If you have never had a professional massage before, a Swedish Massage is the best place to start. It is the most widely practiced massage therapy in the United States.

New York City’s pace is stressful and accumulates in specific places: the trapezius muscles across your upper back and shoulders, the neck that has been fixed to a screen all day, the hips that spend too long in a chair. Swedish massage addresses all of it through a combination of long gliding strokes, rhythmic kneading, and targeted pressure that calms the nervous system and releases held tension throughout the body.

At I Love Massage USA, we list licensed massage therapists (LMTs) across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island who offer Swedish massage sessions. Every therapist on our directory holds a valid New York State massage license.

What Is Swedish Massage

Swedish massage was developed in the early nineteenth century and remains the foundation of Western massage therapy. Licensed therapists use five core techniques in Swedish sessions:

• Effleurage: long, gliding strokes that warm the tissue and begin the relaxation response
• Petrissage: kneading and rolling movements that work deeper into the muscle
• Friction: circular pressure applied with thumbs or fingertips to break down adhesions
• Tapotement: rhythmic percussion that stimulates circulation and wakes up the nervous system
• Vibration: rapid shaking movements that further relax the muscle

Your therapist will adapt the combination and pressure of these techniques based on what you tell them before the session. If you have specific areas of tension, they will spend more time there. If you simply want full-body relaxation, the session will flow from head to toe.

Swedish massage is performed with oil or lotion on bare skin, and you will be draped throughout the session. Only the area being worked on is uncovered at any time.