8 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Massage

In honor of Miami Spa Month, we’d like to share some tips as to just how to get the very most out of your massage.

1. Get Warm

Get to the spa early and steam, sauna, hot tub and shower before your massage. Sweating will help you eliminate toxins and warmer muscles respond better and take much less time warming up. That means they’ll spend less of that oh-so-short 50 minutes warming you up and much more getting down deep into the muscles.

2. Keep Your Product On

If you don’t have time to do the steam-sauna routine, or you’re not going to a full-service spa, arrive at your appointment freshly showered. It’s not just so you don’t offend the therapist, it’s also so you can leave the oils on to moisturize your skin. After all, spas like ESPA, Bliss and Azul use amazing products like Russie Blanche that you’ll want to leave on.

3. Go For Technique

Ask your therapist if they know any special techniques. The best therapists at the best spas often have had extensive training and taken workshops in Reiki, Reflexology, Shiatsu and more. Ask them and they’ll be happy try them out on you.

3. Quiet Please!

Now that you’ve discovered their hidden talents, try not to chit chat. Yes, it’s nice, and helps you get to know your therapist better, but after 5 minutes or so, relax, close your eyes … and shut up. Otherwise you’ll never reach that blissed-out state of relaxation.

4. Cell-phone Free

Turn off your phone, and try not to multi-task. Don’t make to-do lists in your head. Imagine a very peaceful place  and if you know how to meditate, do it. If not— pretend.

5. Liberate Yourself

The rule of thumb is to “undress to your level of comfort”, but don’t be afraid to get naked, professional therapists are not there to ogle you and you wouldn’t want to block access to your aching glutes now would you? Still shy? A thong might be just the solution.

6. Face First

Have them start with the face, before they put oil on their hands, or ask if they have a face-specific oil in order to help you avoid break-outs. If your skin is a little more mature, this may not be a problem, after all, as we age, oil goes from foe to friend.

7. Water!

Getting a massage will help you release toxins (another reason number 1 is a good idea), so drink a lot of water and herbal teas afterwards to help flush them away and not let them resettle in your system.

8. No meetings

We know this seems kind of obvious, but don’t plan anything stressful afterwards. You want to extend the relaxed state your in and delay coming back to reality as long as possible.