“Massage?! Who me? No way! I love being uptight, stressed out, bordering on stroking out at any second, and putting my body through the wringer on a daily basis! That’s where the excitement is.” Seriously though wouldn’t you like a nice quiet, warm, relaxing place, where you could truly and deeply relax even for just an hour? I know where you can get that, right here in St. Cloud. Yes, I know you have heard that massage is relaxing but you don’t have time for it. It costs too much, or my favorite excuse, How can I trust the therapist not to …”touch” me.
Well, It IS my profession to touch you, to work the soft tissue. It is my ethics and professionalism to work only the appropriate tissue. It is a no judgment zone. I don’t care if you are emaciated (REALLY REALLY THIN), overweight (I think everyone knows this when they see it), or somewhere in between. There are so many physiological functions of where, how, why, what (lather, rinse, repeat) going on that there really is not a lot of space for anything else.
That statement is one that strikes my funny bone more than you can imagine, but I understand the fear. It is said in a variety of different ways, by both men and women, but the feeling is the same. How can they relax when the fear of being violated is lurking. While the Massage Therapy profession and the State of Florida has put many laws into place to protect you, the client, it ultimately falls to personal professional ethics.
From a massage “therapists” point of view it is the furthest thing from my mind when you are on the table. Speaking from my own perspective, when I lay my hands on my client’s body my thoughts go to: are they hot, cold? Is it circulation or do I need to warm the room? Is the circulation in this area good? If not where is the flow blocked? What musculature is in that area? Does the tight musculature in that area correspond to what I saw in their movement when they walked in? How are they breathing? Is the entire rib cage moving, or just part of it? All that assessment and more are constantly going on. Then there is the actually body work, the constant questions and focused thought of the minute differences in tissue placement, temperature, alignment, and circulation demands 100% attention.
The first 15 minutes of a massage for the client is about determining whether the touch being applied is “safe”. My job is to take you through this time of determination while applying therapeutic work. Regular massage shortens this time due to familiarity. But it is still part of the process of relaxing.
SO stand up straight, Take a deep breath, a tall glass of water and relaxxxxxxxx. The water is fine.
