Relaxation Techniques - Massage

As Matt and I naturally can not afford to pay for professional massage therapy, we decided we'd try our hand at it at home. We lit candles, filled the room with sweet aromas, used a great massage oil we found, and he proceeded to give me his best deep tissue massage all over my back. This one was TONS of fun!

Massage


Time:
Preparation - Approx. 10 minutes
Execution - 30 - 45 minutes

Preparation:
- Purchased KY Touch Massage Bali Moonlight Warming Massage Oil.
- Scattered candles around the room and lit them.
- Turned on some soothing sounds on the iPod speakers.
- Lay down on the bed and tried to be calm.


Things I liked:
- So great for the muscles! I was lucky enough to have a really strong guy kneading me, so it turned out absolutely superb for every muscle in my back.
- The warming aspect of the massage oil really helped me to relax.
- The scent of the burning candles and incense, as well as the fragrance of the massage oil was a great distraction from my every day stresses, and made me feel like I was somewhere exotic, on vacation or something.

Things I didn't like:
- Hard to coordinate. With such a busy schedule, it's hard to find time to both sit down and do something so potentially time consuming. And, as it turns out the best time of day for this is right before bed, we're both often too tired to go to the effort to set the scene.
- Hard to reciprocate. If my husband wants a massage after me, he's probably not going to get one. Giving one would only heighten my stress, as I'm not nearly as strong and would not be able to be as effective. So, it's probably a one person per session kind of deal.

Relaxation Effectiveness:
4.5 out of 5