Pulling , pushing, hanging completely upside-down (or Batman style), stretching , massaging, relaxing and maybe flying ...

Mastering body awareness and partnership have never been more fun!

Using Suspension, Traction or Inversion of different parts of the body can transform a massage therapy session into complete bodywork bliss. The Yoga Wall props are used for their versatility AND as a lean-on or push-against silent partner for manipulating the body while it lengthens, stretches and opens. This enables the therapist first to ACCESS otherwise inaccessible body parts and second, to sustain his/her strokes or pulls for a longer time, increasing the flow of energy through the body, and facilitating a far more intense release that can't be achieved without the props' leverage.

Strategic anchoring of tissue with the practitioner’s foot, arm or other body parts while the client executes specific motions, delivers more extensive and longer lasting results. Bodywork and movement are inevitably intertwined. All Bodywork actions are delivered through movement forces and effects.The client is fully in charge of the session, and results are generally instantaneous and profound.

 Experienced bodyworkers discovered that using "a second anchor " or an additional leverage for the patient 's body allows them tremendous access to body parts that are not accessible at all when the patient is flat on the table/floor or in other positions. Examples are suspensory apparata of internal organs, deeply situated ligaments connecting large bones of the pelvis( sacrotuberous lig.), and joints deeply covered with soft tissue  ( acromio -clavicular joint, for example).

 The added lower muscle tone due to anti-gravity suspension allows working on already elongated and more relaxed muscle fibers. For example, positioning the long muscles of the back(erector spinae muscles ) upside-down allows more precise cross-fiber massage strokes.

Precision is, actually, the ultimate goal in therapeutic Bodywork.

Indications could be endless. Contraindications would be more interesting but, practically, the only limits would be the knowledge and creativity of the practitioner and the responsibility the client takes for his/her own health.

For athletes, an Upside-down-massage may be as good as a double-deep tissue massage, allowing for muscular and connective tissue release. For office workers, massage facilitated with the props will help in mobilizing and manipulatingareas such as shoulders, spine and joints.

Meanwhile, patients with injuries, such as neck and back problems, may find that massaging their inverted or suspended necks or backs provides quicker relief for their condition and liberates them from the limitations of "not deep-enough" or " not-precise-enough" attitudes toward the therapist's work.

And for those who have had surgeries for removal of pathological tissues (hysterectomy, gall bladder removal, bladder resections, stomach resections etc.) and have not undergone comprehensive post-surgical rehabilitation, anti-gravity massage is of great benefit as well. Using levers and angles to position the body toward gravity facilitates proper Visceral manipulations that help restore tissues’ normal function and prevent the sliding of organs and formation of post-surgical adhesions. 

But “Upside-down Massage” isn’t just for people with injuries or athletes– it’s a fun and rich bodywork that results in faster benefits for anyone who seeks the therapeutic power of deep yet precise, gentle yet firm, restorative yet very, very stimulating Bodywork.

 The Added benefit ( perhaps, the most important)- a new Body Awareness happens while the clients perceive stimulation from inside and outside. Having a body part suspended against gravity is perceived internally (stimulating interoception) having it manipulated through massage techniques is experienced externally (proprioception).

Both alter awareness.

At every level there is guidance.

Invite it, experience it, embrace it.