The Respectful Client: How to Contribute to a Successful Massage

Relationships take two, including the one you have with your massage therapist.

1) Before you even leave for your massage appointment, consider what you're wearing. Is it easy to change out of and back into? Do you need to wear extra jewelry? Can you pass on the perfume or cologne? Do you have to do your hair with precision or wear full makeup, or will that prevent you from relaxing on the massage table? Or, the other extreme – do you have body odor?! Are you drenched in sweat? Dried sweat and otherwise unclean skin impacts the glide of our massage strokes. All that said, nobody really cares whether or not you shaved your legs or armpits. If we were easily offended by the human body, we wouldn't have become massage therapists. But please respect both what you're going for – healing – as well as our journey to be able to facilitate it for you. We are meeting to have a positive, if not amazing, experience.

2) When you enter the massage room, please understand that it is our workspace. Please use the space designated for your belongings, and keep the floor around the entire massage table completely free of your shoes or phone, for example. Your phone should be silenced, and if you cannot detach from it for that hour, don't schedule the massage for that hour. Nobody in a massage environment benefits from hearing your phone. Avoid distractions to help get your money's worth from the time you're investing. Also, please do not begin undressing while the therapist is conducting intake with you; wait until we leave the room.

3) The massage therapist is the authority in the room. We are stewards of a body of knowledge most clients don't possess, and we are sworn to adhere to a code of ethics in concert with that knowledge. For best results, let us do our jobs. You are in control of your body, and the massage therapist is in control of the session. You needn't stay vigilant to supervise. Let us handle the environment, including the lighting, the airflow, the table, the face cradle, any bolsters or pillows, and the draping, and please, do not roll over until directed. All you really need to do is breathe fully and receive what we spent many earnest months and even years preparing to give you.

4) Please don't leave without saying goodbye to your therapist! We are not numbers, robots, or servants. We are relatable humans, we value your feedback, and we may have insights or therapeutic recommendations specifically for your body that we're trained to offer, as part of the therapy you're paying for. Some things are better communicated when you are upright and more alert.

5) Do your homework, or homecare, between appointments. Massage therapy is not a quick fix or magic pill, but requires some lifestyle changes for most clients to really get their money's worth. Increasing your water intake, stretching or adding whole body movement to your daily routine, and better posture, for example, help achieve and maintain the results we both want. Be proactive and learn something new about your muscles and our profession by consuming my site content, or other resources. Thank you for being an awesome massage client!