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General Back Protocol: Beginning Effleurage and Petrissage Techniques, Part 1

An instructor from a massage school shows how to apply lotion and open a prone back massage with effleurage. He glides up both sides of the spine from a lunge, fans out round the shoulders and up the neck, then moves to the side of the table to work one side of the back more specifically before starting petrissage.

General Back Protocol: Beginning Effleurage and Petrissage Techniques, Part 1 · Soma Institute · YouTube

Video: General Back Protocol: Beginning Effleurage and Petrissage Techniques, Part 1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7VV-AFiRwU

Length5:09
RatingClarity 5/5 · Credibility 5/5 · Relevance 5/5
Faculty instructor from an accredited clinical massage school; clear camera work and step-by-step narration.
Coverstechniques/effleurage · techniques/petrissage · techniques/body-mechanics · muscles/trapezius · muscles/erector-spinae
Watchhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7VV-AFiRwU

Chapters

  1. 0:00 <Untitled Chapter 1>
  2. 0:20 apply about a quarter size amount of lotion into your hand
  3. 0:58 drawing your hands back out to the shoulders
  4. 1:03 scoop up the back of the neck almost really squeezing your fingers
  5. 2:14 step to the side of the table
  6. 2:42 prepare the tissue
  7. 4:22 place my forearm perpendicular to the spine

Key points

  • Start with a small amount of lotion warmed in your hands; you can always add more.
  • Glide up with open palms either side of the spine, leaning from a lunge; the return stroke has no pressure.
  • Fan out around the shoulders and scoop gently up the back of the neck.
  • Do not let your fingers go under or bend back over the drape at the lower back.
  • Work “general, specific, general” - warm the whole back, focus on one side, then blend again.