Massage Therapy: Stereotypes Away!

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "Massage"? Some people think of soothing music by the edge of the sea where coconut oil is rubbed lightly over your body until you begin to melt with relaxation. Some people think of a large character speaking broken English rubbing you down until you are raw. Unfortunately others think of a seedy anonomyous midnight phone call and a dimly-lit motel room.

Massage has gotten some very unusual reputations, filled with unreasonable stereotypes. People unfamiliar with massage can imagine it being everything from the ultimate experience, to something sick and twisted. While in recent years, massage is being more recognized by many as a very good thing, sadly, massage in seedy dim motel rooms is still a very common perception of all that massage is. Those that engage in this kind of massage, on either end of the deal, perpetuate this stereotype as well as tarnish and destroy the reputation of good, professional, Massage Therapy.

Massage Therapy is just that - Therapy. Massage has been around for centuries and is one of the oldest and most basic forms of healing. Think of it this way: You bump your arm walking through a door. What is the first ting you do? Chances are you rub the area that was bumped. There you have it - basic instict of massage. Over time, many cultures have developped this simple concept to fit the needs of their societies and developped various techniques to help heal what they needed healed.

That is the essence of Masage Therapy: It heals the body, heals the mind, and heals the spirit. It takes away stress, aches, and pains, and replaces them with relief. There are so many bad stereotypes about massage therapy, many people still consider it very "iffy". Well consider this:
If your neck and shoulders hurt from sitting in front of a computer all day,
Massage Therapy can take away the tightness.
If you have deadlines looming, nothing is going right, and you are stressed to the breaking point,
Massage Therapy can help you relax and give your blood pressure a chance to drop.
If you tore your rotator cuff playing sports in high school and never quite got it to move the right way again,
Massage Therapy can loosen up the old damaged tissue creating better movement.

There are many good things about Massage Therapy. An open mind, plus a desire to heal, plus a skilled, professional, ethical therapist, can help you achieve a decrease in pain and discomfort, an increase in feeling good, and can eliminate a lot of those nasty stereotypes of massage. A little bit of Massage Therapy education can help you see that the next time you hear the word "Massage", you will someday picture "Relief".

Coming Next Time....Know Your Therapist