Unwinding with a Hand Massage at Rewind!

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#davidwattsmassage

#raynormassage

Warming up the hand at the beginning of the hand massage

Whilst queueing up on Sunday to get into the Henley-on-Thames Rewind Festival main arena I made good use of my time with a Raynor hand massage for my friend Charmaine. Charmaine was complaining that her hands were feeling stiff. Raynor massage involves a mix of western and eastern techniques with particular focus on feet and hands where tension (e.g. in the form of tight muscles) can be anchored.

Pointing out where tension is anchored

After warming up the hand to get the blood circulation going, I started on the fingers with a 'squeeze and twist' stroke along the length of the fingers and on all sides. This massages the Raynor bands of tension which extend down all sides of a finger with the anchor point being the tip of the finger.

Massaging bands of tension in a finger

Massaging bands of tension in a finger

Next I see whether there is any lateral movement in the finger joints. This can be an indication of how much tension is in the finger - if there is movement, that's good (a loose joint); if there is no movement, there could be a lot of tension present. A gentle rotation of the joints in both directions helps to loosen the joints.

Analyzing tension in finger joint with lateral movement

Rotating whole finger to loosen finger joints

The fingers are then tugged one-by-one, again to loosen the joints. If they click that's a good sound, indicating a loose joint!

Turning the hand over with palmer side up, I gently squeeze between the fingers/thumb to about half way down the hand. This massages the bands of tension between the metacarpals on the back of the hand and bands in the palm of the hand.

Finally for the hand, I press deeply into the fleshy parts of the thumb and little finger. A lot of people feel pain on the thumb side when it is pressed hard, indicating that the thumb is likely holding tension.

Having massaged the hand, bands of tension in the arm can be analyzed to see where tension is being held. Where lines up the arm feel consistently hard when pressed, and/or are sore/painful to the person, there is likely tension present. These lines can be traced back to the individual fingers/thumb which are responsible for anchoring the tension. These areas then become the focus in subsequent massage sessions.

Looking for tight bands in the arm

My friend Charmaine enjoyed the massage of her hands - they felt very different and much looser than before!

The Rewind Festival site

Main stage, Rewind Festival