Imagine you’re a massage therapist (her) and the client on your table (me) says “Um…I don’t really like massage” or “Um…is it possible for you to massage me without touching me?” or something equally overflowing with enthusiasm. Not saying I’ve been a difficult client, just a jaded one ~ earlier massage experiences were painful or otherwise unsatisfying. I regularly hear stories from folks about how they told a massage therapist what they wanted but still didn’t get it or suffered for days after, and my stories were similar. Stephanie always respects my boundaries and pressure requests ~ building trust and confidence allowed me to let myself relax into the experience of being massaged, and reap the benefits more with each session. (Finding my way to that place of letting go enhances life away from the massage table and frees me up in other ways).
Stephanie’s patience and attention make it clear that the massage is for me; she doesn’t tell me what I want or need. I’m the one living in this body ~ she asks me what’s going on with it, what I want to give attention to, makes recommendations, checks in as she’s working, and I feel comfortable saying “yes, no, less, more”. In summary, she has rehabilitated me to the point where I recently caught myself craving a massage [gasp]. That was never the case before. To be more precise, my body asked for a massage and I recognized the call instead of just giving it cookies. So…massage is also helping me slim down? Thanks Stephanie 🙂
— Brenda M