Trends in Massage

I was recently reading an article about trends in massage and consumers use of massage. The article was mostly facts and figures compiled together by the Associated Massage & Bodywork Professionals and the American Massage Therapy Association. Three facts that I found of interest were that there are more then 250 known styles of massage, 24% of Americans have had a massage in the past year and that 43% of females of have had a massage in the past 5 years, compared to only 25% of men.

I know from being a massage therapist and researching different techniques and styles that there was a wide variety of massages. However I was a bit flabbergasted that the number was over 250! According to the article, the most utilized massage is Swedish-American, which is pretty much the standard of what is taught in massage schools as the 'basics'. Some other highly used massages are deep-tissue, neuromuscular, sports, chair, and reflexology. The oddest massage I've ever heard of was 'snake massage' (yes boys, there's a joke there). This massage has live snakes crawling over your body. Definitely not my style, let alone do I understand how it is supposed to help your body! However some people, somewhere enjoy this 'style' as they are paying for this to happen. Yet, with all these different styles, it comes down to what style and therapist you like and works best for you.

When I first started massaging, I worked at various spas around town. The first place I worked at was very frilly...pink flowers everywhere, including the bathroom. This was not a 'man-friendly' environment and I would say the clientele was 99% females. Some of the other spas I worked at that were maybe a bit more neutral in the decor so it brought the ratio down to maybe 80% female and 20% male clients. In my own practice, it is still a slightly higher female to male ratio yet not by much. I think men are just much more comfortable with having someone come to their home instead of them 'intruding' on the spaces of a female oriented business.

In regards that only 24% of all Americans (that were surveyed) having a massage in the past year is incredible to me! My first thought was "no wonder so many people are stressed out!" Along with "That's a lot of referrals for me, lol!!" Thirty-nine percent of people surveyed said massage is for pampering. However, 59% surveyed wanted massage covered by their health insurance. Wouldn't that be wonderful? If health insurance companies would cover massages as part of a preventative medicine practice, it would absolutely cut their costs on health care issues that so many Americans have. I'm not saying massage will cure anything, however it does help with depression, high blood pressure, stress, pain-relief, migraines, and low-back pain to just name a few.

Hot Stone Massage Gift Set

 

Hot Stone Massage Gift Set

Want a way to massage your partner with a bit of warmth and love? This Hot Stone Massage Gift Set lets you do that. Bring home these stones and hear your partner say "ahhh". The kit includes stones, massage lotion (scent of Cucumber or Lavender) and directions of when and when not to massage someone.

I created this kit as different way for people to massage their partners. I truly believe that touch is one of the best gifts that you can give someone. We all thrive and love to be touched and noticed, and when you touch your partner in a loving way it can make both you and your partner feel wonderful inside. This gift set can be a way to enhance that touch and/or to help you massage someone when they have that nagging pain that they want you to make go away. The stones enhance any massage with the warmth that they hold and how they can help 'melt' those sore muscles. However, as with most everything there are cautions to be aware of when using these stones. The main caution being that you should NOT leave the stones on the bare skin as it can burn, blister and cause up to 3rd degree burns of the skin. The directions card that comes with the kit defines even more cautions. Just enjoy and be careful.

Relax in the warmth that this Stone Massage Gift Set will bring you and your partner!

Giants of Humanity

In starting my new blog, my goal is to mostly write about anything and everything massage and body related. Yet with the new President of the United States taking office, today is different. :)

As I watched the inauguration of our new President Obama and how he talks about the "many challenges that we are faced with and how they will be met and how we have chosen hope over fear," it reminded of how many challenges I we have overcome in my short 42 years of life. I have seen our country get past the prejudices of various ignorance's against certain nationalities (especially growing up less then a mile from 'Little Saigon' in the early 70's), of the space shuttle Challenger explosion, the wall between East and West Germany broken apart, of 9/11 and other terrorist acts against our country by both our own Americans and beyond, as well as the natural disasters that we have faced with earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and massive fires in our own valley. With each problem that we have faced our country has risen and become giants of humanity by assisting each other as Americans and as human beings. Not as Black-Americans or Asian-Americans, but just as Americans with the hope that we will make things better after whatever crises we have faced.

In President Obama's speech he said that “we all are equal to pursue the measure of happiness.” I agree with him. We need to get beyond the 'mist of this crisis' that we are in and I believe we can. And our history shows that we can! However I think we can only get beyond this by starting with our own actions and not waiting for others and find our own happiness. As my friend April posted on Facebook yesterday "April is going to spread rumors that the economy has started an upswing...cuz I’m tired of all the bad news!!!" I am in full agreement with her 'cuz I'm tired of the news saying how bad things are too. I am no longer going to discuss how slow my business is. I'm going to start the rumors that my business is amazing and thriving and how I am improving people’s lives by being stress-free, pain-free and/or relaxed. I am going to start the rumor of how much money I see being spent at stores and at businesses because I know there are lots of businesses that are thriving! And I plan on being one of those thriving businesses! So with all that said, let's start these positive rumors, let's find the humanitarians within ourselves and be the positive changes that I have seen and know we can all do!

Cheating Yourself?

I recently had a new client. This client was a male, in his mid 40's and had never had a professional massage before. He actually made the appointment because he had injured his back and was in a lot of pain, so the focus of the massage was naturally on his back. After the massage he made a comment that I thought was very poignant. His comment was "I have been cheating myself all these years." He felt after the massage, (and not just because of the pain he was in) that he had been cheating himself and his body of not getting the relief and relaxation that he deserves. So it made me wonder, how many other people are cheating themselves? Are you cheating yourself of being relaxed? Of being stress-free? Or pain-free? Do you wonder what it would be like to not to be in pain? So many of us live our lives in pain and just 'deal with it' day after day, month after month, and for some, year after year, just figuring the pain will go away, yet it doesn't. When they finally do seek help they expect and want instant relief. However, it doesn't come instantly. If you've been living in pain for a while, expect that however long that pain has been there that most likely it will take that long for the pain to be released. And stop cheating yourself!