Aromatherapy Massage

For my friend, Jayne's birthday I'd booked her and myself an aromatherapy massage: full body and facial in the college's holistic therapy department. It coincided nicely with the end of observation week. I desperately needed a de-stressor and so did Jayne as she's got further problems with her errant son.
"It's pot luck who you get," I said to Jayne. "Even though they're all level 3s some are better than others. Enjoy."

Elaine, the student beautician assigned to me, filled out a client card. In order to mix the appropriate oils, she needed to know what problems I wanted massaging away. I asked her if she had three hours to spare. She laughed, telling me to just give her a general idea. "I've got extremely dry skin, which soaks up moisture like a sponge," I said, showing her patches of dryness. "I have shoulder and neck pain, due to a double frozen shoulder I had four years ago, which left the area weak. I have IBS, but mostly I have stress, anxiety and depression."
"Is the stress work related?" she asked.
"Some of it is."
"And the rest?"
"It's a long story, let's leave it at that."
She smiled and left the cubicle, asking me to strip down to my knickers, and cover myself with brown towels; returning a few minutes later with little dishes containing combinations of the strong smelling oils.
"This one's for your facial. Do you like the smell?" she asked shoving it under my nose.
"Mm mm, " I said. "It smells powerful."

She didn't talk throughout the treatment, which I really like. You can't relax if you're constantly trying to make conversation with someone you don't really know. Her hands were warm and healing and strong. The heady aromas and her firm, soothing technique put me in a trance somewhere between sleep and meditation.

'Excellent' I wrote on her client care card. I asked if she did Reiki because her hands were so warm and comforting, almost healing. "Other people have said that. I'm going to do a course when I've finished this one."
"You really must. You have a gift."
"Thanks. Don't overdo it for the rest of the day," she warned. "No. tea, coffee or alcohol, just drink water and eat light meals. It's all part of the detox."

Disappointed, Jayne and I were intending to go for lunch, but the prospect of a light meal and no wine, added to the fact that our hair was so full of oil from the facial and scalp massage, we looked as though we had just finished a shift in a chippy, we decided to go home.

Next thing I heard was Dan shouting, "How was the massage?" I looked at the alarm clock on my beside table. I'd slept for three hours.
"Wonderful," I shouted back.

Copyright © 2007 Barbara Attwood