In these trying times, going to get a massage can be a risky event. That’s why when 31-year-old Maya Chen decided to get her first massage in a year, it took her almost the entire hour to work up the courage to ask the masseuse to go a little easier on her back because wow that was kind of intense.
“I’m kind of out of practice when it comes to asking for things from people,” Maya says. “And I could see that she was putting so much work into it, I didn’t want her to feel disempowered.”
Maya, who spent $140 on the 70-minute massage, was in pain for over 40 minutes as the masseuse dragged her knuckles along the sides of her thigh, as Maya wondered if she said something, that she might make the masseuse cry.
“Is that okay,” the masseuse asked several times, to which Maya responded, “Yes, it’s amazing!”
“All bodies are different, so I really love getting feedback from clients,” says masseuse Laura Menendez. “So when they say it’s going great, I just keep doing the same thing.”
Aw! Maya is still figuring out that asserting yourself can actually be helpful to the people around her!
By the end of the massage when Maya was flipped over, she finally worked up the courage to say, “You can go a little easier on this side,” unfortunately realizing that she could indeed handle a little more pressure on this side, actually.
“I think I practiced enough conversations in my head to be really ready for the next massage,” Maya says. “In the meantime, I’m covered in bruises all over my body.
Now that’s what we call self-care!
