Dear Relaxation Massage,
Oh, what a wonderful couple of weeks together we’ve had! I’m really going to miss you and the blissful state that you induce in both my body and my mind. I promise to continue practicing relaxation while we’re apart and please know that I can hardly wait to unwind with you again soon!
Love,
Shannon
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Last week my friend Kirsten, a fellow massage therapist, called to see if I’d be interested in receiving Transformational Neuromuscular Therapy treatments from her once a week for the next ten weeks. I figured, hey, why not? I’m getting massage for 52 weeks straight. Ten weeks is only a fraction of the total time. Since I don’t have a specific outline for this project and I’m kind of just letting myself go where the project takes me, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity placed before me. Moving in the direction of a more therapeutic style of massage than what I’ve recently been receiving might be a good thing for me to explore anyhow.
The type of neuromuscular bodywork that Kirsten practices originated at the local massage school here in Crested Butte. The founder of the school, Craig McLaughlin, created the technique after studying with a variety of different teachers and working as a massage therapist for many years. It’s the same technique that I received from Becky, a student of his, during the very first week of this project. Apparently Transformational Neuromuscular Therapy can either be applied in just one session or as part of a ten-week series through which the muscles of the entire body are treated in sequence. Learning about my weekly massage project, Kirsten became excited at the prospect of assessing how ‘transformational’ her neuromuscular therapy technique actually is.
While I’m really looking forward to the therapeutic work, I have to admit—I’m kind of sad to not receive the general relaxation massage that I’ve been enjoying these past few weeks. I know. Can you believe I just said that? It’s funny, because for the first few weeks of the project I felt very adamant that massage needed to be ‘therapeutic’ in nature in order to be beneficial. But now, I entirely disagree. I kind of love relaxation massage—it’s so frickin’ relaxing!
Nine weeks into this project, I can clearly feel the benefits of relaxation massage. Beyond just getting a massage each week, I feel like I’ve been going to relaxation practice. Relaxation, like any other technique you use on your body, takes training. Training builds muscles as well as muscle memories. When the body does any activity consistently, the brain lays down neural pathways so that the activity becomes easier over time. Learning to relax is just like learning any other activity, whether it’s riding a bike, reading, or playing a musical instrument. It just takes practice.
The benefits of my eight-week relaxation training are already apparent. Now when I feel stressed out or uptight, the first thing I think to do is to get a massage—simply so I can relax. It’s intriguing to me how quickly my body and mind have learned to unwind. Relaxation provides such a pleasurable experience that I’d even say that I frequently crave it. Sometimes, in the middle of the day, I unexpectedly find myself daydreaming about relaxation. Without a doubt, of all the things I’ve ever had to practice, it is by far the most enjoyable and very well could be my all-time favorite. While massage has provided the initial means for relaxation, I sense that I will be relaxing independent of massage in no time at all.
I think the Transformational Neuromuscular Therapy sessions with Kirsten will be a great experience and I am definitely looking forward to them. But, my goodness, am I going to miss my relaxation massage. Hopefully, if things work out perfectly in my favor, Kirsten will apply the techniques in a manner that is both therapeutic and relaxing. Then I can have the best of both worlds!
