead and start closer in and massage is not a one size fits all by any means. Every person is very unique. So just approaching all my sessions that way. And it is, I mean, it can be pretty easy to get distracted as a therapist. I mean, if you have a 60 or 90 minute session with somebody to be present that whole time, it does take, you know, a certain kind of commitment. And I just kind of, when I committed to like being fully present with each client, that's when I really started to, you know, get repeat clients and build rapport with people. So it definitely, it takes commitment, but it's worth it. I'm just taking my time with these suboccipitals and just kind of indirectly encouraging those shoulders to relax. And always with this kind of work, you want to make sure that your forearms are supported. If I were to try and do this with floating arms, it would be really exhausting. This is a really nice movement, this upward stroke. So just dragging my finger pads along that upper trap and into the suboccipitals can feel really good, can really help the shoulders relax. And I'm going to start working a little more locally. So sometimes with rounded shoulders, if there's tension in the suboccipitals, it's a sign that that occipitalis is on overdrive a little bit. So I will pay a little bit of attention to that occipitalis as well. The muscle tissue is pretty thin in the occipitalis, so I don't really need to think about doing deep tissue in the way that people are used to deep tissue, but putting the right amount of pressure and using the right technique can be really healing. But with rounded shoulders, forward head posture, that kind of thing, usually more focused on the suboccipitals. And it usually feels really nice if you go back and forth above and below that occipital ridge. I always give a little bit of attention to that mastoid process. So this is a really great angle for just starting to work in a little bit more detail. So just that upward stroke along that upper trap and into the suboccipitals, just one side at a time. And I'm making sure that Lauren's head is nice and supported so that she feels secure. And this is just a super basic technique, but super effective at the same time for working along this SEM and along the levator muscles. When I'm working, I'm usually more focused on doing deep tissue in the SEM than the levators. I really like using, you know, a broader surface area to work on those three levator muscles. And especially with rounded shoulders, the neck can be such a sensitive area to work that I don't want to make my client feel like they're trying to guard their neck with their shoulders. Just working on that SEM a little bit. I usually really like to do compressive work in the SEM, especially if it's really tight. So just doing a deep downward stroke doesn't usually feel as effective. So I just really like doing that trigger point work in here. I like to kind of go back and forth between different muscles, just reminding my client how connected everything is and always being sure to end with something that feels really nice. Never ending aside with deep tissue. And sometimes with a neck, because you're working in a smaller area, it can feel really nice to just like broaden your stroke a little bit and kind of bring the attention into the arm a little bit, back up the neck. Just kind of helps everything to feel more whole. And never turning the neck too fast. And whenever I'm doing this kind of neck work, I'm sure to find an angle that feels good to work from. So trying to do deep tissue on one side, being directly behind the table is not really that comfortable to say the least. So especially if I'm spending longer periods of time on each side, I am not expecting myself to do the exact sequence necessarily. It's going to be pretty similar, but I was talking about just working organically and really paying attention to how each side feels. So certain muscles might be tighter on one side. And I'm going to take a minute and thank some of our patrons. I'd like to thank Dave Stirr, Jonathan Ford, and Andrea Novak. Thank you all so much for your support. And honestly, like if you feel bored in your practice and you're bringing that kind of energy to your clients, like they're going to feel the same thing. So I would say if you are a therapist, like stay engaged, stay interested, keep learning new things. And there's a certain way of doing massage where like when you're really tuned in and when you're in flow, it's can be really fun to feel, you know, genuine movement happen with the client. So same thing, really starting with those suboccipitals closer to the spine and focusing on the upper trap and just being sure to really include those levator muscles. And especially when I'm starting to go in with more pressure, just making sure that I'm working from an angle that feels good for me. This is a muscle that's put into a really weird position with rounded shoulders. So this deeper work in here can feel really, really good. If not during, at least after. And sometimes if someone wants, you know, the majority of their massage time spent on neck, I will alternate between the two sides. I'm not a huge fan of overworking an area. And I know some therapists who will spend, you know, 30 minutes or 40 minutes just on, you know, this area. And that's great. It's just, I don't feel like I'm as effective when, when I try to approach it that way, really staying tuned into my client. If I, you know, just paying attention to those protective sort of behaviors, like rounding of the shoulders or whatever, it might just mean that I'm spending a little, lingering a little bit too long in a certain area or not communicating enough. I'm just ending that side with a nice, broad, relaxing stroke. Really bringing attention to the shoulder and the arm all the way into the neck can feel really nice. And just like a cat, I really like to just walk these shoulders out throughout the massage. And I really think it's important to do a technique that includes both sides after doing more detailed work on each side. And I'm going to go ahead and work my way into some scalp. And there's no better way than just kind of starting on that mastoid process after that neck work and just working my way around the ears and into the temples. So really working on the soft tissue with these compressive circles, and I'm going to start stimulating these nerve endings a little bit more in the scalp with this friction. And again, just making sure that my arms are supported and that can work more comfortably. And really just bringing this stroke across the whole scalp as much as possible, really starting to work my way into that frontalis muscle a little bit more. You can also do compressive circles if that feels more comfortable, some combination. And I did have a client once upon a time who he would sometimes request like 60 minutes of scalp, which I will say that was like not really the most fun. Like I love doing scalp, 60 minutes is a lot. And what are the most soothing techniques that you can do? I really enjoy doing this technique, just bringing your hands around the ears, just bringing the thumbs together. That was really nice. This was a great segue into working on the temples a little bit more. And I like to start my work on the temples with some movement and then kind of transition into just holding, being a little bit more still and holding these compressions can feel really nice. And I'm usually working with more than one finger, at least two fingers. And finally, I'm going to start working along that hairline. And I don't know what it is about this, but it feels so nice. And with this kind of work, if you're going to spend a little bit longer doing scalp, just, you know, staying present. And I love working on the forehead just because people can store so much tension in this area without even realizing it can feel really nice to work on this muscle tissue of the frontalis from different angles. And the muscle tissue is relatively thin, so you don't need to apply a ton of pressure for it to feel really good. This is also really good for preventing wrinkles in the forehead. I'm just moving back towards the temples. And if you're a novice, massage novice, and you don't feel like you know what you're doing, just rest assured that pretty much everything you do in this area is going to feel really nice. And it's really hard to get it wrong. But with this exception, you do need to just nice light pressure here, just relieving some pressure in those sinuses just below the eyebrow. And really moderate pressure underneath the eyebrow, back into the temples. This is one of the best things you can do to help your client they have sinus issues. And because it feels so good, I really like to end this kind of relaxation work with just those that movement across the hairline just feels so nice. And that is all for today. Thank you for joining us today, guys. If you enjoyed today's video, you should check out our Patreon channel where we have a lot of great content, and I look forward to seeing you there.