How to Do Self Massage to Relax Yourself

by Nick Mutt

Massage is a simple and natural way to attain and maintain good health and wellbeing. It helps to ease headache, insomnia, aches and pains, tension and stress. It improves circulation, aids digestion, relaxes muscles and speeds up the elimination of waste products.

You can easily learn to massage yourself. You can use self massage to energize yourself after a heavy work schedule or an outdoor journey. Use massage oil if you are massaging on bare skin to decrease the friction created on the skin and to prevent the pulling of hair.

Self massage - Face

1. Stroke all over your face and forehead.
2. Massage your temples with the fingertips of both hands.
3. Gently smooth over your eyelids from the inner to outer corners with your thumbs.
4. Press with your thumbs just below the inner eyebrow corner. Release then repeats. Do this three or four time.
5. Stroke down the side of your face to the jawline.
6. Pinch all along your jawline from ear to ear.
7. Finish face by repeating step 1.

Self massage - Chest

1. Still lying down massage up from between your ribs across to your shoulders
2. Gently press along your collarbone with your fingertips.
3. Stroke down between your breasts and out to the sides across the rib cage.

Self massage - Tummy

1. Stroke down from the solar plexus hand behind hand to your navel.
2. Stroke down from the solar plexus tracing your rib cage to your waistline with both hands.
3. With hands reinforced ‘iron’ in circle all over the abdomen with even pressure.
4. Squeeze up each side from your hipbones past your waist.
5. Rub backwards and forwards across your lower abdomen.
6. Repeat step 1.

Self massage - Shoulders and neck

1. Lying down massage across your upper chest and across and round your shoulders.
2. Turn your head to one side and work up your neck with your hand cupped. Repeat several times on both sides.
3. Work up between your shoulder blades to the base of your skull. Repeat several times.

Self massage - Legs

Sit on the floor with your legs out stretched. Bend your right leg at the knee.

1. Effleurage the front, then back, of your lower leg several times.
2. Friction rubs briskly up and down all over the front and back of the lower leg. You’ll soon feel the warmth this produces as it really whips up your circulation.
3. Work on the knee as in the step-by-step massage.
4. Lower your leg then effleurage the thigh.
5. Quickly rake up the thigh with your fingertips using both hands. This increases the circulation.
6. Squeeze and release along the inner thigh then the outer thigh.
7. Do diagonal stroking as in the step-by-step massage.
8. Finish with effleurage. Repeat on the other leg.

Self massage - Hips and buttocks

Lie on one side with your knees bent.

1. Stroke round from your hipbone to your coccyx (sitting bone) then down and round the buttock before finishing at the hip.
2. Squeeze and release on the buttock to improve circulation and tone muscle
3. Gently pinch all over buttocks
4. Finish by stroking the whole area.

Self massage - Back

You will need to sit upright for this one!

1. Reach around with both hands and starting below the waist work up as far as you can.
2. Try thumb pressures on your spine, if you can reach having your fingers pointing forwards. Pressing the lower back and sacrum (top of buttocks) area really relieves backache.
3. Alternatively try using a wooden back massage roller or wriggle around with your back against a rolling pin.

Self massage – Scalp

1. Massage your scalp as if shampooing your hair.
2. Lock your fingers on to your scalp and move it over your skull. These movements increase the blood circulation and done regularly will improve the condition of your hair.
3. Gently tug sections of your hair all over your head. Finish your self massage by lying down completely relaxing hands open at your sides and breathing deeply for a minute or two. Depending on which oil you have chosen you will feel deeply relaxed may be a little sleepy or invigorated and energized.