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3.1 How should I start? |
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3.1 How should I start? |
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This article is from the [alt.backrubs] Frequently Asked Questions, posted to alt.backrubs newsgroup. Maintained by Jamie Blustein with numerous contributions by others.
Practice. Practising bad technique will have a bad effect, practising good technique will have a good effect, so do some reading first. Read about technique often as you are starting out to help you correct yourself. The archive (see question 5.1.2) contains recommendations of books to read (in the file `books') and techniques to try (in the file `technique').
Do not restrict yourself to a few recipients. You will learn much more from giving one massage each to 20 people than you will by giving 20 massages to one person. Even if there is a primary recipient you have in mind, the quality of that one person's experience will be severely limited if your experience is limited to that one person.
Receiving a massage can also be a learning experience. You may better understand variations of touch, pressure, etc. as well as learning new techniques and strokes from others. Caroline Knight adds: you can learn a lot by applying strokes to yourself.
As you massage another person, be aware of the effects that your touch is having both on the person you're touching and on yourself. Temporarily put aside anything else you might have going on, and focus your attention on the massage. What are your fingers conveying about the tension and texture of the recipients muscles? Be aware of how both of you are breathing. Use your body weight to gently and smoothly apply pressure, instead of muscling the pressure. Learning to give a good massage is only partly about learning technique.
Much of what you need to learn is about being present in your body and present in the current moment. You can learn a lot about superficial anatomy just paying attention to what your fingers are feeling.
Question 3.6 is about tired hands, a common affliction among newcomers to massage. You might also find the `advice' file in the archive helpful. The archive is the subject of question 5.1.2.
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