Stress and Massages

On my last birthday I was given a great gift by one of my children--five one hour massages at the health club where we are members.

Last Saturday I finally used the first gift certificate. What a treat!

I was feeling really good about how stress free I was. My neck and shoulders seemed relaxed and free. I wasn't having any muscle burn, which happens to me often when I'm tense. I had hydrated well as suggested before the massage.

My mistake: As she was working on my back and shoulders, I asked the certified massage therapist what condition my muscles were in. Her response: "You would be the Mount Everest to massage therapists." Huh? I replied with what does that mean? She replied that I was so layered with stress and tension that it would take her a long time to even get down to the knots in my muscles. Again, get down to? What does that mean? Found out a physical body can adjust to stress over a long period of time and the inhabitor of that earthsuit not even be aware of what's happening!

I was shocked. And I was motivated. I think you can "Google" search anything, so off I went on a search for stress, its effects, how to handle it, and what to do. Hmmm. . . I was especially fascinated with all the articles that were entitled, "Stress–-the Silent Killer." Another hmmm. . .

Then another thought captured me. If I was a certified massage therapist and wanted more business, what would I tell a client/patient? Of course. I'm slow, but I do come around. LOL Conclusion: Take everything with a grain of salt. I'm good! No problem, but I sure do like those massages.

(Thanks, Cherri. Great gift!)

One final thought in this train of thought: I found out something I didn't know. I'll pass on my tidbit of info. In OK you don't have to go to school, you don't have to be certified, you don't have to be licensed to be a massage therapist. My Saturday therapist kept emphasizing that she was certified. She explained the difference to me. She said I could go out and open up an office tomorrow with absolutely no training or state requirements and say I'm a massage therapist. There's current legislation being proposed in OK to change this.

From now on, I will always ask that question; i.e., are you certified? A couple of years ago my handsome feller bought me four one-hour massage gift certificates. The massages were little more than a weak back rub. I found out later that that particular "massager" was a hair stylist and when she needed extra money, she booked massages. She was bad!! (and that's not used in the popular sense of being great; she was really bad, B A D, bad)! ;-)

I'm looking forward to next Saturday's massage. Absolutely wonderful. I may have to sign up for weeklies. But, good wife that I am, I am sharing my certificates with my handsome feller. He's booked next week also. He'll love it. She'll probably tell him that he's the most relaxed person she's worked on. That's the way things usually are with us. Oh, well. Life is still good, fun, and exciting. And sometimes absolutely funny!
MB