Massage Therapy

» Tulip50 - Massages, more than 'body work"..start to wholeness.

I come back here from time to time to see if new comments have been added. For me, the most valuable benefit to receiving massages is the emotional healing that takes place. I believe that there is much more to good therapy than what most people are aware of. I have noticed something over the years about people I have run into that tend describe massages as enjoyable VS not. There are extremes to both, as in any sitiuation. In general though, acquaintances who would not even consider receiving a massage tend to be very outgoing and fiercly independent. I have heard comments from them such as, "I can't stand someone touching me for that long...it drives me nuts." One such friend even has a daughter who is a massage therapist and she never allowed her daughter to practice on her while she was in school. The other type of personality, the extreme of shyness, the quiet type who keeps things bottled up inside and rarely expresses feelings and has few close friends, tend to have "never had a massage," usually out of fear of being embarassed or just "being judged." It is these people, if they are able to finally bring themselves to experiencing massage therapy with a good therapist, will come to benefit the most in healing. The most difficult part is STARTING the experience, and for these people, I would recommend beginning by going to a school where weekend clinics are available. The reason for this is that you see clients come and go and therapist come and go and this alone, diminishes the possibility of "being embarassed" because you are just one client of many AND the therapist you get is just one of many. If this type of client SHOULD become embarassed, the next time they go to the clinic, it is highly likely that another therapist will be assigned as clinics just work this way. So, experiencing different therapists weekly over a period of time would help de-sensitize this type of client. I remember the first time I went for a massage. I was over 40 years old and it was on a dare.

Once the fear is taken care of, these types personalities should start searching out a regular therapist that they can trust and feel comfortable with and arrange for regular sessions. Once this is established, I believe that some of the most profound inner growth can take place for this type of client. It is not so much about the physical healing, but more about the emotional healing for these individuals that takes place...possibly the nurturing they never received as a child, or the simple caring touch of another human being, where in their lives they don't allow opportunity. I believe that the healing that takes place becomes the catalyst for this person that allows them to transition into better relationships with others around them and increasing inner self confidence. This angle of massage therapy, I believe, has not been properly studied or explored and has powerful implications for the future of massage therapy.

I read something last night written by Cathy Ulrich. It was an article called "Freedom for Feelings" from the Body Sense August/Winder 2005 Magazine - Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. It touched on this, so I know there is knowledge about this out there, but fefw use massage therapy for these purposes. The article can be found in full here (copy and past site): http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/i...

Well, I did find a massage therapist who comes to my home once per week, and will be here soon. I look forward to these inner healing sessions that bring me great strength for the week ahead.

Bless you all!

-- posted by Tulip50