Massages are not a treat after 30, they're part of your routine
Massages used to be a luxury to me; I saw them solely as a means to unwind and relax, reserved for a ‘treat myself’ day. When I walked into BODY, during a 5-day trip to Santa Fe, I treated myself to a couple of massages in hopes of unwinding and finding relief to some ailments. Lately, with yoga and pilates elemental to my lifestyle, I’ve found myself holding back on some poses to dodge the pain. After nearly a year of ailments, I just accepted my body’s aches as a part of the aging process, until the massages I booked changed what I knew about my body.
When I lay on the massage table, my therapist, Saskia, asked me what areas I wanted her to focus on. My answer was everything hurt, some areas more than others, so she got to work. Saskia is a true healer with a mind-body connection to the language of physiology and what your body is telling you. She told me some of the root causes of my pain and how one side of my body was overcompensating for the tightness of the other side. This felt healing, but it was more than that–– it was like a college crash course on my body.
All this time, I thought I had my wellness routine down pat; I move my body daily, meditate, eat a plant-based diet— the works. Something was off. It turns out what I thought was a luxury, was support my wellness practice was missing. During my massage, Saskia noted what I was feeling on my right side was inflammation hitting my sciatic nerve. She said it could be sciatica or the inflammation pressing on the nerve, emulating it. Treatments and time would tell, but her gentle analysis motivated me to incorporate massage into my fitness and wellness practice to support my routine.
My full-body massage was revolutionary. I came in with pain and numbness on my right side, shoulder pain, hip pain, and severely strained mobility in my neck. I left with the ability to turn nearly 90º on each side, something I haven’t been able to do in at least 6 months. One of my legs was shorter than the other when I walked in, by the time she finished both legs were aligned. I felt so much release on the right side of my body and knew at that moment, this was only the beginning. There was a fine line Saskia balanced from giving my body the work it needed, to turning the experience into an uncomfortable one. She worked on my body deep enough to feel release, scaling back when needed all while engaging with me to let me know what she noticed.
After 80 minutes, I felt the way I never had during a massage. This felt intentional, it felt like I had answers to ailments I accepted as normal. Saskia’s genuine curiosity for the body’s signs taught me the root causes of my symptoms, as well as homework I could do in between my next sessions. She recommended more full-body strengthening like pilates for more muscle building that will help strengthen and stabilize my foundation. She recommended key stretches to incorporate into my practice, along with ample hydration to integrate the session's benefits.
Since my 80-minute massage, I’ve now had 3 massages and continue to watch my yoga and pilates practice grow. I’ve always thought of fitness as an investment to prioritize, but I never thought about what I’d do if my body’s ability to move decreased over time. What good is an investment in fitness if you’re not maintaining your body? It’s like eating plant-based for health benefits, but still smoking cigarettes. The good can only outweigh or balance the bad for so long. I didn’t expect to feel so mentally invigorated after my massage, but there was something different from the massage I got at BODY than any other I’d experienced. It ignited a passion in me to get stronger. I learned sometimes getting stronger means regularly carving out time to “treat” your future self by maintaining all the hard work you do in the present.