From Pampering to Healthy: A Paradigm Shift

by Charlotte Irwin

I saw a perturbed look on his face, as I walked into the lobby to introduce myself.

“Hi Jeff, My name is Charlotte and I will be your therapist today. How are you?”

“Okay,” he said, but his body language was telling me something different. He didn’t say much, just followed me into my massage room. “I see this is your first massage, anything in particular you would like me to work on,” I asked?

“Not really,” he answered, I’m only here because my wife insisted on me coming with her.”

I proceeded to tell him that it was okay if he did not want the massage. We could just sit and talk, and I would refund his money. Unless of course, there was something bothering him? He then replied, “My shoulders and neck do feel a little achy, I have a new job, and I’ve been working 12 hour days.”

“Well, I could just massage your upper back for you, right here in our massage chair, you don’t even have to get undressed.”

“I guess that would be okay,” he reluctantly agreed. “Boy, does that hurt,” he expressed as I started massaging his neck.

“Yes, your neck muscles are pretty tight here. Do you get a lot of headaches?”

“As a matter of fact, I usually wake up with one,” he said. As I continued, I could feel the muscles starting to release, his body starting to relax, increased blood flow returning to the muscles and the energy moving through.

“You know, Charlotte,” he said after about 20 minutes, “its not that I didn’t want the massage. I don’t let allow myself to be pampered.” Wow, I thought to myself, what an insightful thing for him to say to me.

“Jeff, you have to realize taking care of yourself is not a pampering thing, it’s a healthy thing to do. This pain you are feeling is the distress your body is in. Massage is a great messenger for us. We walk around day after day, thinking it’s okay or it will go away, while our bodies are sending out signals of ‘Help!’ but usually we are too busy to hear them.”

I shared with him my observations over the years, the most stressful people I meet are usually the ones who tell me, “I don’t have time to get a massage.” It’s imperative to take the time. Notice how different you will feel this week. Once you get massage, you will discover the difference of what it feels like to be more in balance, which will positively affect your work, life and relationships. It is an amazing discovery. A discovery that will keep you healthy and aware of what’s going on inside.

Men especially think getting massage is a “pampering” thing or a “a woman thing”; they could not be more wrong. According to the American Medical Association, 90% of all illness is stress related, and that alone should be enough for you to consider massage as a health maintenance program. It’s a paradigm shift—one worth making.

We were finished. I actually spent an hour on his upper back, neck and shoulders. “Thanks,” he said. “I feel wonderful. I can’t believe the difference.”

“I’m glad,” I said. “You should always feel wonderful. Choose to make massage a part of your life, especially now that you are in a stressful place with your job.”

“You convinced me of that,” Joe stated as he was finishing up getting dressed.

Paradigm shift made.

Charlotte Irwin is the proprietor of Center for the Healing Arts in Sterling Heights, MI. 586-268-5444; center4thehealingarts.com.