BY JENNIFER & JOHN BURKHART
The full-body experience is not as relaxing as you may think
I know winter makes you want to stay inside, cozy on the couch, but it’s important to keep your immune system top-notch during the winter — not to mention your mental health. So, how about a little resolution for more self-care? We chose a therapeutic gua sha massage this month for relaxation, but also for health benefits like better blood and lymph flow. For those familiar with the tool, you know it can do wonders for your face, but did you know it is also used in massage therapy? Read on for our most unexpected experience.
She Said: I’ve only had a handful of massages in my life, and I usually have the expectation of a relaxing, calming experience. However, those pesky little knots in my muscles always have other plans for me. It’s not good to ignore them, so reluctantly, I’ve always agreed to let the massage therapist work his or her method of magic torture to melt them away. That was the case during this session, as well, and my therapist used an innocent- looking tool made of jade to work out those knots. Some spots were very tolerable — like on my forearm. I had random swelling in my hand that day, so she paid extra attention to my arm, and — lo and behold — the swelling had reduced by half the next day, which was awesome! But then she found a knot on my lower back — not so awesome. Was she trying to start a fire back there? I swear my skin was burning from the friction of the heart-shaped gua sha tool. I had to tap out before she was done on that spot. She was really great about communication, which made me feel in control and able to chat about my comfort level, which was very important, as was the heated table (seriously, get the heated table). Thankfully I wasn’t too sore the next day, likely due to the request of medium-to-light pressure. I wanted the health benefit, but just wasn’t in the mood to suffer as much as I probably could have! I did feel like my muscles were a bit more fluid and relaxed and definitely experienced a boost in my mood. Mission accomplished!
He Said: We signed up for another round of torture this month, so you fantastic GL readers can make better decisions in your life than we do in ours. This month’s method was called “gua sha” massage — otherwise known as “scraping,” “spooning” (not the good kind), and “coining.” Oh, and fun fact – gua sha is also the sound I make when I sneeze. I found out the hard way that this method of massage involves a therapist repeatedly dragging a blunt-edged instrument firmly across my oiled skin until I developed red welts. It is supposed to help alleviate knots and trigger points in muscles by first breaking up “stuck” muscle fascia and then drawing blood to the area, thereby increasing circulation to those muscles. My therapist used a set of honed smooth jade stones, which I was happy with given that she could have chosen more traditional instruments like a worn down coin, a water buffalo horn, or a Chinese soup spoon. No I’m not making that up, those really are common instruments for this type of massage. I could feel the knots in my upper back breaking up and smoothing out as she ran the tool over them. Yes, it hurts quite a bit, but in a good way — I left feeling like I had just received a vigorous deep tissue massage. The red marks were gone the next day, and it only felt as though I had bruises on my neck and back for the next few days. It wasn’t terrible and only slowed me down a little when I was putting my jacket on. I found this to be a very aggressive form of massage and would probably only do it again if I had some really stiff muscles.
