LUKAS BOZIK massage therapy

FREEDOM

Is your head too heavy on your shoulders with pain, tension and relentless thoughts weighing it down? Take a deep breath in for 4-3-2-1 and let me push down your shoulders for 4-3-2-1. Another inhale for 4-3-2-1, another exhale for 4-3-2-1. Then I sink my fingertips in your suboccipital area, you might feel some mild discomfort of the strained tense muscles, but keep going with an inhale for 4-3-2-1 and exhale as I pull for 4-3-2-1. Another inhale 4-3-2-1, another exhale 4-3-2-1. One more inhale 4-3-2-1 and exhale 4-3-2-1. Your shoulders feel lighter, your neck is liberated and your mind is finally... free.

📷 .montgomerie

FLOW

Swirling, twirling, rising, depressing, circling, flexing, extending, waving, shimmying, shrugging, that and a lot more is what your shoulders can do. They're the most mobile joint thanks to how the head of the humerus sits in the glenoid cavity allowing for maximum movement.

Relying mostly on muscles and tendons for stability, it makes it very prone to soft tissue injuries but allows for all sorts of movements and beautiful expressions that we wouldn't want to trade off for a more stable yet more immovable joint. Hence why massaging around the shoulders can bring a great deal of pain relief and ease off tension.

Kneading and compressing the area are all great and necessary parts of the work but, as always, your body loves to move! So getting to actually move the joint that feels stuck takes it even further as it reminds your nervous system of its freedom. That turns down the protective muscle tension and just a few slow, mindful and increasingly enlarging circles later, your shoulder will feel lighter, more mobile and liberated and just like a river, it'll once again... flow.

📷 .montgomerie

FLOAT

Massage uses many ways of holding you in place. Therapeutic compression for tense spots, trigger points, pinning an area down when performing a stretch, putting weight on an area to bring a sense of comfort. When something anchors you down, something else has to keep you afloat.

When I studied the vocal massage course, our teacher used the concept of the mother hand and the other hand. The other hand would do the work on your neck muscles, your larynx, all very private and generally sensitive areas. The mother hand would do just what a mother would do in a situation when you need comfort, rest on you to reassure you everything is ok.

So when I'm working on you and one of my arms is anchoring you, pinning you or testing your resilience in some way, rest assured the other hand is there too. Not to do more work, not to multitask or try to squeeze in another technique, but only to give you comfort, to hold your hand, rest gently on your head, support your weight... And to keep you afloat.

📷.montgomerie

Hands and feet to the front! As a husband of a pianist, I know there's nothing better for him at the end of a long day than a massage of hands and forearms. You don't need to be a musician to appreciate it though. As great as it is for people actually working a lot with their hands doing anything fiddly and/or repetitive, it's also just so nice to shift focus from a possibly more intense treatment into something that feels gentler yet releasing (and your hands will feel brand new afterwards).

As for feet, I've got a special thing for them... For massaging them, get your mind out of the gutter!
Back in the day at uni, some 15 years ago, we would be drinking red wine at one of our friends flat, chatting, laughing and I don't know how it came to it (probably the wine must've done the trick) but I ended up massaging my friends feet. And once they knew I was pretty good at it, it kinda became a regular thing and I was quite enjoying that I was able to make someone feel better just by touching them.
Fast forward to now and I honestly believe foot massage is absolutely crucial. Your feet take you everywhere every single day, every single step, often are boxed in some uncomfortable shoes for hours on end (unless you're wearing some barefoot shoes but that's a whole different conversation) and the least you can do is give them some relief to thank them for yet another day.

Hands and feet are quite intuitively massaged usually by flatmates and partners, remember to start with a wide grip before working on specific areas so it doesn't feel too poke-y. Or just get a massage from me and I'll make sure your hands and feet are floating on cloud nine.

Your glutes (glute max in particular) are your biggest and heaviest muscle. You used them with every step, when bending forward, running, arching your back, also using their little brothers when balancing, leaning to the side, jumping, honestly, this muscle is the backbone of your posture and it does not like you sitting on it for hours on end which can then translate into lower back pain.

So make sure you give it a good strengthening, you'll soon notice how everything becomes more effortless thanks to the strength that comes from a good foundation that is your glutes. You'll also notice how all your pants will suddenly fit you so much better and it sure ain't the magic pants doing the work haha ✨

And so, when that magic foundation needs a bit of TLC, massage can help alleviate the tension from the hard work you've done (but can also help when you haven't done enough to get those glutes in a better starting position but then you still gotta do the work yourself).

Don't forget, 'no ifs, just good butts'! 🍑

Something to put a bit of spring in your step 🦵🏼

Separating the heads of the gastroc and adding a pin & stretch of hammies to really work on getting those muscle fibers gliding and moving effortlessly and efficiently

Doing deadlifts two months ago, on a regular day, not doing any extra weight, not doing any extra reps, having had maybe(??) a good sleep before, I was on the second set and all of a sudden I felt THE TWINGE that everyone always dreads so much. Yup, I fu**ed my back.

The first few seconds were quite scary cuz all of a sudden you're overcome with the fear that you've done something incredibly awful to yourself as you feel the pain in your lower back and the glute and it is rather overwhelming.

However, I didn't go home to start fearing any kinda movement and banishing deadlifts forever. Instead, I got to the pull up bar and hung on it for some 30 seconds to ease off the spinal area, then I kept gently 'swirling' side to side as walking and I reracked all the plates (because I'm not an animal, duh), which was probably the trickiest part having to slightly bend down.

Then I went into the stretch area, did a few slow and mindful cat cows (definitely not my biggest range of movement), some rolling inside a barrel and a few slow active twists all to keep the area moving but most importantly to not let my nervous system think 'oh this is it, you're fu**ed, you can't move now, go home and feel sorry for yourself'.

When at home, I had to be very mindful when moving, kept my back as extended and my glutes firing as much as possible when doing even the lightest hip flexion forward... And then I had to go and treat a client because when you're self-employed, you don't just cancel appointments unless you're basically dying haha.

Was I the most comfortable during it? Absolutely not. Was I super aware of every step? Absolutely yes. Did the fact I kept going and found ways to cope and adjust on the very day of it help me in the long run? You bet it did!

Hey hey! I've had some lovely new photos taken recently so you'll be seeing my face here a bit more in the next few weeks
📷 .montgomerie

First I'll start with one of me and my trusty (no, this is not a paid ad, I wish haha) which has been a lifesaver for the past two years. It made the transition from messy paper notes that needed constant reorganising into digital written intake forms so easy, allowing me to type treatment reports even when travelling on buses that keep bumping and braking every two seconds, whilst being portable and light as I already carry a lot with me to see my clients.

But enough of this unpaid promo, here goes the first photo and actually the only one of me smiling haha, the rest of them is more action shots, less posing for the camera 😁

Peace and love and smiles all around x

Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilisation

I've been using IASTM for a few months now and it's been the easiest modality to implement into my massage sessions.

First concern to address - its goal is NOT to leave you bruised! There might be some erythema (reddening) of the skin when being worked on which usually goes away within a few minutes to a few hours. It is the same as when an area gets flushed with blood when being massaged. That being said, there can be a few broken capillaries here and there that look like little red dots but that tends to be rather rare and only very sparse. If you look like you've been bruised in every area I've worked on, I'm not doing my job well.

The main advantage of IASTM is that the precision of the (not sharp) blades allows to work on an area way more efficiently and with more focus than working with hands alone.

The nature of the steel aids with palpation and detection of tense areas and helps to desensitize them by stimulating mechanoreceptors. It also breaks down fascial adhesions and scar tissue to improve range of motion - just like with hands massage.
It can work more superficially on certain areas with the sharper blade or using the blunter bar with slower deeper pressure works on deeper layers of muscles - just like with hands massage.
It stimulates the local inflammation which switches on your body's attention to it and it starts repairing the area - just like with hands massage.

You might then ask yourself, if a regular hands massage can do it, why using the blade?
Well, because IASTM can bring on the desired effect much faster than working with hands alone, that's number one.
Number two, on the day I'm most definitely your only massage you're getting but I'm most likely giving 2-3-4 more treatments hence why using a tool to help me do all those massage day in day out promotes longevity. I still want to be able to do my job for, well, a few more decades, so anything that helps me deliver a quality treatment without causing me an overuse injury is definitely a plus...