*This post contains a gifted experience*
I didn’t realise quite how much I needed a massage until I was kindly gifted one by The Massage Company in Camberley. The last couple of years have been a lot (globally), and the last couple of months have been quite a lot too (personally). There’s been stress seeping in from every angle and something I’ve learnt over the years is that my body likes to store stress and tension in my shoulders. Combine this with a desk job and it’s probably no surprise that my masseuse struggled to get the knots fully out of my shoulders - “I’m afraid I’m going to have to prescribe more pampering” she said as we finished up.
I’ve always seen massages as pampering, and in fact, I scheduled this in as a treat for hosting my very first workshop. It’s just always felt… like a bit of an extravagance. But as I felt my masseuse work, smoothing out the many kinks in my muscles, pulling and pushing my body until it felt like happy spaghetti, I realised this is something my body needs.
Our physical bodies hold so much emotion. I do my best to practice yoga regularly to help stretch and ease tension, but that can’t always get into the nooks and crannies that a trained masseuse can. There is such an intrinsic connection between body and mind, and yet I know my focus always skews towards the mind, leaving my body a little neglected. Part of me suspects this is due to my eating disorder history and complicated relationship with my body. But, having the opportunity to have this massage reminded me that my body deserves, and needs, attention too.
The work a masseuse does takes a lot of skill and I totally respect the cost attached to these treatments, but in all honesty - this is what puts me off getting one more regularly. I’m more than happy to throw money at my personal development and experiences that will expand my learning, but interestingly I struggle when it comes to investing in something that will benefit my body, I wonder if anyone else relates to this?
This is why I really appreciate the fact that The Massage Company offers a monthly membership, where you can get one massage a month at a more accessible price point. Their mission is to make massage more mainstream, so it becomes simply another way of taking care of ourselves, rather than an extravagant one-off.
I’ll be honest, right now my financial priorities lie with getting more furniture for our new flat and the coaching mastermind I’m a part of. By the end of the year however, those costs won’t be impacting me and I think 2022 will finally be the year I give my body the same care and attention as my mind.
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