Oftentimes, clients believe that massage operates on what I call a “chiropractic schedule”, that more is better, and if you stop coming, all your symptoms and discomfort will return immediately. While it is wonderful if you have it in your budget to be on my table every other week, that simply isn’t the case for the majority of clients whether due to budget or just time in their busy schedule. I’ve compiled three of my favorite ways to get the most out of your time one-on-one with your Massage Therapist.
- Come with a goal in mind.
Every bodywork session you attend should start with a quick check-in with your therapist. How you’ve felt since your last session, how you responded to your last session, any new areas of concern, and how you would like to spend your time during this session. Since this is a constant, on your drive to your appointment, take a moment to scan your body for where you would like to focus. This can be on a body area (tech neck, hip pain, etc), healing process of an injury, to manage symptoms from a chronic illness, or with a mental health goal (balancing, relaxation, insomnia, etc.). Having clear goals in mind can help your therapist to prioritize what needs the most time addressing as well as allow them to plan for additional modalities to help them accomplish this goal. This is also a perfect time to mention if you’re curious about trying a new modality like cupping, gua sha, or breast massage.
2. Give feedback during your session
Oftentimes, clients are nervous to interrupt their massage with requests, or are concerned that giving feedback will be rude or uncomfortable. You will never hurt a Massage Therapist’s feelings by letting them know you are too cold or hot, the pressure is too deep or ticklishly soft, you need a tissue or restroom break, or you just emotionally are done with them working in that area. Massage is a cooperative therapy, it works the best when it’s performed in a collaborative space between client and therapist. Your therapist will be relying on you for feedback if you are uncomfortable for any reason since you are a vital part of this duo.
3. Be consistent
Okay, so at first glance this could be taken as the need for you to come in for therapy as often as you can, but we are talking about consistency with pursuing your wellness goals. Let’s say you are able to come in every other month for sciatic pain. Let your therapist know this, and ask for a reasonable home plan to support the work being done in session. I’ve had clients who could visit every three months while we worked on migraines and we were able to make progress because they kept to their home care plan. Remember, consistency doesn’t mean perfection, it means consistency. If you have 3 stretches to do every night before bed, 3 minutes on Monday, 10 minutes on Tuesday, 5 minutes on Wednesday, 10 minutes on Thursday, and 4 minutes on Friday is still consistency! Showing up for yourself takes dedication. If you have specific wellness goals with limited time on the massage table, this is the secret to achieving those goals as a team.
Your Massage Therapist is on your team. We are excited to help you achieve your goals and experienced in holding a client’s hand through the trenches of healing and growth. Healing isn’t always linear, and you’re human. So, remember, it’s more important to show up for yourself imperfectly than to not show up for fear of failure.
We’ve got this!
