Have you ever wished your husband/partner was also a massage therapist so they could save you $50-$100 and give you a massage any time you wanted one? Through the wonders of Groupon, we recently took a class designed to help both of us do just that!
The Living Well Health and Wellness Center of Dallas offers a 3-hour class taught by a licensed massage therapy instructor to couples who want to learn how to give a proper massage that won’t make your hands tired. I think that’s one of the obstacles to self-taught massage, that it really makes your hands tired, so who can do it for more than 15-20 minutes? However, the instructor (Chris) in this class taught us how to position our bodies and move the entire body when you are giving a massage, so that you are using the weight of your body to apply the pressure, not your hands. In fact, most of it is just leaning into your arms. Apparently, this is the secret to how massage therapists spend all day giving massages! I am sure their legs get tired, but it saves a ton of stress on the hands to know how to move correctly.
She also taught us the areas where soft tissues is, and how to do 2 different kinds of strokes to these areas to release tension. What you want to avoid, she explained, is the bones – massage only hurts when you press on bone!
During the class, we each gave the other a 1-hour massage, with the help of the instructor, and neither of us experienced any hand pain or exhaustion. Christian fell asleep during the massage I gave him! The instructor said this is a good thing because it means I wasn’t doing anything wrong that hurt him and would wake him up.
I would HIGHLY recommend one of these classes! Either at the Living Well center or somewhere else. I have seen multiple Groupon offers for these classes, which are normally $125, for as little as $65. We practiced ome of the things we learned last night, and I really think it helps the back pain I am getting with this pregnancy!
NOTE: I was not paid to attend this class or talk about it. In fact, I paid for the class with my own money. I am also not paid to promote Groupon, although if you do join Groupon, join from this link and it gives me referral credit. Ooo.