If you’ve made it to this page, chances are you’re looking to potentially book an appointment with me. Awesome stuff! Your body will thank you after.
However, maybe this is your first massage and you’re unsure of where to start. Or maybe you’ve had massages before but aren’t sure of what I offer.
Below I’ll list everything you’ll need to know and what to expect if you choose to book an appointment.
The first two things you’re going to need to decide on is how long you want your massage to be, and what style.
So let’s get started with that.
TIME
60 Minute Massage – The standard massage. The right amount of time to cover one or two problem areas and get you back to your day if you have a tight schedule.
90 Minute Massage – The Goldilocks Massage. This is the ideal amount of time that I believe people should shoot for when getting a massage. 90 minutes allows for a more detailed focus on one or two problematic areas without having to sacrifice time on other areas of the body. A 90 minute massage is also great because most people need about 30-40 minutes just to settle in.
120 Minute Massage – The marathon massage. Yup, you read that right. 2 hours worth of work. This massage is great for somebody who knows that even those 2 hours won’t be long enough. This is also ideal for athletes or anyone who finds themselves constantly beating on their body. Or this can be for your average person who just wants a really long massage! No rhyme or reason!
MASSAGE STYLES
Swedish? Deep tissue? Sports massage? Medical Massage? What’s the difference?
Swedish – When most people think of a massage, this is probably where their head is at. Kind of like what you see in movies where someone is getting a massage in a tropical hut on the beach of an island that only the 1% can afford to vacation at. A Swedish massage is generally geared towards relaxation. No real digging into knots, no deep work, and minimal stretching if any at all. If you’re just looking to relax, turn off, and tune out, this is the best choice.
Deep Tissue – Deep tissue is, well, a deeper massage. The pace of the massage is usually slowed down which allows the nervous system to be more at ease. This results in the muscles having an easier time letting go allowing me to sink deeper into the muscle.
Medical Massage – Medical massage is the pure concentration of problematic areas. All in all this is more of a technical massage for someone looking to work through major problematic areas with the understanding of potentially needing to skip out on other parts of the body.
Sports Massage – There are many different ideas of what a sports massage means, or how a massage therapist approaches it. For me, this is more of a fast paced massage which tends to excite the muscles. There will also be a heavy concentration in stretching.
PLEASE NOTE: Yes, there are some fancy names thrown out there (not really), but in the end, my style of massage tends to blend all these styles together––as do most massage therapists. The styles just help me pinpoint what direction we need to start in.
I made this list for any one who may have heard these names but were unsure of what to get. Don’t go crazy over deciding, we’ll discuss pressure and styles on the day of the appointment.
And that’s it folks!
Now that that is out of the way, let’s take a look at how we’ll approach an actual appointment.
GOALS
On the arrival of your appointment, the first thing we’ll do is take some time to talk about your goals surrounding massage. Basically, why are you here to see me?
Stressed out and just looking to relax? Cool.
Have old nagging injuries that are affecting your activity of choice or daily life? Sweet, let’s address them.
Looking to work on multiple areas of the body and begin a journey to bring your body as close as you can back to its natural anatomical alignment? Now we’re talking.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to massage. I’m here to work with you, as a team, to help achieve your goals.
POSTURAL ASSESSMENT
Alongside the goals, the other thing we’ll also do before the massage starts is a postural assessment (if it’s something you’re interested in). This way both you and I can see where you may have any imbalances in the body. If you’re unsure of what I’m talking about, let’s look at these pictures to clear things up:
Or this:
In this picture we can see that her right leg is externally rotated, her left shoulder is raised and looks guarded around her left pec, her right arm is longer than her left, her left thigh has a slight internal rotation, and her head has a slight tilt to the right.
Did you need to know all of that? No. Not really. But among pain management, my goal is to help unwind those imbalances. Good posture is sexy, but having good posture is way more than just esthetics.
When we have these imbalances as shown above, as we move through life, the body stops working the way it was designed to work. This means more wear and tear for us. It may not seem like a big deal to some, but these imbalances over time result in us needing surgeries, or being injured far worse than maybe we should have been.
BREATHWORK
If you’ve gotten a massage from me at any point, I’ve probably taken you through some form of breathwork or at least have talked about it. I’m obsessed and you should be too.
I won’t go too far off into a tangent right now as I’ll be writing a blog about breathwork soon. But if you’re curious or want to do some form of breathwork for a deeper relaxation throughout the massage, do not hesitate to let me know.
ALSO
I will be offering the “Wim Hof Method” style of breathing as an additional upgrade if interested. Expect to carve out an extra 20-30 minutes at the end of your massage if you choose to add this on.
Again, I’ll write more about this soon, but for now you can learn more here.
TREATMENT PLAN
The last thing we’ll go over is a treatment plan.
*Cough* homework *cough*.
We get so used to living with pain or discomfort that it slowly becomes the ‘norm’ for us. Soreness, sure. But day in and day out pain? Couldn’t be further from the norm.
I can only meet you where you’re willing to meet me, and I can not fix everything without your help. This is a combined effort that when both halves show up, it’s a journey that I truly enjoy watching unfold and I think you will too.
This about sums everything up. Any questions please feel free to reach out and talk to me, otherwise I look forward to working with you!