Controversial title, maybe. Truth? Well, if you’ve ever been over-weight and insecure, you’ll probably resonate. Plus I wouldn’t be ‘Frankly Coaching’ if I put sugar on everything I say.
From the ages of 0-28 I was over-weight. Not slightly over-weight like a size 12, I was carrying at least two people on me during this time. I then lost weight and was a size 10-12 for about 5 years then I had depression, then hated my work, then had a baby and now I’m back where I started (but also working on getting down again for my health.)
I had my first massage EVER when I was 30. I booked it because I felt I was small enough to pay some stranger to touch me and to see me naked – that sentence sounds all kinds of wrong, but you get my drift. You see, I was so insecure about my body, I was putting self-care on the back shelf. Needless to say self-care doesn’t work like this. You need to care for yourself first and the rest will follow. Not an easy sentence to swallow when you’re not feelin’ yourself, so anything that might actually make you happy and help relieve your body of stress like a massage, carries a burden of “what will they think of me?” “will they be disgusted at the sight of my stretch marks and cellulite?” “will they be overwhelmed with the surface area they’ll have to cover?” “is there enough oil?” etc etc.
Turns out – and I know this on good authority – that most therapists don’t give an actual damn! I’ve asked my own therapist what she thinks when she meets an over-weight client.
Meet Amreet from True Beauty Aesthetics, she’s a salon owner from Wembley, has worked on luxury Cruise ships, at Harvey Nics in London and has seen it all! She’s a badass multi-talented therapist who quite literally does it all at her salon. Her treatments range from threading eyebrows through to massage, the light therapy facial made famous by Jessica Alba to laser fat removal and so much more. And she’s bloody brilliant with clients who travel to her from all over the country as well as overseas.
I asked Amreet this one question: “What do you think about when you meet a new client who happens to also be over-weight?”
She answered (quite matter of factly):
- I don’t care. I just see a person who needs a massage (for whatever reason)
- I hope that I’m able to resolve any physical pain they are experiencing
- I hope that I help them to be relaxed, rejuvenated and that they themselves feel comfortable
Why massage is so good for you:
Massage is generally considered part of complementary and integrative medicine. It’s increasingly being offered along with standard treatment for a wide range of medical conditions and situations.
Studies of the benefits of massage demonstrate that it is an effective treatment for reducing stress, pain and muscle tension.
While more research is needed to confirm the benefits of massage, some studies have found massage may also be helpful for:
- Anxiety
- Digestive disorders
- Fibromyalgia
- Headaches
- Insomnia related to stress
- Myofascial pain syndrome
- Soft tissue strains or injuries
- Sports injuries
- Temporomandibular joint pain
Beyond the benefits for specific conditions or diseases, some people enjoy massage because it often produces feelings of caring, comfort and connection.
This is important. We live is such an isolating society where being indoors connected to the world through technology is our go-to. Even if you have a partner and therefore access to touch, we often forget to give and receive it due to our hectic lives.
So today, please touch someone (I’m not being sexy but that works too) – give a cuddle, a kiss, a stroke – whatever but do something. It’s really nice. Also, go book that massage.
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