The core structure of chair massage, aka seated acupressure and on-site massage was developed by David Palmer (the founder of Touch Pro) in the USA in the early 1980s. He adapted the techniques used in a traditional Japanese table massage called Amma so that they could be performed on seated clients.

Like other types of acupressure, Amma is based on the principles of Chinese medicine. One of these principles is that there are channels of energy called meridians, which flow symmetrically throughout the body. When we are feeling at our best and ‘energised’, energy (Chi in Chinese or Ki in Japanese) is flowing freely and is balanced. When we are feeling rundown and prone to illness our energy is likely being blocked/congested and out of balance.

A chair massage practitioner uses a 5min, 10min, 15min, 20min or 30min routine of massage movements to work on specific pressure points along the meridians of the back, shoulders, arms, head and neck which are common locations of aches and pains, and energy congestion, helping to relieve the congestion and restore the flow of energy.  The client is fully clothed and seated in a relaxed position facing forward with their face, chest and legs supported in a specially design massage chair.

Benefits of chair massage include:

• You will feel better!
• Stimulates the circulation of energy as well as the flow of blood, lymph, oxygen and other fluids in the body and therefore encouraging your body’s self-healing mechanism
• Targets ‘problem areas’ of tension in the upper body quickly and directly
• Raises self-awareness which can help to improve body posture, encourage clients to drink more water and move around
• Relaxes and reinvigorates, and reduces stress and anxiety

Chair Massage in the workplace

Current day work cultures – desk jobs, repetitive movements, long working hours and work-related stress, can cause long-term upper-body tension and lead to headaches, tiredness and poor concentration in the workplace.

Chair massage is a great way to improve workplace health and wellbeing for your employees. Offering a chair massage programme for employees, not only demonstrates an employer’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of their employees, it can also improve office morale, promote better communication and improved job performance.  All good things for business!

Other great places for offering chair massage… at a convention or exhibition hall, sporting event…