Bodywork is a general term used in alternative medicine to refer to therapeutic or healing work that involves touching, or hands-on manipulation of the physical body. Hands-on healing is perhaps the earliest healing tradition. Written records of massage go back three thousand years to China, but as any parent knows, the nurturing and healing nature of touch is an inherent human tendency.

Massage therapy is the most well-known form of bodywork, but bodywork includes any application of pressure or vibration to the soft tissues of the body (muscles, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, and joints), using physical movement to affect brain functioning and energy rebalancing.

Structural bodywork

is directed at the body's connective tissue, nerves, muscles, and tendons, and aims to restore flexibility and alignment, integrate the nervous system, relax muscles, free joints, and improve circulation.
Examples include

• Massage therapies are systems of structured palpation or movement of the soft tissue of the body. The massage system may include such techniques as, stroking, kneading, gliding, percussion, friction, vibration, compression, passive or active stretching within the normal anatomical range of movement; effleurage (either firm or light soothing, stroking movement, without dragging the skin, using either padded parts of fingertips or palms); petrissage (lifting or picking up muscles and rolling the folds of skin); or tapotement (striking with the side of the hand, rhythmic movements with fingers or short rapid movements of sides of the hand), for the purpose to enhance the general health and well-being
• Chiropractic diagnoses and treats mechanical disorders of the spine and musculoskeletal system with the intention of affecting the nervous system and improving health. It is based on the premise that a spinal joint misalignment can interfere with the nervous system and result in many different conditions of diminished health.
• Osteopathy emphasizes the role of the musculoskeletal system in health and disease and treats musculoskeletal or somatic dysfunction. It uses of a range of manipulation in the prevention and treatment of disease (particularly joint, muscle, nerve problems; and back, neck and head pain) in order to facilitate the body's own recuperative powers.
• Bowen Technique addresses key points to stimulate energy flow, and involves a gentle, rolling motion, with very light touches, to release areas of built-up stress in the muscles, and clients usually experience profound relaxation after a session.
• Trigger point therapy addresses hyperirritable spots in skeletal muscle that are associated with small contraction knots in taut bands of muscle fibers. Treatment relies on identifying and deactivating trigger points, elongating the muscles or affected structures along their natural range of motion and length; and treating the fascia to elongate and resolve strain patterns.
• Applied kinesiology is an approach to chiropractic treatment in which tests and evaluates muscle strength. Treatment involves manipulative adjusting techniques, nutritional interventions, combined with light massage of neurolymphatic and neurovascular points.
• Myofascial release refers to the manual massage technique for stretching the fascia (connective tissue that covers and connects the muscles, organs, and skeletal structures) and releasing bonds between fascia and integument, muscles, and bones, with the goal of eliminating pain, increasing range of motion and balancing the body. The fascia is manipulated, directly or indirectly, allowing the connective tissue fibers to reorganize themselves in a more flexible, functional fashion.

Re-Educational approaches

increase neuromuscular awareness, recognize habitual patterns of movement, then re-educate the neuromuscular and the musculoskeletal system to improve mobility, balance, and posture.

• Alexander Technique teaches how to recognize and overcome habituated limitations within a person's intentions and manner of movement, using specialized hand contact and verbal instructions.
• The Feldenkrais Method is an educational system intended to give a greater functional awareness of the self. The method uses movement, subtle manipulation, and awareness as the primary vehicle for learning as an aide to improving overall well-being.
• Rolfing is a codified series of soft tissue manipulation, which is used to organize soft tissue relationships, with the objectives of realigning the body structurally and harmonizing its fundamental movement patterns. This is said to enhance vitality and well-being.

Emotional and psychological bodywork techniques

concentrate on the connection between emotions, mind, and the body. These subconscious emotions interrupt normal physiological functions, and can be released by applying a combination of hands-on experience, movement, self-exploration and questioning.
Examples include:

• Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a psychotherapeutic tool that addresses negative emotions caused by disturbances in the body's energy field. The basic EFT technique involves tapping on a series of acupressure points while thinking of a negative emotion helps to alter the body's energy field, and restores it to "balance."
• Hakomi Integrative Somatics is centered around developing the resource of the body to establish and maintain the deepest felt sense of "who we are". New body awareness is achieved by a combination of hands-on experience, movement, and self-exploration. Psychological and physical patterns are explored by a series of questions before any table work.
• Craniosacral therapy can also be useful addressing psychological or emotional aspects frequently associated, directly or indirectly, with physiological ones.

Energy approaches

seek to restore energy flow throughout the body, remove blocks, restore the patient's energy balance, and stimulate the capability of the body to heal itself.
Examples include:

• Acupressure involves placing physical pressure by hand, elbow, or with the aid of various devices on different acupuncture points on the surface of the body.
• Reflexology (see Foot Reflexology, and Hand Reflexology) is the practice of stimulating points on the feet, hands and ears, in order to encourage a beneficial effect on some other parts of the body, or to try to improve general health. Applying pressure in the form of massage to "tight" or "gritty" areas of a person's foot stimiulates the corresponding part of the energy body to assist the self-healing process.
• Zen Shiatsu treats the whole meridian system through pressure and stretching to achieve systemic change for the entire body, using thumbs, palms, fists, elbows, and knees.

Craniosacral bodywork

is significantly distinct from other forms of bodywork and forms its own category. Craniosacral therapy balances the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid that circulates in a loop from the skull to the sacrum. Restrictions to the flow can result in a number of neuromuscular disorders and create chronic pain.

Browse the

• Bodywork

or

• Massage

sections of the directory by modality to find a practitioner

Acknowledgements:
References:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org
Glossary of Massage and Bodywork techniques
Massgetherapy.com
http://www.massagetherapy.com/glossary/index.php
Dr. June Leslie Wieder website
http://www.drwieder.com/bodywork.htm