When someone comes to get a massage, there are several things they can do before arriving to help enhance the experience.
- Drink plenty of water - there’s an old saying in the theater, “Pee Clear and Often.” This will allow your body to be completely hydrated and will accept the work more easily. Of course, if you have a doctor’s instructions to limit your water intake, please heed those. Otherwise, lots of water.
- For the day before the massage, please avoid caffeine and alcohol. These both act as diuretics and we want you nice and hydrated.
- A small meal about two hours before the appointment is a good idea, but please do not arrive hungry or full. Hunger is a distraction and fullness will be uncomfortable during certain portions of the session.
- As immediately before you come over, take as long and as hot a shower as you can. This will warm your body up nicely and help start the relaxation process.
All of these things will help prepare your mind and body to receive. But then what happens during the session? What should one do while on the table or on the mat?
First, breathe. This is the most important thing to do. At the beginning of the session, the therapist should guide you into how they want you to breathe. For me, this means describing breath “that goes all the way down to your pelvis,” full, deep abdominal breathing. Also, I like to have clients breathe without a pause between inspiration and expiration, or as I call it “circular breathing.” This isn’t the same technique that musicians use to play long extended passages, but simply breathing without holding full or empty lungs between breaths.
Sometimes, I’ll have the client hold one hand on their abdomen and the other hand on their chest as a tactile guide. Inhale to raise the abdomen hand, but exhale as soon as the chest hand is moved. This way, the muscles in the neck, especially the scalenes and sternocleidomastoid are not recruited in the respiration process, and can get a chance to really relax.
Next, the therapist should encourage quiet by not talking except to instruct the client to breathe or move in a particular way. This will allow the client the opportunity to focus their mind on their breath and body awareness. Sometimes, just putting one’s mind into the places of tension allows the tissue to relax. As the breath fills the body, imagine the breath is like water, carrying the tension away in its flow. When you exhale, let the breath dissolve the tension. If you are talking, your body isn’t letting go as fully as it should because you are contracting muscles all over to allow for the action of speaking. While it is sometimes necessary to speak during a session, enjoying the quiet can enhance the relaxation effect.
Third, don’t move your body except to breathe. By this I mean allow the therapist to pick up your arms and legs without assistance. Go limp. That’s probably the best way to describe it. There are a couple of reasons for this: first, when you attempt to move your body, you have to contract muscles the therapist is trying to relax. Secondly, this time is about you to focus on your body and let it go, to re-connect with yourself. You’re paying the therapist for their knowledge and labor - enjoy it!
Fourth, let the therapist know if you are experiencing discomfort or pain during the session. Massage and bodywork should feel good! Sometimes the sensation is a “hurts so good” kind of feeling, and that’s good. Your therapist should adjust their technique to match your perception of pressure, not the other way around. What’s deep for one person might be painful to another. What’s deep for another person might be superficial for another.
With these four guidelines, you can experience the maximum benefit and sense of relaxation from a massage session.
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