Swedish massage
Although not especially focused on specific tension areas in the body, Swedish massage is “feel good“ and improves both the circulation and the lymphatic system. Oil is used and the strokes tend to be long sliding ones and generally not very deep.
The emphasis with Swedish is on relaxation and improving circulation and these increase your overall well being.
History of Swedish massage
Early in the 19th Century Swedish massage was developed by Pir Henrick Ling, a Swedish fencing master. His style of massage was quite vigorous and interestingly, a lot of the strokes have French names - effleurage (to stroke or skim over), pettrisage (to knead), tapotement (to tap for example hacking). The techniques possibly originated in French Indo-China (Viet-Nam) and were brought back to Europe by traders.
In Australia Swedish massage has become a generic term for a relaxing massage.