Giving and receiving Massage - Advice from a Day Spa in NYC
The owner of Essential Therapy day spa in New York, knows what does a body good. With almost 20 years of experience working on everyone from members of the Mets to supermodels like Linda Evangelists, owner uses his expertise in massage and his formal training as a dancer to deknot the most stressed out bodies. As a special addition to Metro, he wrote down his instructions on how to give a massage.
Preparing for Massage - When giving your partner a massage at home, the first thing you should do is create a soothing, relaxing and warm environment. Whatever your home is like, it takes only a few minutes, a little care and preparation to make it ready for a soothing, peaceful massage area. Not all of us have a massage table, so the best area to do massage at home is on a carpeted floor. Take a sheet or comforter and use it as your massage mat. Don't do massage on bed -- bed tends to be too soft and won't allow you to do proper pressure. You always want to do massage on a firm surface. Make sure you have enough room to move around your partner. Try to set the mood by dimming the light or using candles. Make sure the temperature in the room is not too cold or too warm. To make it extra special, it's always great to bring a beautiful scent of flowers or to use a few drops of essential oils, like lavender or rose, which you can find at any health store. Before starting a massage, make sure you have everything you need, so you don't have to ho and find it in the middle of the session.
How to do it - To massage the back, lay your partner down on his or her stomach with arms at the sides. Bring your hands down gently onto the upper back, then begin to travel down the center, alongside the spinal column. At the base of the spine, let your hands divide and curve around to the side of the buttocks, then pull slightly up, across the shoulders. Repeat until the back is thoroughly oiled. Do not walk on your partner's back, and don't apply direct pressure to the spine or shoulder blades -- it can cause or increase injuries.
Neck and shoulders - Start to work more deeply, with your thumbs rolling strokes in the fleshy triangle at the top of the shoulders and the base of your partner's neck. Use small, firm strokes, working increasingly deeply to release any tension, checking that your pressure is acceptable to your partner. Stop at any point where you feel knots and work in small circular motion in the middle of that knot. Do not keep going back and forth over the same knot, this can be annoying to your partner. Just press in the middle of the knot and increase pressure very slowly. Alternating your hands rhythmically, with firm pressure kneal around the shoulder blades and along the side of the rib cage, as well as on the shoulders itself, letting your hands follow the contours. Using the flat part of your knuckles on a fist position beside the spine beginning at the base of the neck, push your fist along the groove beside the spine, traveling down as far as the middle or lower back then gliding your hands back to the back of the neck and repeat.
Lower Back - Using the flat of your knuckles in a fist position, place your fists on either side of the spine on the lower back (not directly on the spine). Using your body weight, lean onto your partner's lower back, applying firm to strong pressure evenly. You can also apply pressure on one side and then the other, and you can switch pressure back and forth, as well. .
