When massaging someone experiencing pain, we should aim to provide them with a pleasurable day. Unfortunately, we have been trained to believe we should alleviate pain with pain. When we hurt, we might ask someone to rub us, then they dig their fingers in like ice picks, stabbing and jabbing with uncomfortable pressure. While in the moment the pressure may be a relief, afterwards it often leads to more discomfort. Today I’m going to teach you how to massage so you may guide others toward a state of peace and ease, without having to apply an uncomfortable degree of pressure.

To reach this level of understanding we will summarize the pain system. With this information you will be able to adjust how you massage, so you may help others feel wonderful as you help guide them away from their discomfort.

Lorimer Moseley, a pain neuroscientist says, “How you think about pain changes how it feels.” In my massage sessions I attempt to help my client reframe their understanding of pain, so they may have a relationship with it, instead of making it their enemy. The approach I use with my clients is the same as I have used for myself, and as of today, I am free of chronic pain. Life is bright and delightful, and I have the energy, will and drive to live life to the fullest. As someone who has endured chronic agony for nearly a decade, this approach helped me escape my strife, and replace it with a full, rich and rewarding life.

“Pain is not a measure of tissue health; pain is a protector.” Says Mosley. His research indicates that pain is used by the Central Nervous System to warn our body of injury. This helps us take the necessary steps to ensure we are safe and healthy. Unfortunately, sometimes our brain interprets the information it receives inaccurately. This may be from phantom pain after a limb has been amputated, when it hallucinates false pain in areas that are not injured, or when our discomfort is amplified due to stress or anxiety.

When someone is hurting we need to understand that the discomfort they are experiencing is due to a loving central nervous system. While it may seem like our body hates us when we are in agony, it is just being an overprotective parent. If we want to overcome our helicopter central nervous system, we need to first convince it that the area is safe and healthy. The way we do this is by providing it with positive stimuli. In the context of massage, we need to be using pressure that feels good, and techniques that are pleasurable. This grants us the opportunity to initiate a positive feedback loop. The intent of this is to interrupt the ongoing negative feedback loop.

Using pressure that is soothing is important, because pain begets more pain, and when we experience discomfort the sensation reinforces the need for more discomfort. The major problem with the negative feedback loop is the more discomfort we experience the better our CNS becomes at interpreting nociceptive nerve impulses as pain. In effect, practice makes perfect.  As Mosley puts it, “The longer your nervous system produces pain, the better it gets at producing it. Your body learns pain.”

When performing a massage our primary goal should be to interrupt this negative feedback loop, and over time, retrain the brain’s interpretation of the signals it receives. When we do this, over time the brain will hopefully begin to say to itself, “Hey, I didn’t hurt for an hour during that massage, maybe I don’t need to hurt for the entire day.” Then over time, as the brain continues to get positive signals it decides, “We were safe the entire day, maybe I don’t have to hurt this week.” The goal is to develop this further till the discomfort dissipates and only returns when the CNS needs to protect itself from actual injury.

When you use this information as a filter as you perform massage, it will adjust your intention throughout the session. It will change the way you approach the pressure you apply and over time it will have tremendous benefits. Perhaps, because of this knowledge, and your new understanding of pain, you will help those you touch feel wonderful in magnificent ways.