Stories I Tell My Clients: A Massage and Just the Right Word

A middle-age woman I massaged at the spa told me she was an office manager and warned me of stressed muscles in her back and shoulders. I worked hard with her. Near the end of the session, I found her right forearm extremely tense and in serious need for deeper work. I applied a combination of Swedish massage, deep tissue therapy, and an interactive myofascial release technique. At the end of the service, she went out into the hallway and by impulse picked up a glass pitcher full of ice water and poured herself a drink. Then to her amazement she realized that she hadn’t been able to pick up and pour like that for several years. She thought I was some kind of miracle worker. I claimed to be doing only what my teacher taught me and expressed the hope that she’d find someone in her hometown to work regularly with her.



Dan and I drove into the mountains west of Santa Fe, New Mexico one afternoon to camp at Fenton Reservoir. He took along his male red Doberman pincer. We got up before the sun hoping to catch some fish. Dan fastened the dog’s chain to a nearby tree, and we threw our baited hooks into the water. After sunup, some unsupervised kids began running back and forth on a path near the dog. An hour or so later, their mom dragged herself out of her tent and hurried by on her way to the lavatory. When she returned, she approached Dan and asked if the dog was good with kids. Dan replied, “Sometimes.” Her kids quit using the path.

I found Dan’s answer was perfect for so many questions and helpful as an interpretation of massage. Sometimes this approach or that technique brings relaxation to muscles or relief to pain, but there are no guarantees, no imaging procedures, and lots of guesswork. We therapists prefer to describe our guesses as intuition. At least that’s what I tell my clients. If they have had a massage accompanied with one of my stories, I know I’ve shared with them an idea or two that I find true. In my version, massage is a rather simple process. Its effectiveness is enhanced by thorough preparation and intelligent decisions, but ultimately the loving handling of another’s pain is its focus and benefit. I love my work and the storytelling opportunities it affords. If my clients laugh, I tell them the endorphin therapy from it comes free.

Sometimes I feel sure I know what a petroglyph
represents. Not so with this one!
Mixed media on paper. Phillip Hoyle