Are you a ‘good sport’ for massage?

     

There is an approach to treating sports injuries, or injuries through exercise, which is called the biopsychosocial approach. This differs from the approach taken, maybe more so in the past, which is called the biomedical approach. The former approach considers biological, psychological, and social matters, while the latter only considers biological matters.

There is some research which speaks of the benefits of having many ‘teams’ involved in helping people with injuries to recover. In some cases we may add: if we can afford them all! 

They can be put into two ‘teams’: primary teams, such as physiotherapists, and physicians/surgeons/GPs; and secondary teams, with a variety, including psychiatrists, sports psychologists, nutritionists, and massage therapists, to name but a few.

This is where your friendly masseur comes in, though you may not feel they are so ‘friendly’ if having Sports Massage. Yet it is for good, as they seek to get to the roots of things, such as relieving muscle tensions, and aches and pains of stresses, but not meant as torturous. That costs extra, as a previous Blog pic says!

If massage is one of the secondary teams it is surely nonetheless effective and positive, and its validity as a treatment is not of any less quality. It’s called part of a holistic (whole-listic) approach, covering things of body (physical), soul/spirit (psychological), and help socially from others such as friends, family, fellow athletes or exercise group members, etc.

 

When massage services resume in the New Year, come along for a treatment, massage or whatever, maybe as a new year pursuit, continuing with sessions, or as a first experience of it.

Count Me In For A Massage

 

Professor Robin Dunbar (b.1947) is seen as the originator of ’Dunbar’s number’. This is 150. It is the suggested limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain social relationships. Another person seems happy that he can maintain a combined total of about 100 contacts actively on Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Now in this, whether your friendly massage therapist has 150 clients is his business. Other numbers suggested, and calculated somehow, are the lesser numbers of 5, 15, and 35, and the greater numbers of 500 and 1500. This may be OK with the greater numbers, if you have almost all day, every day, to be on the Internet!

 

A lot of people may reply, ‘Chance would be a fine thing; I should like to have the time!’

Many people surely, and maybe your masseur too, find one of the lesser numbers more manageable to handle, relating to the use of social media. There is then time for actual massage and other treatments in person. In this we may play bingo, as it were, as these are not the only numbers. We may have a number of stable social relationships between 35 and 150. What happened between that gap, I don’t know.

Professor Dunbar linked some of his suggestions with research into primates. An old comedy film has a Principal advising the Matron of a girls school to ‘tell them about the behaviour of the birds and bees, with a passing reference or two to monkeys!’ So some of this numbering may be a bit obscure, if relating humans with primates in some areas. We might end up looking as befuddled as the Matron did after the advice she had been given.

If the 150 figure is true, in some ways possibly, we know that we shall not be able to maintain the same level of relationship, friendship, actual contact, etc, with all of the 150, unless we do nothing else but socialise, party, go to festivals, etc, all of our lives. Some relationships may be deep, some light or superficial, and some middling.

This is a somewhat tentative link with massage, but come along as and when you can. For the masseur it will be good, though exhausting, if having 150 bookings, but hopefully there won’t be 150 people on a waiting list for massage or whatever other treatment they request. Count yourself in for massage or whatever treatment, and the masseur will count you in as a client too.

 

 

Massage: The Human Touch

 

It’s said that the human touch is good for us. This can include massage and associated treatments. Another aspect can be giving hugs, e.g. to friends, pets, and as parents to babies.

With the normal human body temperature being 98F,  psychologist, Alexander Bain (1818-1903), (below) asked why a cushion kept at this same temperature would not be a useful substitute, if no one was around to hug.

 

But it’s not the same, is it? Even though a soft silky cushion was specified. A cushion, or non-living object, cannot be pleasing in the same way, as in tactile expressions between humans. 

Some things may give us some pleasure though, such as ‘go hug a tree’. Objects cannot respond to us, yet if we do hug a tree, maybe the tree will feel good and feel like growing taller. Or, say nice things to your computer, printer, etc, and it may behave better. This is rather anthropomorphic though – giving human qualities to non-human things.

If making a phone call to your friendly masseur, there is another Alexander Bain (1810-1877), pictured below, who invented, among other things, a telegraph able to transmit up to 1,000 words per minute.

 

Not that you need 1,000 words to arrange an appointment, unless you go into infinitesimal details of your requirements. But visit again soon, or for a first visit for massage, if you wish and if you can.

Do you have time for a Massage?

 

Do you have time for a massage?

While researching this, we came across a German physiologist called Karl von Vierordt, who lived 1818-1884:

 

He developed what has come to be known as Vierordt’s Law: a short duration of time tends to be overestimated, e.g. ‘you’ve only 5 minutes left in this short massage session’, while a long duration of time tends to be underestimated, e.g. ‘you’ve still got 30 minutes left in this long massage session’.

This relates to the duration we perceive or estimate in doing something, compared to the actual duration in doing it. It can also vary depending on how easy or difficult a task may be, e.g. ‘that’s a snip, it will take me 5 minutes’, when it may take more time actually; and ‘that’s a whole lot of work, it will take me hours’, when it may take us less time actually.

We may find, as in massage, that time goes quickly when we’re enjoying ourselves, as the saying goes, and we may find things ‘easy’ in this case. 

Yet we may have a treatment such as a Sports Massage requiring more pressure and which may be uncomfortable. We may not enjoy this as such though it will be beneficial, even if we find it ‘difficult’ and the time may seem to go slowly. 

Vierordt was involved with medicine, and created the sphygmograph: 

This is a contraption used to estimate blood pressure. It is taken to be the forerunner of the modern sphygmomanometer: 

Come and have a massage or other treatment. Whatever amount of time you may book. It will, we trust, be time well spent.

 

How do your Senses improve a Massage?

 

We shall use our senses in massage or other treatments, as well as using them wherever we are and whatever we are doing.

This is not a repeat of the blog of 31 August 2021: ‘Just A Minute. Or Two’, though it could be sub-titled ‘Just A Minutiae’. In some psychological and medical research it was found that our sense of hearing causes the fastest response time in humans. 

Then it is the senses of sight and touch, followed by the senses of taste and smell being the slowest response times. It is minutiae and splitting hairs terribly, as our reaction time with any of the senses is less than one second. One could think of Internet searches, and about 5 million results found in 0.65 seconds, for example. By the way, you will find Daniel’s massage services at the top of the list hopefully!

The sense of touch is often the most recognised sense in massage or other treatments, though all the senses may be involved in varying degrees. So taking the order of the ‘speed’ of senses as above, we may not, and need not, experience each of them in this exact order. 

As an example, whether hypothetical, or real, we may first sense any background music that we may have in a massage. Then actually see the masseur and the surroundings, and experience touch. Though of course we shall see the masseur firstly, upon our arrival. 

Then use senses of smell with any fragrant candles, oils, etc, and possibly taste, in having a glass of water, if water has any taste!

As I said earlier, with the reaction times of our senses, we react to each of them within one second. You won’t need a stop-watch measuring hundredths of a second, nor even whole seconds, to time your sense reactions! Well, not unless you are counting every second of your appointment time. That’s extending the blog of 31 August 2021 a bit (as above), but going to extremes.

 A lot of it happens subconsciously. You won’t be fiddling with watches, but having enjoyable massage or other treatment as you choose.

 

 

How does Serotonin help with my massage?

 

Does a lack of serotonin, the ‘happy hormone’ or ‘feel-good hormone’ contribute to the development of depression? Current research is trying to find out. 

5HT for short, and 5-hydroxytryptamine in full, is the chemical name for serotonin. 5-HTT is the serotonin transporter, with the extra T standing for Transporter. This is not related to HST, which are High Speed Trains!

Though it may be related somehow to HRT, which is Hormone Replacement Therapy, but just how this is so, I have not looked further into it.

There are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) which are used as Anti-Depressant Medications (ADMs). Serotonin is a chemical released from neurons (nerve cells) and travels via synapses. The ‘before’ nerve cells which release serotonin are known as pre-synaptic, and the ‘after’ nerve cells which receive serotonin are known as post-synaptic. 

The SSRI’s, as in their name, inhibit some of the serotonin from being re-uptaken back into the pre-synaptic nerve cells, so that more of the serotonin crosses the synapses and reaches the post-synaptic nerve cells 

 

With all this, serotonin, and other ‘good’ hormones that there may be, will be released in you when you have a massage or other treatment.  As in the previous blog, we thankfully do not need to understand all that may go on inside of us when we have treatments. Hopefully, this blog explains, if partly so, of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ we feel good, and find it ‘all good stuff’.

Come and have massage or other treatment, whether you are a scientist, biologist, chemist, or whatever your occupation!

Is a Massage Stressful?

 

What might go on within, inside of you, when you have a massage? How might stress be part of this, for good?

There appears to be ‘good’ stress, as in eustress – also see the ‘Eu’ blog of 18 May 2021. This is from the Greek eu=good, as in, e.g. euphoria. There is also ‘bad’ stress, as in distress, from the Latin dis=bad. 

We need not be Greek or Latin scholars with this, thankfully. An endocrinologist, Hans Selye (1907-1982) researched stress. See the blog of 18 August 2021 for ‘endo’ and ‘exo’ prefix explanations.

It seems that stress of whatever sort has some effect, or affect, or both, on us from within ourselves. This is somehow expressed outwardly in some way or ways, whether consciously or unconsciously. The stress may also sometimes be depressed in us, causing us to feel, as its description, depressed. Not that stress is the only cause of depression. Or stress may be suppressed, or repressed (repression is deeper than suppression).

 Also, in cells making up our human bodies, there are electrical charges. Some are positive and some are negative. See also blog of 24 February 2021 of some electrical matters in this context.

 For a massage or other treatment, we do not need to understand all that may go on inside of us when we have treatments. 

We may know of some of the more well-known bodily chemicals such as serotonin, called the ‘happy hormone’ or ‘feel-good hormone’ which is released in us. 

This will be so when, for example, you have a massage. You will hopefully feel good, though not needing to know all about the why or how or whatever of it, the ‘whatever’ maybe being the literal ins-and-outs of it.

 

Just a Minute. Or Two

 

Written by a customer of Daniel Beauty.

 

We all know ‘Every little helps’, whether we dash off to Tesco or not. We may also know ‘Every minute counts’ in various contexts. including massage.

But – oh no! – looking up one massage service in my local area, not Woking, it shall remain anonymous so as not to give it poor publicity. The details showed pricing as more expensive than Daniel  Beauty, and time before and after the actual treatment showed as 5 to 10 minutes included in the session booked, depending on what treatment is required, e.g. you get 50 or 55 minutes treatment, but pay for 60 minutes. Though at least this is explained beforehand.

 

It’s disappointing to read, and then possibly say ‘Oh, I didn’t realise preparation time was included in the sessions’. Also, it’s sneaky to shave off a minute or two before and/or after an actual treatment. In these cases you won’t be experiencing your full shave, waxing, or whatever treatment you have. It will have been shaved off time-wise though!

 This seems poor practice. It never happens at Daniel Beauty, and there are probably many other places too where it never happens. But every minute definitely counts, with, to spell out the costs, the rate in some cases being over £1 per minute. It is necessary nitty-gritty. We wouldn’t bother about 5 minutes if it only cost 5 pence!

 

Anyway, it advertised as "preperation" time, whatever that is! You want the best, and will hopefully find, or have found, Daniel and other colleagues at the same venue now and again, of excellent repute, as you enjoy your full allocation of the minutes you book. 

You won’t find any minutes ‘unjust’, in the sense of them being non-existent due to having less than your full time, so you won’t be short-changed for your massage either.

What makes you desire a Massage?

 

This is not a discourse on making sure you attend your massage appointments or give enough time if you need to cancel them. But please read on!

In part of the brain’s workings there is Selective Attention. It is, in simple terms, the ability to select certain things to give attention to in daily life.

This can be endogenous, ‘from within’. An example is that when we feel hungry, have empty tummy rumbles, etc, from within ourselves, and give our attention to preparing a burger or whatever we choose to eat.  Or it can be exogenous, ‘from outside’. An example is that we see an advertisement for burgers, or other food, and give our attention to that, though we may not be hungry at the time.

 This could apply to massage. If we feel like, wish for, or desire a massage or other treatment, we act endogenously, and may make an appointment with a masseur.  If we see advertisements, videos, etc, of massage or other treatments, we act in an exogenous way. The images remind us of massage, and so we may make an appointment, though not having previously been thinking about massage.

Thankfully we don’t have to consciously trace whether we are acting endogenously or exogenously each time. The endogenous, ’from within’ things may happen more consciously, where we use our wills, make decisions, choices, etc. The exogenous, ‘from outside’ things may happen more subconsciously, where we had not been previously, thinking, mulling over, etc.

 Whether endogenous or exogenous, where your selective attention may turn to massage or other treatments, come along for another visit. Of course, you don’t have to know and understand all the workings of the brain (phew!) of which this is but one area. 

We hope you will be ‘selective’, maybe including being choosy, preferential, what takes your fancy, wanting more of a good thing, etc, and give ‘attention’ to Daniel’s massage services.

The perfect Massage

 

We may come across people, hopefully not very often, who may not be as ‘people-people’, or as heard more in the singular, ‘people-person’. This could apply in various areas, such as employment, education or socially. Though socially you may not want such people in your mix of friends, and they would be unfriendly anyway.

With relating to employment, if you unhappily have a manager or worse, more than one, who is not a ‘people-person’, there can be a tendency that employees are treated as things or objects, and hardly as human beings. If assertive enough, we may say ‘Look, it’s me; I am human; I am here; I exist’.

 

In the area of massage and other treatments, customers or clients are surely seen as human, and there is friendly interacting and relating between masseur and customers.

There is always the risk if there is a feedback option after customers have experienced a service, from whatever customer service we may have experienced, masseur or non-masseur. 

A masseur (or other business) can trust they have given and done their best for customers. The feedback is then hopefully seen in testimonials, positive comments, by word of mouth, online, etc, that are wonderful, glowing, ‘all good stuff’ sort of things.

If, for example, there are star ratings that customers can give, it can be detrimental or even disastrous if not maintaining a 5-star level. Some customers may think a little less of a service if it has even a 4.9 average. Sometimes it is entirely variable though. 

A customer may give a 1 rating, and some other customers may give a 4 or 5 rating, knowing from experience it is at least better than a 1. But no-one wants to receive any zeros! Though in all this, there does not HAVE to be feedback. Some business may not ‘do feedback’ for whatever reasons.

 Your massage or other treatment may be 100% perfect – we hope it is! But it will be good, we trust,  whatever you have, as you can read in our Massage testimonials. 

 

Can a Massage help with my aches and pains?

 In life, though this is not a thesis on the human condition, there may be various ailments, maladies, troubles, etc. These may be of body, soul, or spirit, or a mixture of these, as human beings. Aches and pains, troubles, illnesses, etc, may be short-term, medium-term or long-term. Some may be temporary and some may be permanent.

Massage and other treatments can play a role in helping to alleviate adverse or negative conditions we may have, whether to remove them partially or completely. It may depend on each individual, their openness to particular treatments. Or it may be just massage or whatever treatment for a treat, luxury, or pampering of oneself.

 

When we do not have something for a while, whatever duration of time we may be without it, it is sometimes only at those times that we miss it.

Though we might not have intentionally taken things for granted, but had been in a settled and agreeable state when we did not have it, e.g. we may have enjoyed good health, but then had some ache or pain that we did not always have, or never had before. But now we find we have the ache or pain, for some reason or cause, that may be known only to ourselves, or not know why we have it.

In this area, massage or other services provided by a masseur can hopefully be of genuine help to bring ease, freedom, lessening of troubles, etc. Or just to bring peace, relaxation, and pleasantness, if not affected by anything adverse or negative. 

There is a phrase ‘captatio benevolentiae’, meaning ‘seeking of good will’. We can recognise ‘benevolent’ in part of this phrase. This can surely apply to massage and related treatments that clients experience. Come along to experience it for a first visit, or for your ten thousandth visit - high hopes that you’ll find it that good!

 

Massage Treatments And Therapies

 This is not about introverts and extroverts, but is ‘inversion’

It is up to people’s own preferences of what treatments and massage therapies they may choose to have, or not to have. At Daniel Beauty there is a comfortable table, or couch, which you can see in the picture in some previous Blogs (e.g. 6 October 2020) if you have not seen it in person. This is not like the one shown below which may conjure up some thoughts of a torture chamber, yet if we seem to get on with inversion therapy it is the sort of table we shall use.

 

Inversion therapy is said, among other things, to help back pain, and to help return to some ‘rebirth’ stage when fully inverted, or tipped upside-down, in other words. It can symbolise a baby’s position in the womb before it is about to be born, but not connected to any spookiness of reincarnation.

There can also be some feelings of loss of control, though this will not happen in massage treatments. It may be something psychosomatic (‘body-to-soul’) that causes odd feelings when inverted, with being in an unnatural position, all the blood rushing to your head, etc. Or it may be plainly physical, due to the position one is in. My view, as a client of Daniel’s contributing to his Blogs, is that inversion therapy can also be frightening.

You will, anyway, remain the right way up during massage or other treatments, even if laying down. It may seem a little torture if you have, e.g. Sports Massage, though this is with a positive purpose, with hopefully an outcome of healing sooner or later.

Take care if considering alternative therapies to massage. It is one’s choice every time though. What works for one may not work for someone else, whether fully or partly so.

 

Contemplating Completion for Massage

 Are you contemplating a massage treatment, or a completion of a treatment you may have started? If so, it will be completed after the required number of sessions, or in some cases after a one-off session.

We can think of Franz Schubert. How does he link with massage?! See pictures of him, age 30, without spectacles; and age 28, with spectacles, painted by separate artists. 

He lived 1797-1828, and was the author of The Unfinished Symphony, which he started. What happened? He only composed two of the usual four movements of this Symphony. Admittedly, he developed an illness, and only had a short life, dying at nearly age 32. Though when writing this Symphony he lived on for a further six years afterwards.

 

Symphony (a little Greek again!) is derived from symphonia, with one meaning being ‘agreement or concord of sound’. Symphonia is derived from symphonos, meaning ‘harmonious’.

You will hopefully experience all these in your massage treatment – agreement, concord, harmony. It won’t be that things are left unfinished, but that you will progress to completion, satisfaction, well-being – whatever your musical preferences!

The Gateway to your next Massage

 

Visiting Daniel Beauty may be your gateway to various pleasant massage experiences, we trust. There are some pubs named The Gateway also. Here is one in a town in Berkshire (see picture) near a Railway Station.

 

With beauty treatments, as with going to pubs, there can be some similarities, such as enjoyment, feeling refreshed, good company. At The Gateway in Woking, the home of your friendly masseur/therapist, at the Woodham Lane entrance there are two small white fences either side of the road. These could symbolise gates, though there are also some nearby at Woodham Waye (see satellite picture on Google maps).

 

If going via The Six Crossroads Roundabout, don’t go too far along Woodham Lane as it’s about 3 miles long! Turn off at the white fences about half a mile along.

 

A gate is an entrance or exit to or from another path, track, etc. Maybe go through that gate as a new experience, and have a massage or other treatment. This may be as a new experience, or as a return visit. You might travel the shortest route, yet it may seem a scenic route, literally, by car. Or a pleasant walk, taking in the geographical features of the area, via part of The Saturn Trail by the Basingstoke Canal.

 

If travelling from Woking Station end, don’t miss the Monument Road Bridge turning, or you may go on for miles! You will have gone too far, and might see the massage therapist waving to you from his back garden, (and you wave to him too) which backs on to the Canal. But by then you will be on the opposite side of the Canal, with no bridge for quite a while – or turn back to the last bridge.

The Art of Massage

An artistic link with massage and other treatments could be plausible, in a painting by Bernardo Strozzi, who lived c.1581-1644. One of his nicknames was ‘Il Cappuccino’, not ‘Coffee-man’, but because he was a Capuchin monk at one time!

I have not been able to locate a picture of him, but it is said he looked like Claudio Monteverdi the composer, who lived 1567-1643(see picture) who Strozzi painted c.1640.

 

One of his other paintings is ‘Vanitas’ (Vanity) or ‘The Old Coquette’ (The Old Flirt) from about 1615 (see picture). More refinedly this is called ‘Old Woman At A Mirror’. With beauty treatments, you will know aestheticism, beauty-enhancement, though you won’t end up as mutton dressed up as lamb, of which the picture may give some impression, if only slightly.

 

In some treatments such as Sports Massage or some Waxing, it may feel like a similar sounding word, asceticism, self-denial of enjoyments, bearing of pain, though all for a good outcome!

There is massage available, as fine as that is, and hopefully enjoyable, we trust. There are also treatments such as body waxing, botox/facial aesthetics, facial treatments, intimate waxing, and threading. And there are varieties of massage too, depending on your requirements.

Yet there is beauty in ageing too, maturity and experience gained, not only relating to the physical body, but also to the areas of soul and spirit. This again links with Strozzi as many of his paintings are on spiritual themes.

Come along to be beautified, if not beatified (made saint-like), though you may feel heavenly after your massage treatment. Remember, Strozzi was a monk at one time!

A Massage Treatment For Eu?

 

No, not an item relating massage with the European Union (EU) – phew! – but do read on.

 As an introduction, some things in life may have obscure links, or not be apparently obvious straightaway. Many pupils in my Secondary School, would dread the notice-board announcement of occasional ‘Headmasters Assembly Today’. He covered various subjects, though if we were not interested in the subject, it could seem an endless 15 minutes of waffle.

 

Hopefully your massage or other treatment is not catastrophic, in the meaning of causing great damage, suffering, disaster, etc. Thankfully there is another meaning of ‘catastrophic’ as a literary term referring to the ‘unravelling’ or conclusion of a drama’s plot.

 

The writer J.R.R. Tolkien was born in 1892 in South Africa - the same country as your friendly masseur! Tolkien died in 1973 in the U.K. He coined the word ‘eucatastrophe’ adding ‘eu’, meaning ‘good’. Though spell-checker may not like it! So the whole word means a sudden turn of events at the end of a story which ensures the protagonist (main character) has an outcome such as positive, favourable, good, etc. This will be so for clients at the end of their sessions, we trust.

 

Tolkien wrote many books, which you may have read, or seen as long films. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is cited as one example of a eucatastrophe. Massage and other treatments may be long, though they won’t be long-winded! And some may be short.

 

All being well, the massage treatment you have will be good for ‘eu’ (you). If one asks ‘How was your treatment?’ we may reply ‘eucatastrophic’ in the literary sense, and baffle them with this word at the same time!

Having a Massage - is it all Greek to you?

 A Greek Massage?

No, not a Blog on some exotic-type of massage – sorry if that disappoints! But some linguistic background, if we were describing a visit using Greek – as you usually do – not?!

 Anyhow, if we find a massage or other treatment ‘amazing’, and were writing a review of our (hopefully) utterly amazing beauty treatment, a world we would use is ‘thambeo’. This is from the root word ‘tremon’, meaning to tremble, shake, etc.

 

Part of a previous Blog (29 October 2020) may link with this: “We may be sometimes not wanting to feel too cold, though we shiver to aim to get warm; nor wanting to feel too hot, though we sweat to aim to cool down”.

If we may shiver, sort of involuntarily in a massage, it may give us harmless trembles or shakes, even when it may be warm weather. Maybe this is something subconscious, as when we feel in ourselves that we are enjoying the experience. Due to the weather or not, if shivery, the masseur will kindly provide a luxury towel or two to cover us if we wish – for the part or parts not being massaged at that time, that is!

 

As an aside, massage may also help nervous conditions in some ways, such as bringing relaxation and peace. The idyllic setting can also help, being located in leafy Surrey, and in a quiet road.

 Another word we may use is ‘ekpliso’, meaning to strike with a blow. Not to be alarmed though, as this is not in the sense of a punch-up (you’ll be glad to hear!). It is in the sense of being a mind-blowing type of thing. We may also experience this in sessions.

 Have another amazing visit soon for a massage! It need not be ‘All Greek to you’, as the saying goes.

Support your local Masseur again

This blog has been written by one of Daniel Beauty's clients

Time soon again to support your local, or maybe not so local massage therapist. But it’s worth it, seeing as I, as one of Daniel’s clients, travel as and when I can, not living locally. But whether living near or far, I am sure you will experience the unique professionalism and atmosphere of making a visit to Daniel’s again, or maybe for the first time. We can have a taste of how it will be, from reading the true testimonials on Daniel’s website, one of which is mine!

 As things hopefully continue to ease, come along to experience again, or anew, the ‘human touch’ in massage, or whatever other treatment you wish to have. You may recall good memories of relaxation and the atmosphere of the pleasant surroundings. Also, thinking of ‘how it was’, and ‘that’s good; I should like more of that’.

 There can be restoration of some things we have been deprived of, as it were, that were not possible in lockdowns. But also, you may consider massage and similar treatments as ‘essential’, though they have been classed as ‘non-essential’ businesses! Or at least, businesses where necessary human contact and touch have had to be suspended.

What with a massage, waxing, hot stones, or whatever, and maybe a nice haircut or trim, now that it is possible to have them again too, you will know simple pleasures and pampering for yourself – and may wish to recommend services to friends too.

 If you wish, and if and when you can for a massage – ‘Don’t delay; book today!’

 

 

 

To Touch Again

 

Some Blogs of recent months have included the theme of touching. This may be a suitable time to cover some aspects of the theme again. Its also  the basis of massage of course.

We can find comfort, and so can our pets, as a two-way thing, in stroking and making a fuss of them at times. We may be missing the ‘human touch’ in various ways, where these are not advised. These can be handshakes, hugs, an encouraging pat on the back or shoulder, or other ways of non-verbal communication where actual touch is involved.

 

We likely have had to settle for alternatives such as a nod or wink, or thumbs up, non-contact high fives, or even small bows, without going as far as falling at a person’s feet! With massage hopefully resuming in the near future we, and the masseur, will be able to experience the human touch again. So that is also a two-way thing, while not forgetting those pets to pamper!

There can be warmth, sensitivity, and a range of hopefully pleasant emotions experienced in massage, as masseurs seek to do their best to meet individually tailored requirements – just what each person desires each session to be. Bear with the human touch ‘hunger’ a while more, with the anticipation of sensing touch again soon, whether as a new client, or as a returning client, who maybe says, ‘That’s all good stuff; I will have more of that, please!’

 

Whether massage or other treatments where touch is necessary, to a greater or lesser extent, the experience of it can be beneficial, if you are a ‘touchy-feely’ person or not. Plan a visit for a massage when ‘normal’ or a ‘new normal’ comes to pass.

Can I get a buzz from Massage?

 

What, bizarrely, could be some connection, between gruesome experiments of chopping off frogs or salamanders limbs, and massage?

There may be some link, if slight, and dependent on personal beliefs, in these experiments by Robert Becker. He was an American orthopaedic surgeon and researcher in electrophysiology or electro-medicine. The ‘physiology’ part relates to ‘the physical, the body’. Hence, also see his book: ‘The Body Electric’.

 

He applied electrical charges to the sites of the amputated limbs of these animals. This in some cases caused the limbs to grow back over time, though many people find these experiments unethical, and Frankenstein-like. The aspect related to massage may be in the electrical currents generated.

 

It could be that minimal electrical charges are transmitted via massage and other touch treatments, or in other terms, ‘good vibes’ or ‘positivity’ of some sort. This may be two-way: masseur to client, and vice versa.

 This may be speculation to some people, though we all have energy, movement, etc. Call it a vital essence maybe, that indicates our ‘alive-ness’.  Though of course we are not able to generate enough electricity to power a light bulb. In staying with light-bulbs a moment, there is the cartoon with the word ‘idea’ flashing above a person’s head. So it may not be entirely without any truth.

 Some masseurs may emphasise the electrical aspect more than others. But whatever, massage and other treatments will not be bizarre, frightening, scary, that not being the aim. And you won’t blow a fuse, nor have any bits chopped off you either (the mind boggles!).

 Methinks me jests, with the picture and words of the previous blog, even if a little seeming torture in some treatments such as waxing or sports massage.  It will be as you wish, when services are permitted to resume again, whether or not you get a buzz!

 

We'll Meet Again for Massage

 For getting on for nearly a year now, we have all been affected by Covid-19, whether in small, medium, or large ways. This has included massage and associated services, which have been operating intermittently.

It’s not that we are being unsociable, but rather co-operative and acting responsibly in observing limitations ‘for the good of everyone’, ourselves included. This was on a notice I saw in a public place asking people not to leave any bags unattended.

It is good if have lost our panic over the initial outbreak of Covid-19, but we remain careful and sensible, still taking our part, doing what we can, even if some of our feelings have become a bit numbed through habit. This can be so in remembering at times ‘Oops, I’m standing too close to this person’ or ‘Oh yes, I forgot, massage and other services are not available just now’.

But hopefully in time there will be opportunities again to experience touch in massage; the warmth of hot stones or wax; a little pain even (or minimal?!), in waxing, but for good; the relaxing atmosphere of a visit to a masseur/therapist; or whatever pleasantries we may experience again (or anew) from the treatment we desire to have. We can remind ourselves it is not always or only massage that is available.

This will be beneficial to the masseur’s/therapist’s ‘trade’ too, as he/she is able to see clients again, or call them customers, or even friends. This may be so, particularly if a relationship of sorts is formed in a professional capacity, such as in several visits for a course of treatment.

Aspects of massage and other treatments may affect different people in different ways, such as if we are a touchy-feely person; or like the pleasant sensations, such as hot stones or wax; or wish to enhance our appearance through waxing, fat reduction, eyebrow threading, etc. Whatever we may choose, it will surely be of value, as in ‘it’s all good stuff!’

See you soon, hopefully before too long, if for a first visit, or see you again if making a return visit for a massage. We’ll meet again – to change the song a little – we shall know where, at Daniel’s, or a home visit maybe, even if we don’t yet know when.

Touching Times for a Massage Therapist

 

With some things in human life, we may not always appreciate them until we may have to go without them for a while, whether a short of long time. Or at least we may forget the benefits, or some of them, of pleasant experiences, or what we had in the past, but maybe not have now, whether temporarily or permanently.

This could be so with human touch, with the present Covid-19 restrictions, and also relating to massage, where we can sense the human touch of one, two, or even four hands. It surely is of benefit, with human beings having body, soul, and spirit interlinked.

 

We do not have to know the sometimes seeming deep, or hidden, psychological-type things that may be involved in massage. We may simply come along for relaxation; easing of muscle strain; for a pampered treat; or for whatever reason.

Though lack of a sense can indeed be restricting, and sometimes another sense or senses may be heightened to compensate for a missing sense, or a sense of reduced quality. This can be so, if we lack, or are restricted in one or more senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, or touch. Then again, we may ourselves restrict one sense or more (e.g. touch) for a time, whether voluntarily or mandatorily.

 

Come along, when it is possible again, to a friendly and welcoming massage session,  when hopefully the restrictions on touching are removed, if a new customer, or a returning customer, and experience anew, or sense again, what you have been missing.