The Essential Massage Book

Book excerpt: Massage is the safe, effective, drug-free way to treat countless ailments and injuries, from headaches and sprains to chronic back pain. This fully illustrated guide gathers the most effective techniques of all the different systems in one easy-to-use volume. Comprehensively covering five basic approaches--whole-body techniques, localized massage and pressure techniques, massage for healing, massage for relaxation and stress relief, and massage for pleasure--it offers detailed instructions on every system, from traditional Chinese methods to shiatsu, reiki, aromatherapy, and reflexology. Also covered are self-massage, holistic massage, hand treatment, head massage, and the chakras.