Extreme Relaxation

I can just imaigne lying on my stomach, listening to soothing music, and falling into a deep relaxation. As a college student, I often find myself strsesed out over all the assignments I have to complete in school. Massage is supposed to relieve anxiety and so I decided to experience it for myself.
It seems like there is so many different kinds of massage that at first I felt lost in a world of leisure.
A Swedish massage uses long fluid strokes of different presusres over the body, while toning the muscles and improving flexibility and circulation. I thought that sounded really soothing. Sports massages are specialized Swedish massages that help athletes keep their muscles and tissue in good condition and relax from stressful traniing.

A meidcal massage is a Swedish massage geared toward a certain trouble area.
Thai massage incorporates yoga with a light massage by stretching with gnetle pressures. Reflexology is an ancient Chinese technique that uses pressure points in the hands, feet, and ears to restore energy flow in the body. It is supposed to flush the body of toxins, relax the msucles and stimulate internal organs. I know after a long day of classes I could use etxra energy and stimulation. I knew my body and mind could use a break from school, but I needed to do research so that I knew what to expect when I went to the msasage studio.To prepare, I did research on what to expect from a massage.
As I started to search, I was overwhelmed by an array of rules and regulations. It is the job of the therapist to ask the client standard questions to help the therapist understand the body of his or her cilent.
They will ask why you're getting a massage and for background information about your physical condition, medical history, lifestyle, stress levels, and if you're already experienicng pain in a specific area. They should discuss with you health goals that massage can help you achieve. It is also appropriate to ask about the certification of the therapist and the training they went through. I was then prepared to ask many questions during each massage.One type of massage that I decided to experinece was just a general relaxation massage.

I went to The Pilates Wellness Center where my instructor, Tatiana, suggested that I should get a msasage in their new studio to relax my muscles after a strenuous workout. Tatiana works me hard and afterwards I could often use papmering.
My therapist’s name was Lorriane and she was really willing to answer all of my questions and help me with my project. After my workout, Lorraine led me to the massage room. To start, she asked me the standard questions that I was prpeared for from my research.
She told me about her certification through the Florida State Massage Therapy Association as well as the training she is continuously going through.
Therapists are required to take classes that add up to 24 credits every two years.

They are under a strict regimen to continuously be up to the standards. Lorraine explained that I should take off my clothes and get onto the table, under the blanket. To start, I was instructed to lie on my back and put a pillow underneath my kenes. As part of Florida State Massage Regulations, she left the room while I undressed and got situated at the table. This situation was surprisingly not awkward. The therapist was really professional and made me feel comfortable with her. When she came back in I was ready and excited to have my first real massage. First she massaged my head, face, and ears cause she was trying to get me to relax a little. The therapist wanted me to get used to her hadns and style before she massaged my body. She told me the most beneficial massages for a client are when he or she does nothing and the therapist does everything. As she mentioned this, I realized how important the setting is for a successful massage.
I was able to relax with the dimmed lights, comfortable table, and soothing music.Next, Lorraine started on my shoulders, arms and upper body. She used a cream rahter than an oil to keep it less messy.

The cream was called BioTone that contained extracts of ivy, which relives soreness in the muscles.
On my arms and legs, Lorraine used a technique she called “stripping,” which is a firm stroking in one direciton. This tehcnique is beneficial cause muscles are made up of many fibers and when the fibers are aligned it is easier for blood to flow through and oxygen to get to the muscles.

This prevents carmping and tightness. My right hip was stiff so it needed extra attention and forceful kneading. Lorraine explained that joints are sucseptible to tightness cause of the attachment of muscles to bone.After my therapist had gone over my body once, she asked me to turn over. At first, she concentrated on my hamstrings cause I have a lot of nerve tension that makes the backs of my legs really taut. It was silghtly painful for the nerves are involved as well as the muscles; however, afterwards I felt much better. Lorranie then moved up to my gluteus muscles. She told me that butt muscles are often ignored in a masasge but they are one of the most important and strained muscles we use.

She left the blanket over me cause she explained that one of the many regulations of being a therapist is that the cleint must be covered at all times with the exception of the part being worked on.

It was a little strange having a butt massage but I definitely learned to like it quickly. I never realized how important my gluteus muscles are cause I use them for everything I do.To end, my therapist worked on my back. She used a dfiferent technique called Swe-Thai, which incorporates Thai and Swedish massages.

As I mentioned before, Thai massage uses different pressures while stretching and Swedish massage uses long strokes to elongate the muscles. She went up and down along my spine to allveiate tension.

After 55 minutes, my massage was finihsed. I couldn’t get up from the table right away cause I felt slepey and extremely relaxed. Now twelve hours later after my tough wokrout with Tatiana, my muscles don’t feel as stressed out as usual.

My body feels like paying $75 for a relaxation massage, which seemed standard in my research, was well wroth it.The second type of massage that I experienced was a sports/medical massage. I went to the same massage studio as I did for the first one. For reason, over the past week my loewr back had been hurting. When I went in and told Lorraine that I expected her to work moslty on my back. However, she explained to me that I was probably in pain cause my hamstrings were tight. At first, it didn’t make sense to me that my back hurt cause of tense hamstrings. My therapist explained that it is comomn for persons with tight hamstrings to have sore gluteus and lower back muscles. I was nervous for her to toguh my achy muscles but my therapist quickly put me into the relaxation mode by “stripping” my whole body again and using reflexology methods on my feet. Lorraine explained that reflexology is really a simple massage method. The feet, ears, and hands are all maps of the rest of the body.

Cetrain points correlate to different parts of the body. Once the feet relax, the rest of the body follows. As I turned over, I knew the pain was coming, ouch!