mmmmmm... that feels good

Would you like to relax?
 Do you need to relax?
Have you been ordered by your doctor, your boss, your team, your family, your friends and random strangers on the street to relax?
Are you so Type-A that you have a comprehensive plan and schedule for relaxation?
Know what you need?
A massage.
sigh...
 I could go for a massage right now.
I have found the most wonderful massage therapist named Lynn. She is co-owner of Massage Associates in Ellicott City, MD. My personal trainer gave me a gift certificate for Christmas that i finally got around to using in May. I have been back several times since then and love, love, love it.
The practice offers a range of massage services and types as well as several different therapists. Lynn's bodywork on me could be described as gentle Swedish massage. Some of the movements and manipulations are so small that at first part of my brain was wondering whether or not they were doing any good; that is, until i tried to stand up and my entire body was like warm rubber.
sigh...
 Her room is exactly what you would expect: soft light, quiet music and aromatherapy. A cynic would think it looked like a cliched movie set, but no matter how jaded you might be, laying on the table between warm flannel sheets that smell wonderful with a bolster under your knees to keep your spine in proper alignment is like floating a freaking cloud - i swear it is worth the price of admission just to lay on the dang table.
Then she busts out the heated buckwheat booties and the eye mask.
I dare anyone to stay stressed out under those conditions. Even the new-agey music becomes soothing.
sigh...
 Each time i've seen her, Lynn has done something a little different depending on what i needed at the moment : mint oil on my temples for relaxation, eucalyptus for revitalization, hot cloth for really bad muscle knots, buckwheat pillow on my tummy for, well i don't know what that was for but it was awesome.
I know some people are a little freaked out about letting a stranger touch them. I certainly felt the same way, but Jamie had recommended Lynn so highly that i trusted her. Plus Lynn herself has a way of just putting you at ease immediately.
There is a medical history form you fill out before your first massage and each time she sits with you for a few minutes before hand asking if there is anything bothering you or any muscles that need extra attention. I am sure that the other therapists are equally as good, but i can personally vouch for Lynn. I feel like she actually cares about my well-being.
If you've never had a massage you might be nervous about being undressed in front of someone you don't know. I am far less body-conscious than most people so it was no big deal to me, but it turns out there is no reason to worry at all. There is so much intricate draping with the sheets that there is no point where anything vital is really exposed. Most people strip down to underwear, but Lynn says she has worked around far more clothing than that.
Like any personal service massage is not cheap, but $80 an hour seems like a bargain for how good i feel when i leave. Since i was recently forced to downsize my income i am going to save up and use massage as my incentive to get back on my gym schedule without a trainer.
Plus i am going to treat myself to a Sweet Feet massage at the end of summer programming - an hour of foot massage and reflexology.
sigh...
 You deserve a massage.
Really.