#1. Try to Arrive Unrushed and Unhurried

Make it a part of your massage routine to [ (breathe) ] pause from your hectic life! Take a moment of quiet time before your appointment to pray, meditate upon something uplifting, practice deep breathing, or to simply make a ‘to do’ list on paper to clear your mind in order to fully relax and enjoy your massage.

If you have the opportunity, a great thing to do is to stretch! If your body is already loosened up before the massage begins your therapist will be able to reach a deeper level of pressure and healing than if you hadn’t stretched. Oh yes! And don’t forget to visit the bathroom before you get on the table. You may
also want to take a few minutes after your massage to re-enter your day.

Try not to have other appointments scheduled immediately after your massage causing you to rush back into life. Give yourself a block of free time (however small) after your massage to just be. Be relaxed, breathe, and stretch.

#2. Food and Drink

There is a fine line of comfort we want to achieve here. Although you don’t want to be so hungry that your stomach is growling, you also don’t want to be lying on a full stomach. Either way you won’t be able to concentrate on your massage if you’re concentrating on your stomach.
Please eat lightly prior to receiving your bodywork. Start drinking some water before your massage. We want to assist the body in removing toxins and waste products.

After your massage keep up the water intake. Caffeine and alcohol may inhibit your body’s ability to absorb the water! DON’T ‘DRINK AND DROP’ onto my massage table! Massage increases the effects of alcohol on your body. Even if you’ve only had one drink before your massage, you may get up feeling as though you’ve had more. I am ethically unable to massage you if you have been drinking alcohol, so don’t put me in that uncomfortable position of asking you to reschedule.

#3. Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!

This is so important! Communicate with me about pressure, speed of movements, music volume, temperature, areas of focus, etc. Remember that this is YOUR MASSAGE. If there is ANY part of the massage that you do not like, please let me know. I do have limits for how deep I can go without hurting myself, but PLEASE, tell me if particular areas or techniques are hurting you!

Using less pressure is easier on my body and if you tell me to ease up you will in no way hurt my feelings! If there is an area on your body that is uncomfortable while massaging it but you feel it needs some deeper work, then you need to be able to relax the muscle and not tighten up. Breath deeply. If you cannot, then you are not ready for that level of pressure.

#4. Schedule Regularly

To care for those you love, you must take care of yourself. Massage has its greatest benefits over time. The more you receive soft tissue work on a regular basis, the better you will feel and the quicker your body will respond.

Take these tips to heart and get more out of your next massage session. Enjoy!