Power Down to Power Through:

Description: The negative outcomes associated with stress are well known, but its none-the-
less impossible to avoid. Enter the Power Down Massage, which uses neuro-regulatory
concepts to regulate the respiratory system. Combined with traditional Swedish massage
techniques and a custom blended aromatherapy massage oil, youre left more present, with a
greater capacity to handle stress as well as accessible tools for managing stress outside of the
treatment room.

Protocol:
Begin the treatment with the client supine. Have the Client place on hand, palm down, on their
chest. Have the client place their other hand on their abdomen. Ask the client to make a deep
exhale that lasts for a count of seven. After, have them inhale normal. Notice which had rises
first. Typically clients will express a shallow and stressed type on inhale that is primarily
located in the chest and auxiliary respiratory musculature, scalenes.
On this next round of respiration guide the clients attention to the hand on their abdomen.
Ask them to focus on breathing into this region with their next inhale. The provider is looking to
see a noticeable change in the volume of the area. Often clients are not used to breathing in this
manner and are stuck in a pattern of breath that drive the sympathetic nervous system.

Continue to que the client to breathe in this abdominal volume increase during the inhalation of
respiration. Check for movement in the low back, lateral of the Quadratus Lumborum that is
directed towards the table. Check also for movement laterally from the abdomen. A provider
should feel the inhalation in a 360 degree pattern.
If the client can breathe in this manner than we will que them to inhale through the mouth for a
four count. They will then hold this inhale for a four count. After they will exhale for a four count.
The client will then hold for a four count. They can repeat this cycle four times. This pattern of
breathing will focus their attention. This ability to channel attention to respiration will assist our
clients ability to access the parasympathetic nervous system. This focusing the client's attention
to this Rest and Digest system will enhance their ability to relax. The emphasis on the counts
will keep them present in the moment and shift their attention away from thoughts of the future
or the past. Continue the service with a traditional Swedish massage coupled with an
aromatherapy blend that reflects the goal of relaxation.
If a client cannot access the space in the abdomen during inhalation than the bodyworker can
use their palpatory skills to access where the least amount of motion is. Then the provider can
use the clients hands on those areas to provide a point of resistance. After every exhale the
provider can guide the clients open relaxed hands deeper into the region. After four rounds of
inhale-hold/exhale-hold the pressure into the least mobile portions of the abdominal region
should be noticeably changed. On the next series of exhales the provider should que the client
to create a forced expiration that noticeably contracts the external obliques. During the next
round of inhales the provider can que the client to create a force that resist those of the their
hands pushing into their abdomen. This force should be the effect of the diaphragm driving the
inhale into the Core that creates the space for the trunk to safely stabilize the spine. This
breathing pattern and ability to inflate the core is often associated with an increase in Range
of motion all ranges of motion. This increase in range is typically coupled with a decrease in
tissue tension in the Multifidus, Abdominus rectus, Internal/External Obliques and the
Transverse Abdominals as well.