My top 5 criteria for a good massage therapist
Massage therapists come in all shapes and sizes and forms and energies. It’s a good thing because there are all kinds of people in the world and you just cannot make everyone happy. Finding your favorite massage therapist is like dating. You may have to go through many to find one and many more if you are very picky. I’ve had more misses than hits myself. I have several favorite massage therapists that I usually go to but sometimes I try someone new because I learn so much from other therapists both about what to do and what not to do.
Here are my top 5 criteria for a good massage therapist and how I try to be one myself.
#5: Makes me feel safe – I’ve had massages with questionable draping or questionable way to massage that made me feel exposed and very uncomfortable. How can you relax if you can’t feel safe in the first place? Especially with the massage first timers, I am very careful with the draping so the clients feel safe and secure with me.
#4: Sincere and passionate – I’ve had people who were just doing a routine massage. You can just tell they are not enjoying their work. I would rather be touched by someone who enjoys giving massage sincerely. I love taking people to a different state. When I see the change in their breathing patterns, twitching fingers, and snoring I feel like I did my job. And when they tell me with a massage face “that was the best massage I’ve ever had” I’m in heaven.
#3: Gives me a good pressure – I love very firm pressure so I have to have people with strong hands or very good body mechanics who can give me the pressure I want. I’ve been told I have strong hands but I’m small and not that heavy so I do have a limitation in the amount of pressure I can give. If someone wants more pressure than I can I’ll be more than happy to refer them to other therapists.
#2: Doesn’t talk – I’ve had massage therapists interrogating my personal life or spewing their relationship problems onto my back during the session. It’s ok to check in with me to see how I’m doing and I actually appreciate that but I’m there to relax. So please don’t be chatty with me. Since I don’t like a chatty therapist, I do not initiate a conversation when I give massage. So if someone wants a talk therapy during a massage therapy, I’m not a good fit.
#1: Gives full promised minutes – it makes me mad when I sign up for 60 minutes and the actual massage is only 55 minutes. You can do a lot in those 5 minutes. To me the actual massage starts when you put your hands on the client, not when you greet the client. When I massage I read the time as I place my hands but the clocks that I use don’t have second hand so I don’t know if it’s 10 seconds or 50 seconds past let’s say 10:03. So I add at least one minute and end at 11:04 instead of 11:03 to make sure that my clients gets a full 60 minutes. To me that’s integrity. I am not going to waste any of the hard earned dollars that my clients are using for my service.
I have more criteria but these are my top 5. What are yours? I would love to hear your criteria for a good massage therapist in the comments below.
Happy Massaging!
5-19-14 My top 5 criteria for a good massage therapist http://bit.ly/mm-051914
