The Best Massage for Me is the One Which I Only Half Experience

Iunderstand that the word ‘parlour’ is derived from a French word which means‘to speak’. But I do not visit a massage parlour to speak. I go there to sleep.And a massage which can’t lull me to sleep, or get me very nearly there, doesnot do it for me. Everybody has their quirks, and this is mine.
Ita basic requirement to have a place, even at first look and feel, that meetswith my standards and sensibility. “How would the guys running the place knowabout that ?”, you might ask. “By thinking about what they would expect forthemselves, and then setting the bar higher than those standards to be safe”,would be my reply. I love it when I am taken for a brief inspection tour of thefacility even before I sign up for the massage. That’s because the folks there appearconfident that they have been thoughtful and have set the bar well. I also loveit when I see the masseur genuinely involved in getting the place ship-shapebefore every massage. That’s because he seems connected to my overallexperience, and cares enough about his performance to know that he must.
It’sgreat to see the therapist and the masseur going over the form in which Ideclared the details about my medical history. Discussing and agreeing aboutwhat needs to be done and what doesn’t. I can sense when they are merely doingthis to mitigate their own risk and when they are doing it for my sake as well.
It’s a relief to be handed the key to a locker to keep my clothes and otherstuff in. Anything, that keeps out the thoughts and feelings that potentially oractually distract me from my cherished sleep, is preferable.
Withinthe first few minutes alone with the masseur - in the way he introduceshimself, mumbles instructions, and hands out the robe, towel and disposable underwear- I can figure out if he knows what it is to be non-intrusive in an intimatesituation. I am pleased as punch to know that he is aware of the subtleties ofbehaviour that are central to his profession. And happily answer his questionsabout my preferred music, oil, temperature, and so on.
Ithank my stars for being at the right place, when I am requested to take a warmshower before the massage. To be clean for handling by the masseur, sure; butto also unclog the pores of the skin to best allow for the oil to soak in. ThenI know also, that I am very probably going to witness something that has anapproach, a method, a technique, in the following minutes. I know I am going tosubmit myself to a fine student of his art when he provides me with a few piecesof evidence. Like doing justice to the soles of the feet, the palms, the smallof the neck and the small of the back. Like using fuller strokes that aredirected outside-in, from the head and the limbs towards the heart. Like the clockwisemovements over the stomach and abdomen.
Theysay the soul of a good driver flows into and makes him one with his machine. Soit is with a good masseur. He knows when, where and how much to knead, press,stroke, pinch, caress, roll and curl. He is attentive to the most fleeting of my body’sreactions and works to undo the knots. Unless he has good reason to dootherwise, he exhibits symmetry in his movements. And simplicity, unity, andbalance. It’s usually around this time, about halfway into the massage, that Ifall asleep. And experience the remaining massage in my dreams.
I love massages. Hence I have been less or more happy on several occassions when I've had them. But sleep during one ? And be completely thrilled ? Less than ten times out of a few hundred.
Whyis it that the best massage for me is the one which I only half experience ? Because,true performance is about the journey. That guarantees the destination muchbefore it is reached. Even you know that. When you’re getting the massage done.
Howabout when you’re the masseur ? Or masseuse ?