Holistic is the massage therapist’s mantra. Treat the person as a whole, all connected parts and a complete person. The entire massage helps.This is the kind of thinking that goes into most of my massages. But then I get the occasional clients who want just one body part massaged.
“Just do my feet.” “Just do my scalp.” “Massage my hands only.” “I just want massage on my back. It makes my whole body relax.”
Well, I’m the expert on massage but clients are the expert on their bodies. I dutifully will do hands, feet, back, whatever for an hour or so. But I pitch before I putt.
“I love to have just my hands rubbed,” I’ll say. “But you know, the massage tends to last longer and work better when it is a full-body massage. Let me know if you ever want to try it.”
That last bit is key, I find. Often clients asking for a focused massage have issues with another person touching them. They will get a massage because they know it makes them relax, but they are not comfortable with the loss of control that lying on the table brings. Give them that control, and they may just come along after a while.
That last bit is key, I find. Often clients asking for a focused massage have issues with another person touching them. They will get a massage because they know it makes them relax, but they are not comfortable with the loss of control that lying on the table brings. Give them that control, and they may just come along after a while.
1 comment:
I used to have a client who would come in all the time for an hour massage on her feet. Every time I'd pitch a full body massage to her and soon she'd let me massage her legs and feet. Then her back and so on until she was finally getting a full body massage.
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