F.A. Davis Company

Avoid the injury, muscle strain, fatigue and burnout that can shorten your career as a bodywork practitioner! This easy-to-use reference develops the skills you need to foster ease of movement and decrease your chance of injury. These skills, including self-assessment, life-style choices, body awareness and mechanics, balanced posture, efficient breathing, self-care habits, and injury prevention, give you the foundation you need to ensure that you are not putting undue strain on your own body. You’ll learn how to maintain proper body mechanics and how to integrate wellness, self-care, and nutrition into your practice.

A bonus DVD features video clips of the proper body mechanics for massage techniques, as well as other positions, such as lifting and transporting a massage table/chair, and using massage tools.

• Includes a DVD in every book that demonstrates proper body mechanics for working on the table and on the floor, stretching and strengthening techniques to help prevent injuries, proper breathing, and use of massage tools.
• Illustrates techniques for individual and partner exercises designed specifically for this book.
• Presents “Field Notes,” “Voice of Experience,” and “Case Profiles” boxes with interviews and advice from experienced massage therapists who have successfully remained injury-free as well as those who have had injuries and recovered from them to continue their careers.
• Features concise tables, photos, charts, illustrations and overlays to clarify information, including…
  • Proprioceptors
  • Muscles and joints
  • Postures
  • The body’s core and center of gravity
  • Overuse injuries
  • The effects of stretching on soft tissue
  • Proper body mechanics while performing techniques
  • Proper lifting techniques
  • Stretching and strengthening exercises
• Provides a "Wellness Profile" in Chapter 1, “Wellness Profile Check Ins”, and “What Do You Think?” assessment tools to determine your level of fitness, emotional health, and technique and track them as you grow professionally.
• Offers chapter summaries and review questions at the end of each chapter to reinforce the material.

1. Bodywork and the Bodywork Practitioner’s Wellness
2. Body Awareness and Mindful Movement
3. Posture and Its Impact on the Body
4. Breathing for Best Practice, Health, and Wellness
5. Body Mechanics
6. Injury Prevention and Management
7. Stretching: Why, How, When, and Where?
8. Strengthening: Why, How, When, and Where?
9. Basic Nutritional Principles for Self-Care
10. Additional Support for Wellness and Self-Care

Appendix A: Hydrotherapy for Self-Care
Appendix B: Answers to Chapter Review Questions