11:57

soft glow

blankets everywhere

procrastinating on sleep

so instead

stretching out every muscle group that I knew how to, just for fun, for about an hour or so.

feeling muscles lengthen, realizing I just hit some goals and am farther along than I was a few days ago, listening to breathing, rain, and the dryer humming down the hall from me.

the human body is fascinating. I have seen and touched many, as a massage therapist, and they never fail to amaze me at how different and complex and beautiful and unique they all are.

working again has meant my “massage muscles” are coming back, my forearms and hand muscles are looking like how they used to, my “slug muscle” is slowly forming and building up once again.

stretching and watching your tendons shift, your muscles contract or relax, feeling all of the sensation, i don’t think it’ll ever fail to fascinate me.

God made us in His image. And we’re flawed here on earth. But these flawed creations are still so beautiful to me. I can’t wait to see what they’re like when we’re whole. 

How to receive massage

I don’t know about you people, but I remember getting my first massage and kinda freaking out. It felt amazing, don’t get me wrong, but I had no idea how to do this and was self conscious… which sounds odd. It should be so straight forward, right?

But where do you put your arms? How much clothing to keep on? When they lift my arms should I help them by lifting my arms for them? Will my hair bother them? Will leg stubble bother them? Sooooo many questions. And then I became a massage therapist, and I shall try to help you with those questions today. 🙂

• How does this work? The LMP (licensed massage practitioner) should bring you in to the room, ask you how you’re doing, expectations for the massage (basically where you would like them to massage. Full body, upper body, lower body, etc. If you’d like them to work a specific area, letting them know now is helpful so they can plan it into the allotted time. Then they’ll tell you how to lay on the table, exit the room, and you’ll get ready.
• What to leave on? Some people take everything off, some people stay in their underwear, both are equally as common as the other. Really whatever you’re comfortable with. The more clothes you have off, the more muscle is exposed, so that makes our job much easier.
• Where to put my arms? Personally, I like to have my clients put their arms by their sides. That way I can see their alignment better and have the muscles relaxed and not stretched out like they would be if you put your arms off of the table. Also I personally find it more comfortable.
• Limbs? The LMP may lift your arms/legs when they’re draping. Some people try to help me by lifting their limbs, but honestly that just makes you get in the way. I appreciate the gesture, but I have muscles and have lifted limbs heavier than yours. You just relax.
• Hair? I can guarantee I can work around that. And I don’t really care if you haven’t shaved in forever, I’ve seen worse and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Just means I gotta use more lotion. 🙂
• If you want more or less pressure, or if you’re ticklish, please let us know! We’ll go to our default pressure and try to go as hard/light as you’d like, and we can read the muscle to see how deep it’ll let us, but we can’t read minds. If you’re uncomfortable let us know and we’ll fix it. 🙂
• DRAPING. As awkward as it can feel, we can’t see anything. I remember wondering that during my first massage because the drape wasn’t tight, but the way that we tuck it prevents us from seeing any more than either of us want to. It’s actually illegal to expose your clients, so rest assured. Again, if you feel like the drape isn’t tight enough and it’s bothering you, speak up.
• It’s ok to fall asleep! It’s actually a compliment to our skills, so snooze away. 😉

I hope this was helpful, just a list of things I’ve noticed people wondering about when I work on them.

Blessings,

me

 

 

 

 

 

 

january things

well, it’s a new year, a new january, new things, and so far they’ve been pretty great.

These first few weeks have been full of new faces, learning new routines, aching wrists, earlyish mornings, yummy foods, adventures, late night talks, long walks, snapchat filters, laughs and after work cuddles, kombucha and kitchen floors, smelling like massage lotion and not being able to open things (thank you to my friends who open my grapefruits for me!), little sisters coming into my bed at 3 in the morning because they wanted to snuggle more, more Bible reading and getting into habits and routines that I’ve been working at.

I started two new jobs; one making use of my massage therapy license at a spa in Everett, and the second is nannying a sweet baby that’s a 90 second walk from my house. 🙂

Those have both been great, it’s been fun to work in massage again, nurturing and relaxing people through touch, watching stressed faces melt into smiles… it’s always funny to me, because halfway through the massage I have people flip from their stomachs onto their back, and I see their faces, and they look like an entirely different person than when they first got on the table… it’s caused quite a few double takes on my part.

also nannying. it feels like playing house, which makes me think of childhood and also the future all at once…

the future has always been a little daunting to me. Exciting, but daunting. I was always the kid that never wanted to grow up (but also wanted to get married, so I’m not sure what I was thinking.), who swore to myself I was too scared of driving to learn (turns out I love driving) and Peter Pan was one of my heroes. Turn out, God knows best and I’ve learned that He stands behind me and holds my hands like I hold a toddlers hands when they learn to walk.

The future could be scary. I could fret about it. I could fret about my future love dying, last hugs. I could dwell on thinking that I’ll be the last to die out of my loved ones. I could fret about being alone. I could fret about my siblings getting hurt. I could worry about everyone’s emotional health. Or, I could pray about it. God is trustworthy and has a plan.

The future could be joyful. I could find my person and raise our family and have pancakes on Sunday mornings and look at the stars and have big tickle fights. I could have many roadtrips and adventures with friends. I could have nights with people I love spent sitting on the kitchen floor with the lights off, talking about life and family and many other random topics. I could have sweet snuggles with little loved ones. There are far too many happy things to look foward to, it’s not even worth fretting about the bad ‘could be’s’.

It’s been a season of happy hearts, and it’s only the beginning of the year.

 

touch

My hands can’t see yet.

They are blind, my fingertips are calloused and clumsy still. They get hints of what lies below the skin, brief glimpses of what they need to see, but for now they are sightless.