You wouldn’t give my shoulders a quick rub, would you? It’s something we’ve all heard from a loved one or asked of them. The fact is that we all store tension in our neck and shoulder muscles. If you want to give a loved one a decent massage, then follow our tips below:

1 . Position yourself at a height over the recipient. If you’re going to do it standing ask the recipient to sit facing the back of the chair. If you’re seated on a chair/sofa ask them to sit on a floor cushion, facing a way from you between your legs.

2. Apply downward pressure using your forearms on both trapezius muscles  (the fleshy muscle between ear and top of shoulder) by leaning your weight forward. As you feel this downward pressure melting the tension in the muscles instruct the recipient to turn their head very slowly from left to right. This stretches and causes a deeper release of muscle tension.

3. You can also use your side of your hands to do chopping movements from one of the shoulders to the other side. This will act to loosen the tension even further than the above action.

4. After the shoulders have been relaxed, turn your attention the neck. Use your fingertips to massage both sides of the neck. Make sure to apply slight pressure and each of the spine and not on the spine. Move up and down the neck.

5. Repeat the shoulder and neck actions until the person says he/she feels better. Additionally, go back to those areas that had the most tension and massage those areas a bit more, just to make sure these get relaxed.

6. A nice added touch is to give the person a scalp massage as part of the treatment. This is one of the easiest areas of the body to massage. Just slightly move the scalp with your fingers and gradually covering the whole head. Make sure to massage the back, sides, top and forehead areas. This is more relaxing if you always keep at least on hand on the head during the massage.

7. Warm towels can be applied at the end for the massage. This step is optional, but does add to the experience for the person who is getting the neck and shoulder massage.

These are just some tips to help you do massage at home. You can share the tips with others to help them learn. Of course, if you have a free day and would like a professional to look at your muscle tension, visit a massage therapist. This type of therapist can alleviate many problems through massaging your body. A professional knows how to massage a person’s body from head to toe using a variety of effective techniques which will be both effective and satisfying.