B l i s s
m a s s a g e t h e r a p y
S a r a B l i s s,
Licensed Massage Theraoist
Proprietress
Disconnect: Please quiet any mobile devices. Remove any jewelry that might get in the way.
Keep breathing: While receiving a massage, focus your mind as fully as possible on your breathing to bring your awareness back to your body. Letting out a few sighs, groans here and there if you feel like it is just fine.
Stay loose: If you’re not engaging your mind to relax your own muscles, you’re missing many of the massage’s benefits and effects.
Let go: For the love of massage - Please don’t help your therapist give you a massage! It's really not helpful at all and that's not what you're paying them for afterall, right? Try your best not to anticipate every movement. Allow your limbs to be positioned as needed, allow the therapist to drape and tuck the sheets around your body as they deem necessary. They've done this before and don't need you to move yourself around to accomodate the tucking and draping...Your job is not to be a good helper here, just lying there like a noodle is really the best thing you can do and of the most help to your therapist.
Stop thinking, start being: When you’re getting a massage, don’t think about what you should have done or plan to do. A massage is time to be here now.
No pain, no gain? No way! Although certain muscle knots and patterns of tension do respond well to firm, well-focused pressure, you don’t necessarily need to experience it for yourself. Harder massage isn’t always better massage; sometimes the lightest touch can achieve the most profound benefits.
Listen to your emotions: If you encounter an emotional peak during a massage, relax, breathe, and allow it to happen.
Blissing out is okay: Sometimes massage makes you feel more than great; it makes you feel ecstatic, rapturous, and filled with bliss. Go with that feeling.
You’re the boss: You have complete authority to change anything that may be making you uncomfortable during a massage.
Be grateful: During the massage itself, spend some time being grateful for what you’re experiencing in the moment.
It's your time, and what you choose to receive from it is ultimately up to you. Make the most of this mini escape from the ordinary!
Massage for Dummies
After the Massage...
When your massage is complete, the therapist will step out of the room to allow you privacy to get up & redress. Avoid hopping right off the table. Rolling onto your side, sliding legs over first, then push your torso up with your hands is recommended to avoid straining your back as you get up. Sit for a minute or two on the edge of the table to be sure that you aren't woozy. Massage relaxes the body and clients have been known to feel dizzy if they get off the table too quickly. If you are feeling a little sleepy, that is normal. Open the room door when you are redressed and prepared to have the therapist re-enter the room, take your payment and send you on your way.
Because massage increases circulation, your kidneys will be working overtime while you are on the table. After a therapeutic massage, you will likely need to head straight to the bathroom. Also, because of the increased circulation, stored toxins in the body will be released. It is a good idea to sip water throughout the day to assist in the removal of those toxins. A word of caution to those who are new to massage: If you have never had a massage AND you have not been recently following an exercise routine, the release of toxins in the body can cause some people to feel flu-like symptoms a day or two after the massage. Increasing your water intake after a massage helps to reduce or avoid these symptoms.
Finally, be prepared to schedule another session or two. Massage has its greatest benefits over time. The therapeutic effects of massage are cumulative, so the more often you get a massage, the better you will feel and the more quickly your body will respond. From one session to the next, relaxation deepens as the chronic patterns of stress in the body are affected and released. If you’re getting massage to address chronic muscular tension or recovery from a soft tissue injury, more than one session is usually needed.
Photo: Google Images
N A V I G A T E
Receiving massage may seem like a passive activity, but knowing and following a few important guidelines can make you a better massage recipient and help you to get more out of your massage. Let these massage-receiving rules guide you to a great experience on the table :
Let it Go
(Or, how to be a great reciever.)
Site designed by Sara Bliss
All components of this site are the intellectual property of
Sara Bliss unless otherwise noted.
Updated 5/2018