Chinese massage

Yesterday I had a big chunk of time to myself in preparation for the next several days when I'll have very little time to myself, as hubby is off on a well-deserved trip to the east coast. I spent some time doing grocery shopping, browsed at Goodwill, generally lollygagging, enjoying my time. At the end of the day, I found myself at Foot Finesse. Weeks earlier, a colleague had recommended this place for massage, and her description of her experience made me melt. A week ago, a few other friends told me they had been there--one loved it and the other didn't. I finally had an opportunity yesterday to sample their skills.

It was definitely different from any other massage I have had. There were several red leather reclining chairs in the dimly lit room, all of which were occupied. They led me to another room with three empty chairs. I sat on one, and the other two were filled shortly after my massage started. First my masseuse (a Chinese man with curly hair) reclined the chair, rolled up my pant legs above the knees and soaked my feet in hot water. While I was resting there, my scalp, face and ears were massaged. He took my feet out of the water, dried them and rubbed an oil on them, then covered them with a towel. He moved back to work my shoulders, hands and arms, using repeated, firm movements. He returned to my calves and feet, focusing on each toe, rubbing the bottoms of my feet in ways that hurt and felt good at the same time. He slapped my feet vigorously from several angles, then used a steamed towel to wipe the oil off. (This was my personal favorite.) He pressed my quadriceps in strategic points. Then he asked me to lie face down. He did some pretty heavy pushing on my back, stretching me diagonally from both sides. He actually CLIMBED UP and knelt on my butt, using the leverage to get even deeper into the muscles of my back. He used his knees to massage laterally from my spine through my hips. This part was a very new experience for me, and somewhat painful at the time. He climbed down and dropped my legs from a height several times, then told me I was all done.

I felt so good and relaxed. I will definitely be returning again soon, and now that I know better what to expect, I can really relax.