Deep Tissue - What’s Missing?
If you're a massage therapist who has worked your hands to the bone trying to relieve client pain—only for it to come right back—you’re not alone. I’ve been there. I used to believe that if I could just get the muscles to release, the rest of the body would follow.
Spoiler alert: That didn’t always work.
I was a deep tissue girl for many years before I fully embraced the kind of work I do now. It was deeply ingrained in us in massage school that muscles were the primary problem, and if we could just get them to relax, the body would take care of the rest.
And for a while, it seemed to be true. I got really good at helping muscles "submit," increasing range of motion, and even bringing clients from high levels of pain down to a 1 or 2 out of 10. But there were always a few clients who kept coming back with the same pain, again and again. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get them down to zero pain.
That nagged at me.
I had taken a sports massage class that was super fun—lots of pin-and-stretch work. It helped a lot of clients improve by 50-75%. Then I learned a contract/relax routine from a deep tissue colleague, which I applied all over the body with good success.
But still... those persistent cases kept coming in. I started asking: Why won’t these muscles stay relaxed after a successful session?
The answer? I hadn’t addressed why they were tight in the first place.
And no, I’m not talking about injury to the muscles themselves.
Muscles often tighten as a protective response to dysfunction in one of the body’s other systems. If an organ is struggling, which will the body will prioritize—keeping it functioning and alive, or eliminating back, neck, or knee pain? Of course, it will use its innate wisdom—shifting posture, creating tension, and pulling tissues in a way that protects that organ, to keep the person alive and breathing. The pain could be letting the person know that something is wrong inside their body.
The next time you assess a client’s posture, ask yourself: Which organ is being hugged here? Wherever the body folds, shortens, or pulls in, there may be an underlying organ in distress. Instead of battling those tight muscles, we can learn to listen to what the body is trying to say.
That’s the beauty of integrative work. Rather than forcing change, we support the body’s existing strategies for ease. Clients often say to me, when I put my hands on them to support what the body is doing, "It feels like that area is finally getting what it needs."
Why I Love This Work
1. It’s easier on the client. There’s no bracing, no pushing through pain, no triggering of the nervous system. It feels safe, supportive, and effective.
2. It’s way easier on my body. Instead of muscling through fascia and resistance, I get to focus deeply, stay grounded, and work with lighter pressure—yet often with far greater results. And at the end of a really good treatment, I often feel like I got a treatment myself.
3. The results are remarkable. Not every session is a miracle, but many are close. My favorite work right now is on the brain. When you support a compromised brain and see how the client stands up after—taller, clearer, lighter—it’s like witnessing the body’s innate intelligence coming back online.
This work has changed my life. Sharing it through treatment and teaching is one of the biggest blessings I’ve received. If you’re feeling stuck or wondering what’s missing in your deep tissue practice, I invite you to explore the deeper conversation the body is having.
You might be surprised what it’s been trying to tell you all along.
