Effleurage is the first thing a student learns and the last thing they master. It looks like a simple gliding stroke. It is in fact the stroke that tells the body it is safe to let go.
Why the opening stroke matters
The first sixty seconds of a treatment set the nervous system’s expectation for the next sixty minutes. Rush it, and every stroke afterwards meets resistance.
Pressure is a conversation
Depth should follow the tissue’s permission, never precede it. We teach students to read the small signals — a held breath, a lifted shoulder — and to answer them by easing rather than pushing.
Practising alone
Work on your own forearm. If the stroke does not feel pleasant on your own skin, it will not feel pleasant on anyone else’s.