Informative and useful read for anyone looking to use massage and relaxation techniques. Perfect for beginners.

A well informative read-Now to put all I have learned into practice I just need a willing individual to be my guinea pig.

Thank you Quatro - Fair Winds Publications and Netgalley for this ARC.

This was a really helpful book, showing everything the beginner needs to know about massage including the techniques, body parts, oils.
I useful, easy to read book.

Informative! Got a lot of interesting tips and techniques to use and they work really well. Well laid out, lots of useful photos and illustrations, and the text is clear. Exactly what you want from a massage book!

I wasn't able to fully finish this book before it was archived, but the parts that I read were great and very informative! I really enjoyed this book and plan on buying a copy when I get the chance.

This book got archived while I was in the process of reviewing it, and therefore did not finish it in order to give a full length review. I will be unable to post the review on social media but It was interesting as far as I got into it.
Very descriptive.

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Exactly what it says on this tin, this beautiful little book gives a lovely, thorough introduction to the basics of massage, in easy to understand language and graphics.
5 stars - very nice little book.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review
#pressheremassageforbeginners #netgalley

This book is absolutely beautiful! I have always loved giving and receiving massages and have looked for local courses I could undertake to learn more about it. Working full time makes it difficult so I was delighted to see a Massage for Beginners book. The illustrations make this book both really approachable and really fun to read. It covers so much detail and so many topics, but it's laid out in a way that makes it really easy to read and understand. As well as covering massage on different types of the body, it has plans for specific types of issues such as menstrual pain and constipation. It also covers areas I wasn't expecting, such as self-care for the massager (stretches and ergonomics) and self-message. Before you get into the specifics, you cover the basics from the history and benefits of massage to individual elements such as knots, trigger points and how to communicate during a massage. Overall I thought this book was a delight and highly recommend it to anyone looking to find out more about massage.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Press Here! Massage for Beginners: A Simple Route to Relaxation and Releasing Tension by Rachel Beider is an informative book on how to give a massage to others and to yourself. It provides clear instructions on how to massage different parts of the body. It also includes sections for specific issues that may need special attention. Also shown are the proper techniques and strokes to use. It is full of colorful and detailed illustrations that show the basics of a massage.

I found the book informative and well written but two sections stand out to me. The first is on how to give yourself a massage. Beider shows how to use either your hand or a tennis ball to self massage. The other is a section on how to treat headaches and sinus congestion. As a sufferer of chronic sinus problems this was the most useful.

One thing I had never considered was you need to take care and look after your own body before you massage someone. Stretches are shown on how to prepare your hands so you do not damage them.

The book is easily labeled to find the exact section on which you want to focus.

Review published on Philomathinphila.com, Smashbomb, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble on 3/13/19.

This was a great little reference book that I enjoyed. It was very informational at the top, but I felt got a little mundane towards the backend. I did love the pictures and layout was all very well done, I think because I am familiar with the subject, it just didn’t catch my attention the way the Accupressure book did, But I did enjoy the color palette, visuals and overall layout of the book.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Press Here! begins with both Rachel Beider’s credentials (she studied in Thailand and Sweden and now has a practice in New York) and a list of things that getting a regular massage can do for your health (including helping with chronic pain, relaxation, and depression). From there the book helps you “plan your session” by teaching you various strokes and what they accomplish. The book also teaches you stretches to do in order to look after your own body before you massage someone. The book goes into depth about how to address major muscle groups in your massages and what kind of work to do in order to address various ailments (such as headaches). Lastly, the book teaches you how to perform a self massage (either by hand or with a tennis ball). Press Here! is a very visually appealing and comprehensive book that taught me a lot about massages. If you have any interest in learning proper technique so you can massage your partner or do a self-massage, then I highly recommend this book. This book will teach you all the terminology to impress your partner and your friends (for example, “effleurage” is a term that means “long, gliding, rhythmic, and gentle” strokes).

Thank you to Net Galley and Fair Winds Press for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

Grade: A+

I did have some early doubts about the level this book was at – some seemed too simple for me, some a little too beyond my ken, but on the whole I think I understood it all and would be able to keep that level up with some light revision – and of course, practise. I've dabbled with keeping friends happy with some light massage, but turns out I was doing it wrong – what turns out to be called the effleurage I always took away from the body, but it seems to go up the limbs to the core. However facials do go upwards and away, not down to the centre of the body. Still, as it proudly claims, this is just a primer for home use, and rightfully gives us enough hints about when not to undergo massage. I don't have any experience of other books to compare it to, but I feel quite comfortable in declaring this a success, with a design and level of complexity to do what the author wanted. So a strong four stars.

This book is truly a great guide for someone who wants to learn the basics for taking care of sore muscles. The photos along with instructions gives you tools to learn the right way to massage out the pain in your body, from head to toe. This book does not replace professional training.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
#Netgalley

This book was fairly useful to help me understand the basics. It seemed a little too basic for me, but it helped get my feet stuck in and I’ll be doing some more research after this book to improve my skills! Thank you

Press Here! is an easy beginner's guide to massage. It is well illustrated so you understand what to do. I really like that it included a section on self care. We often forget that therapeutic activities ca take their toll on the person providing them. This a great beginner's guide.

This has a really beautiful design and is both welcoming and loaded with information and knowledge. The book covers a brief history of massage, and considers types of strokes, aromatherapy applications, trigger points, applications of heat and precautions. On top of that, the book offers some advice for therapists to ensure their own bodies are in good order and that small issues don't become larger- there's a section on ergonomics that was particularly interesting. The book investigates setting up for a session and different approaches to neck, back, shoulders, hands, arms, legs and feet as well as head and face. I really enjoyed this and gained a lot from it. I think it's harder to enjoy in a digital format but I can imagine that flicking through a paperback or spiralbound version would be truly lovely.

This is just the kind of guide to massage that I would like on my book shelves.
This very informative and practical guide covers everything you need to know about how to perform therapeutic massage on others, and yourself. The anatomical illustrations are really helpful and combined with the "how to" diagrams make for an excellent book.

Good looking, short book on Swedish Massage techniques. I especially enjoyed the self-massage instructions. This book would benefit someone looking for detailed, beautiful drawings on the basics of a massage.

3 Stars

I requested <i>Press Here! Massage for Beginners</i> by Rachel Beider merely out of curiosity. As I'm sure many others in relationships have done at some point in their lives, I've definitely taken some time out to massage my boyfriend's shoulders and back before after a hard day and I thought it might be cool to see if I could learn a few techniques that could help me do a better job but also prevent my wrists from getting tired so quickly. The idea of massage has always been at least vaguely interesting, just on the account of being able to include it in my relationship (whether I'm getting or giving one).

Something I think this book did well was that it described the techniques adequately and accompanied it all with useful illustrations to really get the process conveyed to the readers. The bit about stretching prior to massage was something I had never once considered prior to reading the book and I definitely think it can be useful to be aware of. There were some aspects that I really had no interest in, particularly that of the oils and lotions, though I suppose that its a key facet of massage for some.

All in all, I think the book is useful to an extent, though not everything was useful to me in particular. I'm not incredibly interested in massage and I definitely feel that this is a book more for people who are interested in it as opposed to someone just mildly curious about a few pieces.

<i>I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </i>