Mobile Massage - From a Friend

This is one of the harder blogs that I have written to date. Not because it was a bad massage, or the therapist was rude or the music was inappropriate, but because I know the Massage Therapist. Quite well actually.

I had decided not to blog any of my close friends, their massages or practices, but I was a bit desperate this past month. Due to scheduling conflicts and lots of teaching in March, I had to arrange for a mobile massage to come to my home. I was also having my birthday, and thought a massage on the day would be a nice treat. With all of this in mind, I was able to book a session with Julie.

Julie P. is a great therapist, with whom I had the pleasure of going through the trials and tribulations of massage college together.  And although it has been almost 10 years since our college days, I have never had a massage by Julie since our hands-on time in class.  I have kept in contact with Julie over the years (yeah for Facebook and emails) and we have been able to refer clients to each other when our lives have been so busy that it was needed.

Julie arrived at my home promptly and, convenient for both of us, she did not need to bring much for our session. I already have my massage treatment room set up and organized for my private clinic, and therefore, Julie did not have to bring a table, linens, bolsters or even music.  This also meant that we did not have to spend time organizing or preparing the room for our session.  All good things.


Here is where my difficulties lie... I have not spent a lot of time visiting with Julie over the past years, and just putting us in the same room, lent itself to a lot of discussion. And we were able to keep the conversation going for the majority of the massage... Not so great if you are trying to relax, and chit chat sidetracks from that goal fast.

Having said this so far, realize that many people have very different ways of enjoying their session, and none of them are wrong... just different.   I have some clients who will talk the entire massage session, and their spouses are quite happy that I get the whole run-down of their day, week, family, work, boss, and everyday stresses.  The other clients will start the "customary" small talk at the beginning, along the lines of.. "How are you doing?", "Busy this week?" and so on... but that will dissipate, and then the music takes over, and relaxation begins.


Returning to the massage, our conversation was very on-going.  We talked about almost everything possible between when we graduated and last week, and I fueled the banter just as much as she did. The problem arose when I realized that we were coming up to the very end of the session, and although the massage was good, I was hyped up.  I did not feel relaxed, rejeuvenated or refreshed as I usually do at the end of my treatments, and the session felt like it had just started, when it was actually ending.

I know that if I saw Julie on more occasions than just this one, that this problem would probably be resolved, but I had this one session as a point of reference, and this is what I remembered.  I also know that this is not how every massage goes with Julie, as I do have friends who are clients of hers, and they tell a very different story. I am told of extremely serene and relaxing sessions, and yet my glimpse was a I described.

I wish that I remembered more about the massage and the technique... I guess that is what happens sometimes. I definitely remember the conversation.

Why Blog??

Since starting this blog, I have been called a "massage snob" or "massage elitist", and mostly because I am critiquing other therapists, based on my preferences. I try, through this venue, to help educate the public in these differences in therapists. Also, for those therapists out there who actually read my blog, to make them aware that even though the majority of their clients are probably not therapists themselves, that the general public notices details in a massage session, and do care.  I am not aware of too many people, who would drop $80-100.00, and don't naturally notice the time when their session began, ended, the music, the attention of the therapist, the cleanliness, the temperment of the receptionist and so on.  Please feel free to take my notes or not, but I strongly advise anyone to have several sessions from several therapists.... Make it an interview process. From my experience, I have had clients for almost a decade now, and to calculate their financial contribution to their wellness through massage can be brought to around $10,000.00.  Recognize that once you find the right therapist, you could be adding to their business significantly, so hopefully they are treating you right, and bringing their "A" game.. All of the time!