Shadowing Practice: Deep Tissue Massage Basics: Working with the Whole Body - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hi, everyone.
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Hi, everyone.
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I'm Ian Harvey, massage therapist.
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This is the second video in this series on deep tissue massage basics.
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Last time we talked about how to make contact, how to apply pressure.
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This time we're going to talk about how to work with the whole body in a three-dimensional way.
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If you'd like to skip ahead to the demonstration or to any other part of this video, click down in the table of contents.
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For me, part of deep tissue massage is working with the whole body in a meaningful way.
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It's working broadly, because I feel like just working with what's most available and what's easiest is a superficial way of interacting with the body.
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When I think deep, I think profound.
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A profound way of working with the body is coming at it from a lot of different angles and from different positions, and just acknowledging that entire human.
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Something that I want to avoid as a massage therapist is leaving my client feeling cut up into pieces.
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This is your bad shoulder.
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This is your good shoulder.
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Instead, I want them to leave with a new sense of interconnectedness.
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I want them to feel connected, not dissected.
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To do that, I use long flowing strokes, and I make sure to consider the three-dimensionality of the body, the fact that this chest connects to the scapula, the fact that the anterior pelvis connects to the posterior pelvis, and that all these parts work together.
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If we work with a client in a way that doesn't acknowledge that three-dimensionality, it can feel like a very flat massage.
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So today, once we get a client on the table, we're going to talk about how to increase that feeling of connectedness and to increase that feeling of three-dimensional work, not just of the work we do, but the way that we move their body.
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So I've got Shelby here with me today.
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I've got some jojoba oil as well.
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I always forget to mention that.
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When I'm working with a body and I'm doing deep tissue and I want it to feel profound, what I don't want to do is just work with the areas of the body that are most accessible.
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A mistake that I see sometimes is over focusing on these erector muscles along the spine because they are accessible and because they tend to be an area that people like to have worked.
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I want to get away from just this one area of the body.
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I definitely want to do work along the spine, but this time I'm going to draw up along both sides of the torso, creating some fascial traction along the sides of the lumbar region, along the sides of the thoracic region, and including the cervical and occipital region.
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Basically, with most of my strokes, especially my introductory ones and the ones that I use to reintegrate the body, I want to thoroughly contact everything that's available to me, not just what's easiest to contact, not just those erectors.
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For instance, as I'm working with this leg, it might be tempting to just work with this most accessible region, but there's all sorts of excellent stuff, excellent contact that can be made with the lateral calf and the lateral thigh.
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That might mean sinking down further into my stance.
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I connect my body weight with the table so that it takes some of that pressure off my back.
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Then I give the rest of that body weight to this mother hand and to this working hand, allowing me to not feel any stress on my back at all.
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Being low like this and being anchored into the table, being anchored into my side allows me to redirect my pressure to those less frequently accessed areas.
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My second tip for working with the body in a three-dimensional way is, even when I'm working with these areas that aren't normally touched or when I'm working with the areas that are more frequently contacted, I don't want to work with them in a two-dimensional way.
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I don't want to just go in this one direction.
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That can become a little monotonous, and there are more stimuli that we can be giving to these parts of the body.
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As I'm working, I don't want to just work up and down, up and down.
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I want to introduce some rotation, some ringing.
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I want to do some lifting, showing the body what it's like to have this muscle lifted away from the underlying structures.
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As I compress into this IT band region, I can direct some of my pressure inward, creating some fascial torsion.
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That brings me to my third point, which is that we can use the movement of the body to tell the client more about how this body is put together, to tell them more about the three-dimensional dynamic nature of their body.
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So, as I'm working with this upper leg, I can be introducing some movement just by rocking down here at the calf.
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And you can pick up parts of the body and move them as you work.
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Sometimes when I'm working with this hip, I'm right near that SI joint, I like to create some movement at the femur just by rotating in and out using this low leg as a lever.
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You can do this while working with the hip.
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You can do this while working with that IT band, creating some rotation as you travel.
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You can change the muscle as you're working on it just by manipulating this limb.
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Right now, I'm doing kind of a moving pin and stretch for these hamstrings.
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Just having a limb in a different position as you work on it can make that work feel different.
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Just if you want to add some variety, pick that limb up as you work with it.
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Finally, work with body parts that don't receive a lot of specific attention.
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I can't tell you how happy I am when I go and get a massage and they specifically acknowledge my scapula.
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There's so much good stuff here.
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There's so much good musculature and good fascia to work with.
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There's infraspinatus.
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We can come around to the side and work specifically with these teres muscles.
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We can dip in just above that spine of the scapula and work with supraspinatus.
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Just in general, other places that tend to get just the tiniest bit of contact.
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I'm talking about the hips, making sure to work with the SI joints, the feet.
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The feet can sometimes get 30 seconds of work, which is always just intensely disappointing for me as a client.
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The chest, especially outlining the areas along the clavicles, even things like the scalp and face.
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That's not something that you need to include with every massage, but it can be something refreshing.
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It can be something new for that client.
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If a client comes in asking for stress relief, for work with their anxiety, make sure to make contact with that scalp.
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Make contact with the abdomen.
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Work specifically with those areas of the body that are very frequently either skipped, or just given the tiniest bit of contact.
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By acknowledging those areas of the body, by working with them in a dynamic way,, with the sides of the body and by working with even these areas that receive frequent contact, by working with them in ways other than just up and down, you can tell the client the story of their body.
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They can leave this massage feeling more interconnected than how they came in.
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They can have a greater feeling of connection to any part of their body that might have some pain.
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All right, guys.
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That was my second deep tissue massage basics video.
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If you like that one, you might like the first one, which you can see up in a little bubble there.
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Thanks to all my Patreon supporters.
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You guys allow me to do what I do and to teach on my own terms.
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I really appreciate it.
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If you'd like to see what the whole Patreon thing is about, you can click on the link down in the description.
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Let me know what you think.
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Let me know what you'd like to see next.
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Consider subscribing, and I'll see you next time.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, learners will gain insights into the techniques used in deep tissue massage, focusing specifically on working with the whole body in a three-dimensional manner. You will practice the art of expressing interconnectedness during the massage process, which goes beyond superficial contact. Key concepts include how to utilize body positioning to create depth in your work, how to engage different areas of the body, and how to introduce various movements during a massage. This lesson is not just about learning massage techniques; it's about understanding how language can articulate these complex interactions in a health and wellness context, enhancing both English speaking practice and your ability to discuss bodywork concepts effectively.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Deep Tissue Massage - A type of massage that focuses on deeper layers of muscles and connective tissues.
  • Three-Dimensional Work - Engaging with the body from multiple angles and positions.
  • Interconnectedness - The quality of being connected or related to different body parts.
  • Fascial Traction - A technique used to stretch the fascia surrounding muscles.
  • Scapula - The shoulder blade; an important area in bodywork.
  • IT Band - Iliotibial band; a key area often focused on during massage.
  • Rotation - A movement technique applied during massage to enhance tissue engagement.
  • Limbs - Arms and legs; used in various techniques during massage.

Practice Tips

To effectively enhance your English speaking skills while learning from this lesson, consider using a shadowing app like Shadowspeaks. This tool can help in mimicking the speaker's tone and pace, which is crucial as you practice. The transcript of this video is delivered with a calm yet informative tone, so focus on replicating that as you shadow. Start by listening to small sections of the video, pausing to repeat phrases aloud. This technique is particularly beneficial for IELTS speaking practice, where fluidity and expression are essential.

As you navigate through the content, pay attention to how specific vocabulary is used in context. Practice incorporating these phrases into your discussions about wellness and massage. This will not only enrich your vocabulary but also bolster your confidence in talking about specialized topics. Remember, shadow speech is a powerful method to solidify your language skills while learning practical knowledge.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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