You don’t need a hubby to massage you:
Honey, you need a perinatal specialist!
Many women say to me “I told my partner to massage me, but he’s hopeless!” (And thank god he is – otherwise we would be out of a job!)
However, the beauty of seeing an experienced perinatal massage therapist is that we know there is more work to be done here than just massaging the sore spots.
You are only going to get frustrated with your man cos he can’t get the right spot – but honestly, why do you expect him to hold the knowledge of 20yrs of experience in the thumbs of his left and right hand. Unless he is spiritually gifted with the knowledge of a previous life, then you can be damn sure he is trying his best, but when he knows he can’t do it right because he works at a desk job and has no idea what to do with his hands and basically is scared of the T-Rex that might emerge when he is “doing it wrong”.
Your massage therapist is more than just a good pair of hands- she is strong shoulders to
lean on, and a big heart to be nurtured from – use her.
She is waiting for you.
No Love, leave it to the professionals. We are the ones who can work with your body and support you every step of the way. Knowing how to position a pregnant body is one thing, but understanding why you are feeling the way you do (ie: why are the aches and pains there in the first place) and then knowing how to release them physically or emotionally is another thing altogether.
This is the reason a professional is required in pregnancy:
Let me speak a moment about using firm pressure in a massage during pregnancy. This is really my domain here. I believe that there is a huge opportunity here for the woman to learn how to breathe deeply whilst under pressure (if you have had a deep tissue massage before you will know what this is like!) I will teach you how to breathe in a way that transmutes the pain and helps it to ease away. I will teach you to not fear “pain” but to be able to recognise that the sensation of pain has many levels and that not all will actually be tremendously uncomfortable. The Good Pain. Do you know what I mean?
I choose to call it a sensation rather than pain, and often I will say that this is just a challenge point which means you can breathe through it. This kind of sensation awareness is invaluable for when you are in labour, because you will have already set up a pain/response cycle that involves deep breathing, and switching of the fear/retreat/panic response (which only causes more intensity of pain) and allows you to relax into the sensations.
We don’t push you though trigger points and follow the “no pain no gain” principle. Nor do we think a “fluffy” light-handed massage is going to do anything other than annoy the woman on the table. Let’s face it, when a therapist is moving their hands over that sore spot over and over again but …they…just….don’t…get…..into…it…OMG it is SOOOO frustrating. Right?
We sit somewhere in the middle of these two principles. We know the aches and pains and we know how to work with them – just firmly enough – to enable them to release. But if you have ever been to a Spa or a clinic that doesn’t specialise in pregnancy massage, you will be very familiar with their ”softly, softly” approach. But, maybe this is just what you need? So, we know how to adjust our pressure accordingly, it is never a one size fits all approach in our treatment rooms.
You can’t learn most of the stuff we do here at the clinic in a TAFE or a college. The work we do is based on research, theoretical questioning and then observations, testing and revising. That’s our point of difference. We have applied the training we have done, directly to our pregnant clients, and we see amazing results because we treat the whole person – mind, body and spirit.
Not only that, we will show you how to turn over in bed that will reduce discomfort, and we will show you how to use meditation and essential oils to ease symptoms and issues that crop up in each trimester.
You are not losing your mind:
Sometimes during pregnancy you will feel like there will be a different emotional state seemingly every few hours! But don’t be alarmed, you are simply transitioning and learning how to be in a new role.
For now, you are the grower of a child, and this will challenge even the most stable woman. Learning how to process these strong emotions that come out of nowhere will also help you to release them so they don’t return as often, or at all.
Learning how to lean in to your massage therapist during these trimesters can be empowering and incredibly reassuring as you transition to motherhood. Hopefully your massage therapist has had a baby or three and can understand exactly where you are at, and empathise with you! It helps to know you aren’t going mad, and that your tears – as irrational as they may be – are perfectly acceptable in this moment.
Belle xx
