The Law of Inertial Mass in Massage

When I first began massage therapy I had a hard time with giving deep pressure. After about a year of struggle with this problem, using tools that began hurting my hands, and starting to get fatigued; I decided it was time to see if I can learn techniques for increasing the depth that I can reach with my pressure. Luckily I had a connection with a person in California who practiced Traditional Chinese Medicine and Massage with years of experience.

When the first lesson I learned was using my elbows to push deep into the clients body. This worked for some time, but I noticed I was having more back, neck, and calf pain than usual, because I had to bend over and push with my feet more than previously. I was doing better at creating deeper pressure but I was still on the hunt for finding depth in muscles without exerting too much force and draining myself. I then reconnected with a Mentor that I had met through family friends, who I met when I first started school.

This Mentor practiced more in Structural Integration, reading the body from head to toe and finding imbalances to address. The work is generally clothed, slow, and yet very profound. I started experiencing the biggest shifts in my body as I continued to work with her. She began to teach me some of the techniques which I tried to put into practice. Two to three years later I began to understand more, and consistently hear from other therapists, that the best work comes from allowing the body to let you in.

Recently I was studying some Myofascial Therapy from the late, great Erik Dalton. In his online E-course on Dynamic Lower Body > Supine Position > Ilium Spring Test he puts a name to this technique that I had been practicing these past few years. He pointed out that it is the Law of Inertial Mass. He describes it like this; imagine you are in a boat trying to push off the dock with a paddle. It is less effective to "come running at it and giving a big push to move outwards, yet if you put the paddle on the dock and lightly, but consistently apply pressure, you can travel faster and further with time".

Overall I find it is much easier to open clients muscles and create a change or rebalance in the body when we first apply a little bit of pressure, stay with it and let the client's breathing and body to let us open the stuck area up for them. It is much more effective than placing a hand on, trying to push down and lifting back up. For my learning massage therapists, I hope this helps you create more depth and healing with your clients. For future clients, I'm looking forward to trying this technique on you and allowing you to feel the effects.

Thank you.