Wednesday, February 23, 2011

#8 - Get a Massage......

Please don't laugh at me just because I'm (almost) 50 years old and have never had a massage.

Even in all my years of doing BRAG, I never got up the courage to get a massage. It's always so blasted hot that even after taking a shower, once we walk across the campus to headquarters, we're all sweaty again. The last thing I've wanted is to have someone else's hands on me.

Some things are meant to be. I was looking over my 50 Things to Do list last week, trying to pick out the easy ones. (Oh shut up, you know you would do that too.) I thought to myself, "Self, getting a massage would be just about the easiest one on there." My BFF the Warrior Princess has a friend who is a masseuse, so I thought I would just ask her.

Then I went into what used to be (and we still call it that) the Warrior Princess' office one day last week, and lo and behold, someone had taped a flyer for a massage therapist on the paper towel holder. The woman whose services were advertised is a good friend of our school secretary, and her rates sounded reasonable, at least to someone who had never had a massage before. Then I found out the massage therapist also works for our school district as her daytime job, so she was only an email away. THEN I found out that she does massages about a half mile from my house, right behind our favorite liquor store where I get my nails done.

How easy is that?

I opted for the hot stone massage, because I figured if I were going to do something new, I may as well go all out.

Please forgive me if you're a massage veteran, because I'm going to describe the whole process. It wasn't icky at all, I promise.

First of all, the woman introduced herself and asked me about my Harley t-shirt. She and her husband ride motorcycles too, so I felt comfortable with her from the beginning because we had something in common to talk about.

She put me in a room with soft lighting, candles, and soft instrumental music. She had me lie down on a table with my face in one of those little cut-out thingies (I'm sure it has a name, but I'm not sure what it is). She first placed some heated stones on my back and covered them with a cloth, then the sheet. I thought to myself, "Well if that's all a hot stone massage is....."

Oh no, it's much more than that. She used hot stones as she massaged each individual limb. She would uncover one leg, massage it with the hot stones and warm oil, cover it back up, move to the other leg, then the arms. I don't know if all massage folks are as thorough as she is, or if she was happy to have a new customer who had never had a massage before. She massaged each individual finger and every single one of the little piggies. She massaged my face with the hot stones, and she massaged my scalp. She even massaged my EARS! I felt so good and relaxed when I left there.

I almost wish I had waited until next Monday to get my massage, since I'm doing a bicycle ride this Saturday. I think a massage on BRAG this year is definitely called for.

Maybe even two.

1 comment:

DJan said...

I am not only a massage veteran, but I get one every three weeks whether I need it or not. :-) the thing is, you always can use one. Moving to Bellingham from Boulder meant I needed to find a new one, and the person I see now is the fourth one I tried out.

She also gives hot stone massage, I had one once, but I actually prefer the usual ones. She always asks if there is anything I particularly want worked on and sets to work. The hands and feet are always worked, but I most like my quads and glutes pummeled.

Congratulations!! Welcome to the world of massage!