I got a full body massage yesterday. Yep, you read that right, naked and everything. I can remember being freaked out about the idea of that maybe not so long ago, but for some reason when I decided to do it yesterday it didn't even occur to me to be freaked out. Well, mostly.
So what happened was, I went back to work out with Maria on Tuesday, the first time I'd been to the gym since I left on my trip. It felt good to go back, good to be using my muscles again. I may have pushed myself a little too hard, or maybe I was exactly as sore as I would have been before the trip, but either way, on Thursday morning my arms and shoulders hurt. For reals. I had been tossing around the idea of getting some kind of girly spa treatment soon, like a facial or a pedicure or something, so I just figured, why not a massage? I googled around and found a spa in NW Portland called The Dragontree and lucked into a same-day appointment.
I was a little nervous walking up to the front door, mostly because I had no idea what to expect. Once through the door, I got the impression that The Dragontree was maybe trying a little too hard to be more fancy than it actually was. But whatever. I was just ready to get going. I filled out some brief paperwork and then was led back to the ladies' dressing room. The price of the massage included free sauna time and luckily I had arrived plenty early and could take full advantage of it. They gave me a key to a locker (mine had a little bronze tag on it that said 'spirit'. aww) and ushered me inside the dressing room. I was supposed to get naked, put on their provided robe and "spa sandals" and hang out in the little waiting area next to the dressing room until my massage therapist came to get me for my appointment.
I opened my 'spirit' locker and got down to business. Sadly but not surprisingly, the robe didn't fit, so I had to figure something else out. I decided to hit the sauna in a towel since it was right in the dressing area anyway, and wear my street clothes out to the waiting area for my massage. I must confess, I had a moment of shame that my body wasn't small enough to fit into their robe, but a moment later I snapped out of it and remembered that it's up to the spa to make me comfortable, not the other way around.
I was the only one in there, which was nice, so I got naked and stepped into the sauna with my towel. There's not much to say about a sauna really. It was as hot and soothing as you might imagine. I sat in there for a good 15 minutes or so, just relaxing. I didn't want to go into my massage all sweaty so I hit the showers. The spa showers had nice big showerheads, good water pressure, and all of the products a lady could want were provided free of charge.
Scrubbed up and squeaky clean, I threw my clothes back on and walked out to the waiting room. My massage therapist (Serena, I think) came for me almost immediately, we walked back to her room and talked about what areas to focus on, and she gave me a little time to get naked and get up on the massage table under the sheet.
A quick word about massage tables: they look spindly and like they might collapse under even an average person's weight, but they are sturdy as hell. I learned this years ago when I went to an acupuncturist. I remember walking into her office and having a little freak out moment before I made myself climb up on the table and could feel how strong it was beneath me.
So anyway, yes. Massage tables, very sturdy. I arranged myself under the sheet and Serena came back in the room and got down to business. I won't take you through the whole 60 minutes of massage because that would be kind of boring, but I will say I had a bit of a hard time speaking up when something was too much pressure. I'm hoping that will get easier over time. Also, when they say 'full body massage', they really mean your full body. I mean, not personal private business, but pretty close. I actually felt pretty matter-of-fact about my body being viewed and handled and when I noticed that feeling it made me happier than anything. It would still have been an awesome experience to be freaked out about my body and have gone and gotten the massage and enjoyed it anyway, but not being freaked out was a very pleasant surprise. I was just there to have a service performed on me, like a haircut or a manicure. I didn't have to be anything in particular. Everything was perfectly okay.
After Serena was done I laid there for a few minutes then groggily got to my feet and got dressed. They make you pay afterwards, which was a good thing for them because I was all euphoric and gave Serena a big tip. Then I hopped on a bus and headed home, completely satisfied.
I had a little soreness this morning, either from my workout still or from the massage, but some ibuprofen took care of it. All in all it was a great experience and I definitely want to go back, though this time I think I'll bring my own robe :)
xo,
C
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