things i know about bodies

my Eric pointed me to an article about a massage therapists interactions with naked bodies. and it made me want to write something of my own. i've been practicing massage now for 12 years and what a journey it has been in so many ways. here are a few things i'd like to share about bodies.

everybody thinks there is something wrong with their body. it's almost impossible to live within a body for 20+ years and not know the quirks and clunkyness and failures you carry around with you. what i'd like for you to know, is no one else can see them. seriously. unless you continue to point them out we most likely just glance right over them. think about it, do you see the things your friends complain about?

you probably aren't as fat as you think you are, and as a massage therapist i am thankful for that handful of flesh as massaging bones is uncomfortable. but if you can fit onto my table, you are probably ok. i do encourage more walking if you are concerned about weight as everything is solved through a stroll around the block, into the woods or along the water.

you might think you want deeper pressure but your body doesn't. there is this beautiful thing called tension. i used to think when people asked for deep tissue massage that i was incapable of giving a deep massage. now i have learned that i am incapable of forcing a body that is screaming at me to back off to submit to deep tissue. all those people who can dig in despite what your body is yelling-well i've collected their cards and am more than happy to refer you on. but i won't do it. your body is saying 'here, i will relax to here' and that is as deep as i am going to go.

you can't feel it? you want deeper? then you need to breathe and get inside your body and release your tension because yuck, i ain't going through that armor you have made your muscles turn into. it freaking hurts my hands (an elbows) to massage your steel plating.

naked makes talking more. there are some people where you can visibly see the discomfort of lying naked under a sheet stream out of their mouths. i get it, i enrolled in massage school never having received a professional massage and then suddenly i am in a room full of strangers trying to un-dress under a sheet. yes we are all slightly uncomfortable with the naked- we are after all American (at least me and most of my clients are).

and i am happy to talk to you to help ease your discomfort. but after a few minutes i'm not going to reply in full sentences to hopefully encourage you to shut off your brain and relax.

i'm also going to point you back up to the first and second point. you aren't as fat as you think you are, and most likely i can't see what's wrong with you.

plus a massage therapist never peeks. we don't care. we care about function and ease and reduction of tension and helping parts relate to each other again.  if they are the type of person who would peek you would have NEVER gone into the room alone with them let alone disrobed. trust your instincts.

plus we have had clients that have laid on top of the sheet naked instead of under it, or other weird things that have made us super uncomfortable so we get it. we don't like creepy either.

hair is weird. except it's not. except it is. the point is we all have it in differing amounts in differing places. it's part of what makes us unique. i don't care about your hair, i probably don't even really see it, it's just texture or lack of texture and most like won't change anything about your massage except whether i use lotion or oil.

you are perfectly imperfect. you are a freaking walking miracle-do you ever stop to consider how many things happen simultaneously in your body and how incredible it is that we are composed of invisible things all stuck together and working. Amazing!

as with any relationship every interaction i have with you tells me something, my hands remember things my brain doesn't. you are is a different state of mind each time you visit, and so am i. so our first interaction might be strained or awkward or shy-we are just learning and that is how it should be. by our 25th interaction there is ease and trust and release and transformation and openings and awakenings. this is how it should be.

you are safe here. and i hope that every interaction we have helps you learn something too; about who you are, what you love, your hopes, your fears, where you are going and how you are using this incredible body to get you there.

your skin and your body tells a story. i love stories, please let me listen to what you have to say.

i still do the occasional massage but i definately focus more on reflexology, more about why that is in a seperate post soon.

here is what i do offer  if you are in the neighborhood and interested.

thoughts about this post, stories, anything? share in the comments.

hi lurkers, who hate to comment (i am one of you)! *waves*