The least relaxing massage, ever

I got a great massage yesterday.  It was the most unrelaxing massage I've ever gotten. 

It started off with a scalp massage with peppermint oil, which was nice and relaxing.  And a nice way to ease into the more painful portion of the show.  

It ended with a warning that I needed to ice that night or I'd be very unhappy the next morning.  Plus, free samples of BioFreeze. Never a good sign.

It was a deep tissue, trigger point massage, and the massage therapist was very reactive to what my muscles needed.  She'd find a spot and hold it until it was relaxed.  She went off of my feedback - so it was not a silent, listen to the calming music massage.  It was an "ow, that's about a 6 on a scale of 10 on the pain level" and "I feel that all the way down my arm" type of massage.  And it was focused on my left shoulder/neck and left hip - two areas that are a constant bother to me. 

My massage therapist, Jenna, at Hand and Stone Massage in Aberdeen, works with the Rutgers (go RU!) football team as well, and incorporated some stretches and more sports-massage elements in as well.  We also spoke about my past knee problems and other areas of concern, so she was aware of where some of my tightness was coming from.

Luckily, my sister has gotten several massages from Jenna before, and warned me that it was not fun while it was happening, but that it felt great afterward.  So I went with her recommendation and was finally able to book with Jenna (I had tried before, but with no success). I also made sure to take some Aleve beforehand, to ward off any post-massage pain.

So while it wasn't the nice relaxing massage that my mind might have needed, it was definitely the  work out all the kinks massage that my body needed.  And, given the interactive nature of the massage and the feedback loop that was required, it was actually pretty good at keeping me in the moment and forcing me to take deep breaths, which is something that normally doesn't happen for me during massages.

I plan to go back for more sometime soon. But I think that my next massage might have to be more along the lines of a Sweedish massage.  Sometimes you just need a nice, long, relaxing massage.