A lot of people think that in order to get the most out of a massage it needs to be painful, and they ask me to go deeper even when their body is telling me its enough. I am happy to do deep work on someone if they are able to breathe while Im working, and not holding their breath (cause its so painful) & if the tissue allows me to go deeper. Working slow and deep can be very effective if done properly and both client and practitioner are consciously working to breathe and release. When its not good is when someone is not able to relax into it, then it is better to back off a bit.