Massage For Relaxation is a 1985 instructional video and was among the first on how to massage another person. The video was produced by Mark Schulze and Patricia Mooney of New & Unique Videos, of San Diego, California. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Patricia Mooney graduated from the Mueller College of Massage in San Diego as a massage technician in 1981, and subsequently authored several articles in national publications. In 1987 she added additional footage of Self Massage instruction to the 1985 prequel. [5] The film was videotaped and live-switched in a Public-access television studio with three video cameras, and distributed worldwide on VHS, Beta and PAL videotape formats. [6] [7]
The instructional film shows Cleo (aka Patty Mooney) performing a massage on Maria (aka Maya Campos) using Swedish Oil techniques. [8] Also included are instructions for a Glowing Salt Rub.
New & Unique Videos was founded in 1985. [9] That same year, the 45-minute instructional video Massage for Relaxation was listed in a special interest video Christmas catalog at London's Heathrow Airport bookstore." [4] Other special interest video distributors carried the title in their catalogs, including Wood Knapp, [10] [11] BFS Limited in Canada, Instructional Video, Inc., [12] The Learning Annex, [13] and Publishers Clearing House.
In 2011, New & Unique Videos reissued Massage For Relaxation in DVD format, and made it available for on-demand downloading at video kiosks at Microsoft and Sony Style stores in Europe and the United States. [14]
In 2023, New & Unique Videos released an AI-Enhanced 4K version of Massage For Relaxation which can be viewed at Vimeo on Demand.
In 1985, the film won an International Television Association (ITVA) Video Medallion Award. [15]
In July 1995, P.J. Birosik of Nexus magazine noted the 1985 ITVA award and commented that the video had a "soothing score" making it "easy to relax while learning how to massage oneself or another." He noted also that through closeup shots the demonstrations were clear and the proffered techniques of massage and salt rub were easy to learn. [16]
In September 1988, Billboard Magazine wrote that while "Everyone enjoys a good massage", "the difficult part is getting someone to give you one," noting "Briskly paced and modestly priced, this program just may make a dent in the sell-through market." [17]
Vegetarian Times wrote that after a hard workout, a massage is always welcome, and noted the instruction available through the film. [18]
Total Health Magazine found the video to be unique in that it "is both instructional for someone learning to be a masseur and instructor Cleo demonstrates how to give yourself a massage. Techniques are plainly shown how to relieve tension in neck, shoulders, back, hips, chest, abdomen, legs, arms, feet, face and head". [19]
Health Foods Business wrote in 1988 that while the benefits of massage might be obtainable "from the hands of a trained and certified pro," decent massage can be done by amateurs who use some of the available "books and video cassettes which, while not a substitute for a massage therapy course, can help the nonprofessional acquire some skills for home use." They noted that Massage For Relaxation, put together in 1985 by trained masseuse and frequently published author Patricia Mooney, is one such video and that it contained "a 15-minute section on self-massage." [20]
The Video Rating Guide for Libraries wrote that while the video's cover jacket was "attractive and provocative", it was an otherwise "highly professional, nonpornographic treatment of whole body massage," noting that the camera angles and detail work presented an "excellent focus on various techniques of massage", and that the benefits of whole body massage were featured with "emphasis placed on relieving pain and enhancing digestion." They made special note of the video including detailed explanation of self-massage techniques, and that the instructor's demonstrations of a wide variety of techniques would be "especially useful for novices". [21]
Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In European countries, a person professionally trained to give massages is traditionally known as a masseur (male) or masseuse (female). In the United States, these individuals are often referred to as "massage therapists". In some provinces of Canada, they are called "registered massage therapists."
Shiatsu is a form of Japanese bodywork based on concepts in traditional Chinese medicine such as qi meridians. Having been popularized in the twentieth century by Tokujiro Namikoshi (1905–2000), shiatsu derives from the older Japanese massage modality called anma.
New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather than trance, or to create a peaceful atmosphere in homes or other environments. It is sometimes associated with environmentalism and New Age spirituality; however, most of its artists have nothing to do with "New Age spirituality," and some even reject the term.
Behaviour therapy or behavioural psychotherapy is a broad term referring to clinical psychotherapy that uses techniques derived from behaviourism and/or cognitive psychology. It looks at specific, learned behaviours and how the environment, or other people's mental states, influences those behaviours, and consists of techniques based on behaviorism's theory of learning: respondent or operant conditioning. Behaviourists who practice these techniques are either behaviour analysts or cognitive-behavioural therapists. They tend to look for treatment outcomes that are objectively measurable. Behaviour therapy does not involve one specific method, but it has a wide range of techniques that can be used to treat a person's psychological problems.
John Howard is an Olympic cyclist from the United States, who set a land speed record of 152.2 miles per hour (245 km/h) while motor-pacing on a pedal bicycle on July 20, 1985 on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. This record was beaten in 1995 by Fred Rompelberg.
Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California.
The stone massage is a form of alternative medicine massage therapy and bodywork involving the placement of either heated or cooled stones to the body for the purpose of pain relief, relaxation and therapy. There are many variations and techniques used in the application of stone massage therapy, deriving from a variety of traditional practices. Stone massages are primarily used to alleviate physical pain issues, however, are also used to promote emotional and spiritual wellbeing in practice.
Jin Shin Do is a therapeutic acupressure technique developed by psychotherapist Iona Marsaa Teeguarden, beginning in the 1970s.
Patricia A. Alexander is an educational psychologist who has conducted notable research on the role of individual difference, strategic processing, and interest in students' learning. She is currently a university distinguished professor, Jean Mullan Professor of Literacy, and Distinguished Scholar/Teacher in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology in the College of Education at the University of Maryland and a visiting professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Coronet Films was an American producer and distributor of documentary shorts shown in public schools, mostly in the 16mm format, from the 1940s through the 1980s. The company, whose library is owned and distributed by the Phoenix Learning Group, Inc., covered a wide range of subjects in zoology, science, geography, history and math, but is mostly remembered today for its post-World War II social-guidance films featuring topics such as dating, family life, courtesy and citizenship.
Steven Halpern is an American new-age musician. He is a Grammy Award nominee and is considered one of the founding fathers of new-age music.
Dennis Lewis is a non-fiction writer and teacher in the areas of breathing, qigong, meditation, and self-enquiry.
Richard Hittleman was an American Yoga teacher and author who taught Hatha and Raja Yoga through one of the first Yoga television series, Yoga for Health.
The Great Mountain Biking Video is a mountain biking instructional videotape, produced in 1987 and released in 1988 by San Diego, USA video production company New & Unique Videos.
Full Cycle: A World Odyssey is a mountain biking video title that chronicles the travel adventures of San Diego husband and wife team, Mark Schulze and Patty Mooney, who in 1993 and 1994, went in search of the best singletrack mountain trails of nine countries including the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Wales, Switzerland, Greece, Tahiti, Australia and India.
Pediatric massage is the complementary and alternative treatment that uses massage therapy, or "the manual manipulation of soft tissue intended to promote health and well-being" for children and adolescents. Its goal is to reduce pain, anxiety, loneliness and fear when children are hospitalized or diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition. Pediatric massage therapy takes into consideration each child's individual physical development, cognitive development and health care needs.
Watsu is a form of aquatic bodywork used for deep relaxation and passive aquatic therapy. Watsu is characterized by one-on-one sessions in which a practitioner or therapist gently cradles, moves, stretches, and massages a receiver in chest-deep warm water.
Randolph Stone was an Austrian-American chiropractor, osteopath and naturopath who founded polarity therapy, a technique of alternative medicine. He had an interest in philosophy and religions, and encountered Ayurvedic philosophy on a trip to India. His background in chiropractic was shaped by his studies of various Eastern concepts of energy medicine, including Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, yoga, and reflexology.
John Harvey Kellogg wrote an extensive piece on concepts revolving around the topic of massage. In his work published in 1895 called The Art of Massage, he makes it a point to discuss the history of the field. Kellogg supported pushing the idea that massage can help stimulate muscles to prevent their degradation. Also, not one category was present where the number of muscles present in men was equal to the number in women.
Roger Tilton (1924-2011) was an American filmmaker and documentarian. Tilton has been recognized as a pioneer in the development of IMAX large screen film format due to his work in the Omnimax format in the 1970s and 1980s.