I hope you have been enjoying the blogging challenge so far. This is the fourth of 31 blogs in 31 days and a continuation of the “What If” series.
What if massage clients who requested Deep Tissue really wanted something else and didn’t know how to ask?
Good thing I have always done a thorough intake and taken the time to visit with clients. It is more important to me to find out what is going on with someone, if there is a pathology, contraindication or problem that needs to be addressed, then assess and plan with the client, which techniques would be most effective.
I asked 10 new massage clients that asked for Deep Tissue, why they requested a Deep Tissue Massage and these were the results:
“Well, I thought it needed to be deep to be good.”
“Oh I can take the pressure, you have to make it hurt so the muscle can release right?”
“You know, I just want firm pressure; I can’t stand to be just glossed over.”
“Every time I haven’t asked for Deep Tissue people start doing Reiki to me.”
“I just want to be clear. I want a real massage I can feel not some kind of spiritual healing thing.”
“I guess I don’t really know what my choices are?”
“I can’t stand to be tickled.”
“Very light massages bore me.”
“Deep tissue is the best massage right?”
“If you could be like my tempur-pedic mattress and fit the pressure to my body perfectly that would be great but, it never happens.”
Interestingly enough there are some beliefs about Deep Tissue that may not be true.
Interestingly enough these 10 massage clients were:
· 2 Breast Cancer Survivors
· 1 with Multiple Sclerosis
· 1 with Rheumatoid Arthritis
· 1 with Lupus
· 2 with Chronic Pain and 1 of them also had Crohn’s Disease
· 1 Diabetic
· 1 7 months pregnant
· 1 with Emphysema
Typically Deep Tissue would be contraindicated or at the very least not the first choice for any of these clients.
What I was also hearing was their plea to not be babied or treated differently because of what was going on with their bodies. They still wanted a massage. They wanted touched, pressed, moved, kneaded and firmly addressed in a therapeutic manner. They all wanted to get relief from pain, relax and unwind. Some wished for more flexibility, strength and energy. They all desired to experience their bodies in a way they remembered before their present situation.
My hands are their safe refuge.
“Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person;
having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words,
but to pour them all out, chaff and grain together,
knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them,
keep what is worth keeping,
and then, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away.”
~Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
Give me a call at 610-906-2322 and we can talk about what you expect and need in your massage session.