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Guest Post!
Presently, one of the most popular ways to treat oneself after a stressful period is a trip to the spa for massage therapy. Although just now peaking in popularity, the history and development of massage techniques have been around and developing for thousands of years.
The first written evidence on the history and development of massage or touch therapy being used was found in several ancient Chinese books, one being the Nei Ching, or the Yellow Emperor’s Esoteric Classic, which dates back to 2760 B.C. Shortly after the penning of this book on therapeutic touch, the Egyptians developed the technique of
reflexology in around 2500 B.C. This technique preached that by focusing on certain points in the feet, the rest of the body would benefit.
Dating back to some of the first Olympic Games, around 500 B.C., both Greeks and Romans used the benefits of massage on athletes who competed in the games. Many of Rome and Greek’s first physicians and teachers of medicine, like Hippocrates and Galen, incorporated the use of massage into medicine and its practices.
As early as 100 A.D., schools specializing in teaching the techniques of massage being to sprout up in China. On the island of Japan, massage was also being used and experimented with. Around 600 A.D., Shiatsu massage was born. Shiatsu uses focused pressure applied by the fingertips in areas known in acupuncture to unblock and increase the flow of energy in the body, restoring balance and harmony. Advances continued to be made in the Asian continent, and during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a technique is known as tuina, or pediatric massage, was developed and refined. A form of this technique can still be found in modern massage therapy.
With the exploration of the Orient, many of these techniques made their way back to Europe. Many athletes began experiencing the benefits that massage therapy had to offer. In the middle of the nineteenth century, a man by the name of Johann Mezger introduced the idea of massage therapy to the scientific community. The terms effleurage, petrissage, and tapotement became popularized among the scientific and medical community as a result.
In 1894, the Society of Trained Masseuses was created in Britain. This group offered medically recognized massage training to those seeking it. The great psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, even used massage therapy as a way to treat the effects of hysteria during this time.
The turn of the twentieth century brought an explosion of different techniques being developed across the globe. In 1937,
aromatherapy was discovered, accidentally, by Rene Maurice Gattefosse. During this time, associations of massage therapists began to spring up as well. Coupling the growing popularity of massage, many regulatory boards also began forming in the mid-1900s to ensure the safe practices of massage.
Over the thousands of years massage therapy has been around, very few of the core techniques have wavered over time. The years have introduced many different massage techniques, some that have lasted, and others that have fell off. Those that remain in practice today are a testament to the true healing powers found in massage. With that, it might just be time to start planning that next spa day.
Find out and book a mobile full body sensual massage in London here.
