Most of us have some level of stress in our bodies. Stress can be physical or emotional. It can be the result of a traumatic event or can build up from everyday activities.
As time goes by we can get accustomed to the 'tense' state, thinking the tense state is normal or we are simply not aware of it. But with the 'tense' state comes fatigue, “depressed” moods, poor mobility, aches and pains, and other negative side effects.
Stress is stored in the muscles and other tissues and is known as tension. It can be held for days, weeks, months or years.
In Raynor Massage the muscles, tendons, ligaments and other tissues where tension is held are known as Raynor Bands. These bands connect the whole body from head to toe. Tension is typically anchored in the toes, fingers and head.
A Raynor massage places a lot of emphasis on the toes, feet, fingers, hands and head. All of these can anchor tension. Other important areas include the sacrum, hips and addressing joint mobilization. Other types of massage often neglect detailed work in these parts of the body.
Raynor bands can be traced in many parts of the body. The muscles making up bands with tension typically feel “hard” when pressed by the therapist and may feel sore to the client, whereas muscles with little or no tension typically feel “soft” when pressed and do not feel sore.
As an example of tracing tension in bands, take a client who has lower back pain (caused by a muscle strain). There are three bands on each side of the lower back. These run through the buttocks, down the back of the legs, along the sole of the feet and into the toes.
So we would check the tightness of the bands and see how sore they feel to the client, starting on the buttocks, then the back of the legs, then on the sole of the feet. Finally, we would see how flexible the toes are (stiff toes often indicate a lot of tension is present). If all the bands feel “hard” and/or sore when pressed then it is likely that the back pain is rooted in the feet (in particular the toes).
In this example, the massage would start with working on the relevant bands in the toes and feet where the tension is anchored. Once the tension is reduced, the bands on the back of the legs, buttocks and back would be worked, in that order, to loosen up the rest of the body. In this way the lower back pain should be reduced.
13th February 2023
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