Taking time for a Massage

 

This blog begins on a tangent, though brings in some aspects that could apply to massage.

There is Parkinson’s ‘law’, which is more of an adage really. This is from Cyril Northcote Parkinson (1909-1983), a British naval historian, and says that ‘work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion’.  Which is worse – having too much to do, or too little to do? There are other similar sayings, some bringing in algebraic formulae. We won’t go into those here, you’ll be glad to know!

 

The masseur could be doing the ‘work’, and it could be that leisure, such as having a massage, waxing, liposuction, etc, will expand so as to fill the time available in your treatment session(s). Or if ‘time goes quickly when one is enjoying oneself’, it may seem as though the time goes faster than you think.

 

It’s good to leave enough time for things, even if it’s make time for things, whatever one’s daily matters may be. Some examples are: time in and out of part time or full time jobs; tending to family; getting children to and from school; going shopping; visiting relatives; and countless other things.

 

If not setting enough time, one may under-estimate the minutes or hours that some tasks may take. This can lead to stressful situations. We cannot really multi-task in the sense of doing one thing with one’s left hand while trying to do something else with one’s right hand at the same time.

It can be that we, as people, co-operate with time, though time is not a living entity. Neither can we go back or forward in time, unless one has a time-travelling machine or Tardis! Though a part of Horsell Common, by the Muslim Burial Ground, was the inspiration for ‘War of the Worlds’. It’s quite atmospheric and a bit spooky there.

 

Pass by that way if you wish, if you come along for a massage or other treatment. Aim to spend some time enjoyably, and based on what you are able to afford. One can capture each moment of it with hopefully pleasant experiences, and happy reflections or musings on it.

 

 

Massage And Hammers

 

This blog on massage starts out with some words I read, not by a masseur, but which could come under the DBO. That’s the Department of the Blooming Obvious, to moderate the ‘B’ of it. There was (or still is) such a column in a newspaper.

I read that to have a massage, an author choosing this as a random thing, one needs to have a physical body. This is true! It would seem flimsy and wispy if one was trying to massage a spirit or soul without there being a physical body present.

Yet having a bodily massage or other treatment, as mentioned in some previous blogs, can also have an effect for good on one’s spirit or soul, or both, though we cannot see spirits or souls as tangible things.

 

Abraham Maslow, pictured above, (1908-1970), an American psychologist, is known for ‘Maslow’s Hammer’, or it may be called ‘golden hammer’. This is phrased as ‘if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail’. Some aspects of this won’t apply to massage of course. For example, you won’t be hammered or forced into any treatments.

Massage need not be as a hammer, in that it is not the only treatment available, though some may wish to have massage only. There is also waxing, threading, etc, and different types of massage – see the ‘Home’ web page.

 

At a church a Vicar said to someone at the end of a service, ‘Good to see you; not seen you for some time’. The person replied, ‘I’ve been with you all in spirit’. The Vicar replied, ‘That’s nice, but bring along your body more in future. That’s better than a lot of invisible spirits floating around’.

So we can do so for massage or other treatments. Come along in person, compos mentis, being ‘all there’. If not having been for some time, masseur may say, ‘Great to see you, you’ve changed a bit’. You may reply, ‘Well, it’s still me; it was the same me when I last looked in the mirror anyway!’

Beneficial Massage

 

The fees that are charged for massage or other treatments by masseurs are one type of capital. This also appears in accounting records.

There is social capital, which is a type of capital relating to society, interactions between people, etc, of a beneficial nature. We may be practising it without even knowing of the term. 

It is shown in examples such as opening a door for someone; returning a lost item to someone; giving someone directions; loaning something, not necessarily always financially, without a contract. 

These and many other things may be between people we may or may not know. If the term sounds a bit business-like, we could say it means being kind, helpful, loving one another, even in the simplest ways.

 

The ‘capital’ part, in a simplified and informal way, though dated, can be in saying ‘That’s splendid. Capital!’ That may sound a bit high-brow, or as an alternative to ‘How jolly’ or ‘How spiffing!’ It is used to express approval, satisfaction, or delight, all of which you will hopefully experience in a massage.

Massage can contribute to social capital, and our response to it, or to other treatments such as waxing, threading, liposuction, etc, may not be of upper-class expression, such as ‘spiffing’ or ‘top-hole’, but of ‘excellent’, ‘first-rate’, etc, which are equivalent meanings.

 

One could expand on the ‘language’ of capital, such as investing time and money in massage or other treatment, and of reaping rewards such as having positive experiences.

The masseur will be interested in the financial type of capital but will promote social capital also. You won’t be just clients from whom a business wishes to take money, though of course a massage service is a business.

There will be the ‘people-person’ aspect also, of any worthwhile masseur. You will get your ‘money’s worth’ and will hopefully benefit holistically in areas of body, soul, and spirit – a somewhat frequent claim in recent blogs, but true. Not that masseurs and therapists claim this is so with no back-up, as there are testimonials from clients which show and comment on the positive benefits.

 

Come along sometime, or for another visit, to see for yourself, and have a massage or whatever you may wish to socially capitalise on, i.e. take the chance to gain advantage or benefit from.

Therapeutic Times for Masage

 

A massage therapist is able to offer, as the name suggests, massage as therapy, plus other therapies such as waxing, hot stones, threading, etc.

We need not be put off by the thought of ‘therapy’ though, and have probably heard descriptions, or experienced ourselves of being, for example, ‘in therapy’, or ‘having therapy’, or ‘getting an area of one’s life sorted out’, and so on. The English word ‘therapy’ comes via the Latin ‘therapia’ which is from the Greek, and literally means ‘curing’ or ‘healing’.

There is a broad range of therapies, a massive range in fact, relating to body, soul, and spirit. Some of these can overlap, or even include all three aspects in holistic (whole-listic) treatments. People can sift through therapies that are available. They may range from seemingly cranky or hocus-pocus, to middling and maybe of some use, to positive and helpful therapies. The latter may start as ‘I will give that a try’ and may go on to become ‘It’s just what I need (or needed)’.

It may not be that massage can actually cure ailments, such as physical diseases, nor whether it actually can heal completely, though that could sometimes happen. But hopefully one will find relief in some measure from aches and pains, stresses, etc, and experience healing of some sort, whether in small, medium, or large ways.

In coming for a massage or other treatment, it is possible for it to be ‘all good stuff’, as when one says to their friend ‘I was just talking about you’, and the friend replies ‘All good stuff I hope!’ Clients may (or will) experience an overall sense of sessions being conducive to their well-being. And again, as in holistic types of treatments, somehow an atmosphere or influence – call it what you will – of wholeness will pervade and be sensed.

In this blog, it may seem as if it is elevating massage to great heights, or new heights, though clients do find treatments beneficial. One may wish to publicise and promote one’s own ‘trade’ positively, though there is something in it for clients personally. It can also be that they are enabled to relate more easily or freely to others in some ways, such as when some ache, pain, tension, etc, has been lessened, or even removed altogether. Though masseurs don’t have magic wands that they wave!

See you soon maybe, for a massage or whatever treatment you wish.

 

To massage or not to massage?

That is the question re massage, to open on a Shakespearean note. But no, not a blog on his works. In fact, this blog may seem a lot of umm-ing and ahh-ing of whether to have a massage or other treatment or not. In the end one decides yes or no.

But in aiming to explain, as a layman, how one arrives at yes or no, without hopefully being too long-winded, or higgledy-piggledy, and without it turning into a psychology lesson, there are filtering processes, which can apply to making decisions in any matter in life.

 

In a learning experience, this begins with a stage of going through a beliefs and attitudes filter. In this filter, one may reject a matter, or may go on to the next stage of a context filter, where one considers the context of a matter, i.e. some things in life can appear odd when considered out of context.

It may be that one bypasses the beliefs and attitudes filter if going by ‘seeing is believing’, e.g. one sees videos, demonstrations, etc of massage and then believes it will be good to have this, though does not as yet arrange any treatment. In this case one would jump straight to the context filter.

At the context filter stage, one may reject the matter, or pass to the next stage of a reflective loop. Here one is reflecting in one’s thinking, and may reject the matter and not have any treatment for now. Or one may adapt and experiment, e.g. arrange a certain treatment of massage, waxing, threading, etc, maybe for a first time, or try various different treatments. Or one may adopt the matter one is considering, so one might say, e.g. ‘I enjoyed that treatment; I think I will have more of it’.

So at any stage there is a choice to reject. But we hope you will wish to have treatment experiences that you will find pleasant and profitable, and that you will arrive at a ‘yes’ for massage or whatever treatment you wish. There is no compulsion of course, as we know one person cannot make up another person’s mind for them anyway.

 

 

 

How do I get a Meaningful Massage...

 

 ...or waxing, or liposuction, or threading, or whatever treatment you may have?

In focusing mainly on massage here, there are some people who can be more nervous than others. This may show in them being jittery, fidgety, stressed, or other expressions. It’s part of who they are. One will find that massage is not a psychology lesson, though aspects of psychology (soul and spirit) can come into it, as well as the probably more visible aspects of physiology (body).

 

One does not have to analyse every moment of massage sessions, and nor will the masseur be analysing you. If one can relax in a massage, it will surely be of benefit to clients, and will help the masseur too. Some clients may be less relaxed in waxing, for example, though the aim is not to cause pain. That costs extra, as a previous Blog says!

But just to come for a massage, and to be still a while, if ‘let go’ sounds too threatening, or as if one would lose control. One will be in control of all of one’s faculties, even if one may become sleepy, dreamy, ethereal. This is nothing spooky or hypnotic though.

 

Certain stresses and strains may be revealed and detected during massage, such as neck, shoulder, head, back pain, or general body tension. One may wish to have specific treatment, concentrating on certain problematic area(s). Or if no particular areas of pain, one may enjoyably experience the masseur’s touch, and general well-being feeling of the massage.

Then after massage, to retain something within of calm and peace, with a certain depth, possibly also expressed outwardly also, that one hopefully experienced during the session. One may aim to retain this somehow, so that it does not quickly evaporate through  stress, or rushing back to the next thing on today’s ‘to-do list’, with maybe too many things to think about all at once.

All good things come to an end? If so, for massage sessions, one may feel very relaxed and maybe sleepy. This can be so too for Tai Chi classes, for example, relaxing on a mat at times, feeling one would like to stay there for ages, yet calmly resuming ‘normal service’ of one’s individual daily matters.

Come along, trusting that massage or whatever treatment you have will be meaningful. This can also link with mindfulness, meditation, and similar holistic-type activities.

 

 

 

 

Is a hot massage better than a cold massage?

 

  

You may experience degrees of heat and cold during massage or other treatments.

 

But this is not to the extreme of a treatment such as a cryosauna session, where one is subjected to temperatures of minus 100C or more. It is short and sweet, or short and sharp, or both, as it is only for a maximum of three minutes. Some people may have less time of one or two minutes.

 

With it being far colder than brass-monkey weather, it is said by some to be refreshing and revitalising, and more of a ‘dry chill’ as if being in a freezer, than outdoors in a blizzard, for example.  It may not be for everyone though, and checks are made, as they are with certain treatments that your friendly masseur offers.

Whether you’re a Winter or Summer person, or whatever season, there is likely to be the warm atmosphere of the masseur’s home, and of his amiable personality, as well as heat in some of the treatments, e.g. hot stone massage.

 

Some other sporting treatment involves players alternating between cold and hot baths, though the cold bath is above freezing point and the hot bath is not at boiling point. If it were, it could be as a story of 40 martyrs in Armenia, sentenced in 320AD to freeze to death unclothed outdoors overnight. A person pitied them, and took the place of one of the group. The one seemingly saved from a cold death immediately jumped into a hot bath and died from the shock of it.

Come and be warmed and heated, or maybe cooled if you are emotionally over-heated through too much stress, etc, and have a massage or other treatment as you wish.

 

How is the Massage for EU?

 

It’s a slight link to massage, though recalling a previous blog (18 May 2021), this brings in the ‘eu’ prefix again.  It will be stating the opposite in this blog, in mentioning eugenics. The ‘eu’ part means ‘good’. The ‘genics’ part refers to genes, so ‘good genes’. And maybe so, if you are named Eugene!

 

But eugenics is not good in aiming to improve the genetic quality of humans by leaving out those considered inferior. The categories of people that are left out, such as special needs, low IQ, learning disability, disabled in any way, etc, is totally unjustifiable. It surely only adds to their difficulties, brought about originally through no fault of their own. The same could apply with eugenics and animals.

 

It does not matter, or matter so much, with plants, though it could be messing about too much with ecosystems, the environment, etc.

 

Eugenics relating to humans has been linked with terms of scientific racism, sometimes called biological racism. We may think this is all in the dark ages of centuries ago, but no. The term was coined late in history really, from around 1904. It brings in many moral and ethical concerns surely, consigning some people to the rubbish heap, including preventing them from having children even, so that in the eugenicist’s view no more ‘sub-standard’ people should be born.

 

Yet it is they who are ‘sub-standard’ one could say. In their attempts to improve on fellow humans lives, the practice of eugenics becomes a horrible evil.

 

Here are pictured of Francis Galton (1822-1911), a supporter of eugenics

 and G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), an opponent of eugenics. 

With massage or whatever treatment, eu (you), to repeat a quip, will hopefully have a good time.

 

 

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.

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.

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.

 

 

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. 

 

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.

 

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.

Massages during the Covid Pandemic

 

Hopefully now that massage will continue with its momentum again, we may come for a massage or other treatment ‘for business or for pleasure’ purposes, as it were. Whatever the reasons, we can surely find sessions as enjoyable experiences.

If for pleasure, it may be a seasonal or non-seasonal treat, just to relax in the atmosphere and surroundings; to be calmed in body, soul, or spirit, or in all three of these. It can be giving oneself some time-out, plus helping the masseurs ‘trade’ at the same time.

After a hopefully pleasant time, one will be full of praise and admiration for the masseur, though not to the extent of flattery, which may get us nowhere! Yet one may have no hesitation in recommending the masseur to others, and so give him/her positive publicity. This causes two-way benefit, to clients and to the masseur.

Then one may look forward to more of the same, or other variations on massage or other treatments. 

Come along, try a first session, or another session, finding release or at least easing of any stresses and strains, particularly with the various ways that Covid has affected you over the past, or at present, or in uncertainties of the future. 

Not that it claims to be a magic wand waved over the situation, but massage and the other treatments doing what they can to contribute to health and well-being, as some of the many good things in life.

Can Having a Massage help with Pain?

 

If we have a pain, bodily or emotionally, our first reaction or response may be to wish it would go away as soon as possible.

Yet the cause of pains, some pains at least, may be as warnings that something is wrong physically (part of our body), or troubling our minds (part of our soul or spirit), and these may be interlinked at times.  With some massage, some pain may be caused, or seemingly feel worse, as things are done to get to the root of conditions.

 It may be like not wanting to feel too cold, though we shiver to aim to get warm; or not wanting to feel too hot, though we sweat to aim to cool down.

 ‘It’s a pain in the neck!’ This we may say, and experience it literally, or just say it as a figure of speech. Massage can surely help to relieve pains of body, soul, or spirit, though not as a magic wand waved. It can be therapeutic, as can other outlets, or at least to some extent, such as faith healing; positive thinking; having a ‘feel good’ attitude to life; etc. In some cases, pain, of whatever sort and wherever located, physiologically or psychologically, may remain a mystery.

 

Have a massage if needed. The aim is to help, to do good, not sadistically inflict pain and end up leaving a massage session worse than when you started it!

 

 

How to relax when having a massage

 

It’s easy to do, to have something on our minds and/or hearts that can distract us. Some things can be nebulous, as if neither here nor there, some worry about a yesterday that has past, or a tomorrow that has not come yet.

It surely helps to be in the ‘now’ moments when having a massage. Hopefully this will bring a sense of peace, if one can focus on the ‘now’, though one may not be able to automatically switch off feelings, emotions, concerns, etc.

The massage itself may bring some measure of peace, if the outward sensations affect one inwardly, and if one can relax as far as possible. 

It may be that things of yesterday cannot be changed, though we may have regrets about them. And for things of tomorrow, they may be sublimated or eased somehow or somewhat, and not appear as worrying as one thought when they actually come to pass.

There can be relaxation for body, soul, and spirit in a massage. One has to face the future, yet being in the ‘now’ is surely not escapism, nor ignoring things as if saying, ‘Cheer up, it may never happen’. 

Having experienced a massage, one can find it wholly beneficial, and helpful in promoting peace of mind, so that one goes from these ‘now’ moments, on to the ‘not yet’ moments that are the future, with a better sense of well-being to face whatever one must, or needs to, face in life each day.

It’s true, if one may make such a claim, that undoubtedly there are psychological as well as physiological benefits in massage.

Why Should I have a Hot Stone Massage?

It is true that massage is a ‘hands-on’ experience, or it could be called a ‘stones-on’ experience if you are having a hot stone massage. In this, there is the benefit of human touch from a masseur, whether as a general help, or to relieve particular aches or pains or stresses. One can trust to the masseur for the session, not having to do anything oneself, but simply to relax and enjoy the session.

The masseur’s hands and temperature of the room will be warm enough to be comfortable and pleasant, along with the atmosphere of the room, helping to give a relaxing ambience. 

There is the experience of feeling the masseur’s hands, whether gliding softly, maybe with oil, or maybe more firmly where needed in certain areas. With hot stones there is the feeling of the stones on one’s body, and gradually decreasing in heat until newly-heated stones are applied. 

One may have some unusual reactions from massage, though not harmful. They may arise, in some cases, from one’s subconscious, such as tingles or shivers, even on a warm day, or extra warmth, even on a cold day. One can go with the flow of these, as nothing sinister or dangerous is happening.

Also during the massage one may breathe deeply in and out, all helping to contribute towards the balance, or restoring of balance, between body, soul, and spirit. This can enable us to feel human again, if feeling stressed out, and give a true impression of massage as wholly therapeutic. Hopefully clients find the massage is, or has been, well worth it.

Why should I have a Massage?

In the hustle and bustle often of everyday life, if you get a chance, make time for a massage. It can be beneficial and therapeutic.

It can be true that there are experiences and feelings beyond the literal ‘surface’ massage, where one can relax and be eased of strains and stresses. 

These could be psychosomatic - something of the body affecting the soul or spirit, or vice versa, where aches and pains of the body may be due to some strain or tension within. These can arise from the soul or spirit, in the complexity of each human being.

So a hands-on massage can ease surface tensions, and also more deep-seated matters. The peace, comfort, good feelings, etc, of a good massage can be retained after the actual massage session, or at least to some extent.

It helps to give oneself enough time, and to plan around the massage appointment, such as not being heavily dependent on time constraints. For example, if dashing off immediately after the massage to catch a bus or train, making a tight schedule for oneself, it could mean that the beneficial aspects of the massage are soon lost. This is a pity, as something positive, healing, helpful will likely have taken place during the massage or hopefully not too long after it.

It may be that a masseur has ‘healing hands’, though this is not only a one-way thing, if we do believe he/she has healing hands. 

There is also the client’s receptivity too, and their openness for the massage to be, to a good degree, what they wish it to be. 

They can bring their expectations to the massage session, and so find it as a two-way process between the masseur and the client, in co-operation, so covering psychological (soul, spirit) as well as physiological (body) aspects, for a truly wholesome massage.

How will having a Massage help me?

If you have never had a massage before and are a bit nervous or a little apprehensive about what to expect, please don't be.

There's Deep Tissue Massage, Swedish Massage, Sports Massage, Shiatsu Massage, Hot Stone Massage, Indian Head Massage  - as well as Thai Massage and Ayurvedic Massage.

There are so many types of massage - so where do you start? How do you know which one is right for you?

In a nutshell all you need to do is relax, trust your therapist and be willing to let go
 
Swedish massage  stimulates blood flow and lymph drainage which removes toxins and waste as well as helping oxygen to flow more easily.

Massage also has a dramatic effect on the nervous system.

Massage can help engage the parasympathetic system which helps you to restore the balance and calm you down.

This is something that we are often unable to do ourselves with the demands and pressures that everyday life can throw at us. You might find it difficult to switch off when you go to sleep, and end up sending emails to yourself to remind yourself to do things the following day.

Massage can also energise you by helping you sleep better, improve mental alertness, improve mood and ease anxiety.

We can cope with some stress - we need some stress in our lives but not too much! And not for too long

We just need a break from that stress from time to time. And massage is the answer.