I had a client in today for a 90-minute massage session. Did she ever get a pleasant surprise.
She wanted something relaxing, yet she likes deep work. She had just come back from DC where she had received a Thai massage. She loved the stretching of the Thai massage and asked for some stretching as well.
I told her about the Esalen massage and that I thought it would be something she would like. I told her that I could easily add in some stretches along with the ones that were part of it. The only concern I had dealt with draping. Because Esalen works the length of the body, one needs to use minimal draping similar to that of Temple Lomi.
We talked about draping for a moment, and she decided that this would be fine. Actually, she decided to go without draping, something I will do only if I am comfortable with the client (and usually I need to have worked on them several times before). She told me that I had worked on her a few times and that she completely trusted me. (I had worked on her three times before, and had gotten comfortable with her. It is neat that my professionalism shows and makes people comfortable even in strange situations.)
So, I worked Esalen on her. I added in some Thai stretches as well as things from other disciplines. Some of the stretches I felt were needed were a little strange, and put me in a strange position. At the same time, when I am doing intuitive massage like Esalen, I keep my eyes closed as I feel I am more open to ‘guidance’. So although, she may have been in a weird position, my eyes were closed as I had other things on my mind.
(On Bodyworkonline.com, someone started a chain of “You know you’re a massage therapist when…” Many of the posts were all too true, but no more than this one… You know you’re a massage therapist when you can see a BEAUTIFUL person of the opposite sex, laying there naked and fail to get turned on. In truth, all one thinks about is the massage and there is no room for anything else.)
At any rate, this 90-minute massage lasted one hour and 50 minutes. Had I not had a client arriving in 10 minutes, I would have continued on to say that I have done a two-hour massage. And I could have without stretching myself for something to do. Neat.
The best part is that my client loved it. She liked the way that the lack of draping allowed me to move the length of the body making her feel like one integrated unit instead of parts. Most massages work a part, then another, then another. Esalen works the body as a whole. (Now I could have done much the same with some draping. She did not have to be completely uncovered, but it did make it easier. It gave me one less thing to be concerned with.)
It was a neat session. I hope I get to do more like this.