Your first massage
Before the massage or bodywork treatment begins, we will sit down and I will offer you some tea or fresh water. This time is only for you to arrive, to get acquainted with the new environment and with me. If you have questions about my work, then this is the moment to ask them and I look forward to answering them. Please feel free to talk about anything I should know.
If there are important issues regarding your health, such as pregnancy, high blood pressure, surgery, osteoporosis, psychotherapy, cancer, inflammation, skin problems, or simply joint pain, stiff neck, or stress, please let me know. If you have any doubts about contraindications, please consult your doctor.
If you like, you can talk about your expectations, what you need, and what you don’t like. Maybe you don’t like facial massage, or you don’t want oil in your hair because you have an appointment afterwards. Maybe you need a really strong or a rather gentle, soft flowing massage. Perhaps you would like a particularly long foot massage today. If you like it, you can also bring your iPod, and we will listen to your music during the massage treatment or bodywork session.
After this little talk I will give you a big sheet and show you how to lie on the massage table. Then I will leave the room, you take off your clothes and lie under the sheet on the massage table. Before I come back, I will knock on the door.
Cover the body with the sheet.
During a massage you normally lie naked under the large sheet that covers you. Only the areas of your body will be uncovered where the massage will take place. If you feel uncomfortable being naked under the sheet, you can keep your underwear on.
Massage practitioners are well trained to always … always … always cover the private zone of the client with the sheet. But there are a few different aspects to how the sheet is handled.
- When I give a massage to someone who wants the entire body to be massaged – like as if in a uninterrupted movement in orchestra music – then only the private zone is covered and much of the body is uncovered. In this way it is much easier to keep the massage constantly flowing.
- But if the same person comes a month later and feels shy, sore, stressed, or introverted, then he or she gets a blanket in addition to the sheet and is well covered. The entire massage now takes place under the sheet, with little or no uncovering. Accordingly, the massage style will be slower and more nuanced – just like a chamber music.
During the massage or bodywork treatment
There are a few things that might be helpful for you to know.
° Sie können während der Massage immer zu mir reden. Aber es besteht keine Notwendigkeit für “Small Talk”. Wenn Sie Anspannung, und Nervosität verspüren, oder wenn Sie sich gestresst oder kontrolliert anfühlen, lassen Sie es mich wissen.
- You can always talk to me during the massage. But there is no need for “small talk”. If you feel tension and nervousness, or if you feel stressed or controlled, let me know.
- You are welcome to move at any time and change position on the massage couch. Listen to the impulses of your body and follow them. Please feel encouraged to do this even during the massage.
- With your breath you can support the progress of the treatment. If you exhale deeply and long, you can help yourself to relax.
- If your restless thoughts prevent you from being present, simply keep the focus of your attention within your body limits. For example, you can feel your skin, or feel inside your body, or follow the flow of your breath, or follow the touch of my hands.
All this in one picture ….
A massage is a gift that we both, you and I, give to your body so that it can grow and blossom. During the massage the body is the king. It is our task to listen to it and to be present for it during the whole treatment. In this way it can recover and we can both follow the body very attentively and learn to let go – little by little.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me in my practice in Munich or Berlin. Here you will find the contact page.
