Californian massage and other massage techniques: 9 differences

 #1  50% is on you

The effects of the massage do not depend only on the masseur. Your openess through breathing means at least 50%. When there is a good bond and surrender to what arises, sessions can become ecstatic.


 #2 It's not about enduring but to go through

We are constantly  swinging between the pain-pleasure polarity. Usually the more pain I can breathe, the more pleasure I can hold and the more powerful the session is.

You don't have to put up with, resist or endure anything. It is about finding the threshold of pain that you can BREATHE so that this stagnant energy expands and can circulate throughout the body.

We look for the right intensity for you. On the massage table you will always have time, space and support to discover yours. The ultimate goal is to expand your ability to breathe what is happening and feel your body.

 
#3 We work at an energetic level

We work through the physical body, but with the necessary slowness and quality of touch we mobilize lots of energy. The more aware I am of the energy movement that occurs on the massag table, the more I focus on taking care of my own energy, sensitivity and intuition. For personal responsibility and professional commitment.

It is common to hear sentences like 'I have lifted a weight off me', 'my face has changed', 'I have gone through states of trance, light slumber...'. Those are the effects of your energy field and vibration rising to higher, more loving and compassionate frequencies. And far beyond.
 

#4 There is room for not knowing

Not knowing the reason why certain things happen or do not happen. Not knowing the answers to your questions or not being able to give a specific diagnosis.

There is always curiosity about your experience in the here and now, a lot of confidence in my hands, in your body and surrender to something greater that we do not control.
 
And at the same time we continue to train and cultivate our therapeutic style.
 

#5 Healing happens

Physical contact today is revolutionary: it is either scarce or hyper-sexualized. Through our hands and with our hearts available, healing happens.

We are mammals and since we are born we bond through contact. During the massage we often connect again with how beautiful life is, with the joy of inhabiting our body, with the deserving of love and affection among many other things.

This to me is healing and it is highly powerful. Allopathic medicine is necessary and important but it is not enough. I see more and more empowered people who take charge of their health.


#6 We are constantly monitored

When I speak of having an open heart, I mean being open to another human being. The massage table confronts you again and again and reflects your lights and shadows, gifts and limitations. How you deal with your limits, with challenging cases, with your likes and dislikes, with your sexuality and a long etcetera.

As a general rule, we are not going to deal with anything that we can not hold or that we have not gone  through before in some similar way. ¿How can I react with more love to what I previously reacted with fear?
 

#7 We trust the self-regulation of the body

Just as in Gestalt therapy, in Californian massage we trust in organismic self-regulation. The body tends to health naturally and spontaneously. We trust on our client's body and it's own process.

With a meditative and listening attitude on our side, it is the customer's own body that through the tone of the muscle tissue, their breathing or their own words communicates what their body needs.

The simple fact of bringing awareness to the different parts of the body, the quality of touch and the integration of the body as a whole is in itself healing.
 

# 8 It is a sensory-sensual massage

We understand sensuality as sensoriality. And the Californian massage is very sensorial. The long strokes, the quality of touch and the slowness make this a highly sensory massage: one that awakens the senses!
 
We alternate with deep, specific and also chaotic movements, but the pleasure of touch is very present in these sessions. The more we allow ourselves to feel this pleasure, the more available it is to our client as well.

We touch without fear and at the same time the limits are very clear on the massage table: starting with the opening chat, our work with the bed sheets and our attitude as therapists. 

This combination of intensity and stillness, of pain and pleasure (the limit is often fuzzy), normally leads us to states of trance and light sleep that are also profoundly healing in themselves.
 

#9 We don't get tired (that much)

We hardly work with muscular force but with the force of gravity. We move from our vital energy center and constantly ask ourselves: how can I be more comfortable?

We access the tissue effortlessly and above all without struggle. We are constantly inviting our customer to open gently and surrender.

When there is this opening and surrender the massage becomes a beautiful dance in which both of us end up lighter and more energised.

¿Are you up to trying it?