AMMA Therapy®

AMMA Therapy® is a massage therapy that uses the Chinese principle of Qi (pronounced like chee) to help heal and energize the body. The word “amma” is how you say the Chinese word that means “push-pull” and is an ancient term for massage in Chinese. Many different techniques make up the practice of AMMA Therapy®, with all of the movements designed to allow the Qi, the energy that makes up the life force, to flow easily throughout the body. Ancient Chinese beliefs hold that if the Qi can't flow properly or becomes blocked, that's when illness and disease occur.

The use of amma as a healing practice in China is over 5,000 years old. AMMA Therapy® that is used today was developed in the 1960s, and has its roots in these ancient techniques but also incorporates Western massage and healing practices, even including some techniques that are chiropractic in nature. The focus of this type of therapy is balance, and the energy and vibrations of the body.

Those who use AMMA Therapy® begin by doing a variety of different things, including asking questions, but they also use their powers of observation, their sense of touch, and even their sense of smell to discover areas that need attention. They believe that the internal state of the body can reveal everything they need to know, so not only will the obvious things like complexion and pulse be studied, but other things like diet, bowel movements, bodily sounds and odors are taken into account.

AMMA Therapy® takes these physical signs and combines those with the answers from the questions about the patients' feelings and preferences, and sets off an a complete body-mind approach to healing, whether the goal is to relax a group of muscles or heal the body from a devastating system-wide ailment. Often many other things come into play besides actual massage, like nutrition, recommendation about types of exercise, vitamin and mineral supplements and other holistic advice the therapist feels will be beneficial.

The massage portion of AMMA Therapy® is physical massage designed to keep the life energy moving throughout the body. Massages can last an hour or more, depending on the conditions that are being treated and both therapist and patient preferences. Typically the patient wears some sort of loose-fitting gown or other loose clothing, and the massage is done on a massage table. The massage portion of the therapy uses not only ancient Chinese healing wisdom but a variety of other techniques and principles.

Once the therapist makes a diagnosis he or she will use hands and fingers to apply deep pressure to points that would be pierced during an acupuncture session. The practitioner will also apply pressure to the points of reflex on the feet that are important in the practice of reflexology. Rolfing techniques are used to give deep tissue massage, and the push-stretch techniques used in Swedish massage are also important in the hands-on part of an AMMA Therapy® session.

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