Holistic Massage - What is it?

(This is Part One of a two-part article by Andy Fagg, published in Massage World magazine in November 2002.)

Introduction

Many massage therapists describe their work as “holistic massage”. Yet this term is often used in a vague and woolly way, which can prove damaging to the reputation of massage therapy as a whole. Even the constitution of the Massage Training Institute (MTI) blandly defines holistic massage as “nurturing touch involving the whole person”. Other sources talk of “holistic massage affecting all levels, including physical, mental, emotional and spiritual”.

It is difficult to take exception to these worthy phrases - but what do they actually mean? As a client looking for a “holistic massage”, how can I be sure that I will get the massage I want and need, both in terms of the quality of the experience and the range of techniques used? As a practitioner, how can I be sure I will attract the clients I want to work with? We all need to understand what we mean here.

I believe the term “holistic massage” conceals a rich complexity of work. Many massage therapists and teachers work in this manner, upholding a long tradition of high quality and sensitive touch therapy. I seek here to fill out this picture of what holistic massage is, both in a historical and present day context. I hope this will provoke a debate in the massage community. Only by clarifying what it is we do can we stand proudly for the standards of that work.

What is the “Whole” in “Holistic”?

I like the word holistic, although recognise that many people object to its “holiness”; indeed, I know some practitioners who insist in spelling the word “wholistic”. To my mind, the significance of the word “whole” in this context is that I not only work with the “whole” client but also I bring the “whole” of myself to the massage situation. Massage in essence is about sensitive communication through the medium of touch. At the moment of placing my hand on a client’s body, a range of physiological responses can occur, affecting the skin, the sensory nerve receptors, the muscle tissue, the circulation of blood and lymph, the ease of movement of joints, the digestion and so on. My skill as a holistic massage therapist, varying the depth, speed and intention involved in the touch, helps to determine which response occurs.

Yet there is great deal more than this. Our emotions are body felt sensations. Consider when you have experienced familiar feelings such as anger, fear, shame and joy. Each of these is fundamentally a physical response and experience as result of the situation you were in. When I touch your body, I am literally in touch with your feelings. Also, our bodies embody our conscious and unconscious belief systems about ourselves. If you believe yourself to be a confident, outgoing person, you will carry myself in a certain way, your muscles will develop particular patterns of tension and relaxation and you will present a particular appearance to others. If you believe yourself to be insignificant and unimportant, the posture and muscle patterning will appear very different. Whatever your self-belief, when as a holistic massage therapist I touch you, I am literally touching your view of yourself and the feelings that help to maintain that view. Of course, that view is likely to be the product of all you have experienced to date - so that when I touch you, I am in touch not only with who you are now but also with all of your personal history to that moment.

In that moment of touch, not only are all your physical and emotional responses present, but so are mine. I cannot help but bring to the massage situation my physical symptoms, my feelings and experiences and my personal history. As a holistic massage therapist, my professionalism means that I will take care of myself elsewhere, but also that I may draw on my own history as appropriate in order to assist your individual process. It means that I may develop an expertise in working with particular clients because their experiences and needs relate to my own. So the range of possible responses in a particular session is enormous, bringing together the rich complexity of who you are, who I am and how we connect through the medium of touch.

As human being, we are physical entities. Part of the deal of the human condition is that each of us has a body! Yet we have a culture and generations of conditioning that try to marginalise the body, teaching us to be ashamed of its size, shape and functions. Many of us are not properly “embodied”. We have been taught by families, advertising media, partners and our own inner critics that our bodies are not good enough. The role of the holistic massage therapist is both radical yet simple, namely enabling people to live fully in their bodies. That’s it! My work in essence is as simple yet profound as helping others to celebrate their physicality.

Historical/Cultural Considerations

Our approach to holistic massage today can be seen as a natural evolution from different massage traditions in both eastern and western cultures, over many years. Specific influences from the 20th century include;

the development of Swedish Massage by Heinrich Ling;
the growth of the personal development and human potential movement. In particular, the meditative style of massage developed at the Esalen Institute in California is often seen as the birthplace of present-day holistic massage;
a growing awareness of stress as a major factor in health and illness;
the growth in complementary therapies generally;
the influence of physically based personal development disciplines such as yoga, Tai Chi and martial arts;
increasing demands for massage therapists to adapt to a clientele in varied states of health, physical fitness and emotional stability;
the growing importance of practitioner self-awareness as an integral part of the massage, drawing here on therapeutic models such as counselling and psychotherapy.

Fundamental to my work as a holistic massage therapist is my ability to adapt and respond to the unique needs of each client, to “customise” my treatment accordingly and also to take proper care of myself. I shall examine these factors at greater length in my second article.