The new art of massage : an expert guide to modern and ancient techniques and principles

284 Pages·2015·16.23 MB·English

by  Ferrara

To all the people who feel that massage is like art and who help others live with energy, love, and a higher
conscience.
C
ONTENTS
Prologue
THEORY
The Psychology of Holistic Massage
The Seven Bodies
Essence and Existence
The Seven Chakras: The Disks of Awareness
The Seven Chakras
How Energy Problems Somatize
Pain in the Body: Finding the Cause
Principles of Energy
Touch
The Body: The Magical Creation
The Skeletal System
The Circulatory System
The Nervous System
The Muscular System
The Internal Organs
Principles of Each Method
Shiatsu
Tantric Massage
Reflexology
Sensitive Massage
What Does Each One Do and How Do They Differ?
Practicing Holistic Massage
The Therapist’s Training and Wisdom
Purification Program for Holistic Therapists
Sequence of Yoga Asanas
The Six Qualities of a Good Therapist
Couples’ Meditation
Beginners and Professionals
Spiritual Openness
Do-In: The Self-Massage
Elements of a Massage
Physical Comfort
The Environment: Stimulation of the Six Senses
Specific Oils
Disorders and Their Treatments
PRACTICE
Zen Shiatsu
Qi Energy
Kyo and Jitsu: Deficiency or Excess of Qi
Ways to Apply Pressure
The Five Elements
Basic Shiatsu Techniques
Techniques for the Sacrum and Sciatic Nerve
The Pain Relief Trilogy
Zen Shiatsu Points to Target Specific Problems
Hara: Center of Vital Energy
Shiatsu on the Face and Head
The Keys to Zen Shiatsu
Working the Points on the Upper Back
The Meridians and Their Points
Tantric Massage
The Big Bang: Rain of Light on the Cells
The Seven Principles of Tantric Massage
1. The Principle of the Body
2. The Principle of Movement and Dance
3. The Principle of Breathing
4. The Principle of Fire and Arousal
5. The Principle of Pleasure and Love
6. The Principle of the Union between Shiva and Shakti
7. The Principle of Silence, Ecstasy, and Unity
Harmonization of the Chakras
Massaging the Chakras on the Feet
Tantric Massage for Couples
Chakra Points on the Body
Reflexology
The Benefits of Reflexology in the Body
Map of the Foot
Foot Massage Techniques
Tips for before and after the Session
Sensitive Massage
Basics of Sensitive Massage
Sensitive Massage for Different Types of People
Techniques for Different Personality Types
Epilogue
P
ROLOGUE
Completing this book gives me great satisfaction. It is a work that spans nine
years of learning, studying, and teaching the art of massage.
At a time when our bodies are suffering from stress, poor posture, and
disorders, this book offers a wise and intelligent perspective to care for our
physical beings. It is for beginners in the quest for valuable knowledge, as well as
for advanced professionals seeking to reinforce and learn new methodologies for
healing.
Massage can be thought of as a lifestyle, where living is geared towards
enjoying pleasure, comfort, and health as our most natural state.
Massage helps us discover that inside the body there are organs, muscles,
bones, and more, but there are also emotions and feelings, thoughts and ideas,
wishes and life desires. Massage gives us more to think about, exchanging
intellect for direct personal experience, using touch instead of the mind, and
valuing silence instead of words.
Through this book, you will gain in-depth knowledge of important secrets
about human beings, and you will be able to combine love and art with energy
and wisdom. It is a journey through our holistic surroundings: body, energy,
emotions, thoughts, and spiritual insights. It will inspire you to work with your
hands and chakras, breath and soul, where the recipient and the giver are divine
instruments.
Today there is huge amount of information available regarding spiritual paths,
natural therapies, and self-knowledge techniques, and this book is written to get
you to take the first step towards your personal evolution or give you additional
ideas if you have already begun to move in that direction.
Throughout my travels and career teaching different paths of personal growth
(such as yoga, tantra, massage, and meditation), I noticed that massage therapy is
what gets most people’s interest. And this should not come as a surprise given
that many generations have been prohibited from learning through touch;
children are often told “do not touch that.” But now it is time for us to touch,
feel, perceive, and awaken.
Massage is the contact between body and soul, it is a journey of
transformation that goes from a state of tension to that of complete relaxation
and, in some cases, astral experiences, and energizing the chakras.
I hope you enjoy what these pages have to offer; it is a pleasure to share this
knowledge to enrich your life and that of all who give and receive a massage.
It is an invitation to travel from the hands to the soul . . .
GUILLERMO FERRARA, Barcelona, 2001
T
HEORY