22 September 2018, 13.30 – 17.30

The Healthy Life Centre, Edinburgh

When babies are upset, we stroke and rock them to calm them down. Throughout life, people continue to respond to these two basic qualities. In massage sessions, we ‘stroke’ clients. This day covers a range of rhythmical rocking and rolling techniques which deliver rhythmical movement at the massage table to counter the stiffening-up effects of today's sedentary lifestyles. These techniques are an underused element of the massage ‘toolkit’. However, they offer an effective way of encouraging release and energising that enhances the effects of other massage techniques. The effects can be relaxing, stimulating or both, helping clients to release tension and to regain flexibility, and delivering a feeling of enlivening the body. We’ll cover techniques which can easily be blended into massage treatments. As well as rocking techniques for the whole body, there will be rhythmical stretches for the neck, shoulders and legs. Participants will be given practical guidance on how to work with the recipient’s natural body rhythms, rather than imposing an arbitrary rhythm (which can be quite jangling for the recipient). Darien Pritchard has been a bodyworker for over four decades. He trained massage professionals for 25 years, and has taught Professional Development courses for massage practitioners since the early 1990s. He is writing a book on Hands Free Massage and is preparing new editions of the student text Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology for Massage (2001/04) and his career-maintenance reference book Effective, Strain Free Massage (2007). Darien has been developing RhythmMobility® bodywork in his practice since the 1980s and teaching it for two decades. He combined and extended elements of massage and the Feldenkrais Method® with his love of rhythm (enhanced through dancing and playing music). Darien has also been a pioneer in ‘Hands Free’ Massage (the skilful, sensitive use of the forearms and elbows to save the practitioner’s hands).