The school brought our entire class to a seniors centre in Chiang Mai to test out our new skills on the locals. We were all a bit nervous about it, especially because we weren't given a whole lot of information. How senior is senior? How frail are they going to be? Bedridden? Active? Will they have many critical illnesses? Are we going to be working lightly? Or is this going to be like a regular thai massage?
We had spent 4 weeks learning and preparing our thai massage techniques but had only practiced on each other. This was our first try on the public - and senior citizens at that! There was a lot of nervous laughter about breaking these unsuspecting elders but in the end we all did well and had a great time doing it.
It's funny because I have a whole lot of experience working with the senior population, I ran a small massage business within a seniors residence for almost 3 years in Forest Hill with my oldest client being 97. I treat many seniors at Swansea Massage Clinic including my own Grandmother and yet even I was a little bit nervous! I'm used to swedish massage and using oils, in all my years of doing thai massage I've never treated a senior. I always thought (mistakenly) that it would be too intense, too hard, the stretching too much. But I was wrong, wrong, wrong. I'm so grateful for this experience for breaking me out of my comfort zone.
Almost all of the seniors had high blood pressure and heart conditions which generally is the norm so we were all told to avoid any wind gate (blood-stopping) techniques or any stretching positions that involved the legs higher then the heart. Otherwise, the massage was pretty much the same. Depending on the client you had, you could pretty much go for it or otherwise just ease up the pressure a little, not push the stretches as far and generally just slow it down a whole lot.
My first client was 77 with high blood pressure and a serious heart condition. Our clients didn't speak any english and our thai isn't so great so we relied on the teachers to take their case histories, blood pressure and weight (TMC is doing a study on energy/weight changes before and after massage). If we were unsure about a stretch or pressure we could ask the teacher to talk to our client and make sure everything was ok. Otherwise, I just went by instinct. I tried to watch, feel and listen to my clients responses to my touch making sure she was enjoying it and not in pain. It's generally pretty obvious and she was ok with everything except for the hip stretches. She immediately recoiled and stopped what I was doing before I went too far with it. At the end of the treatment she told one of the teachers that my "energy was very good" and that she enjoyed the massage very much. I've been told quite a few times on this trip that my energy is good and not being an energy worker I can't say for myself, but I'm starting to think I should look into a course or two of Reiki and really learn how to feel, channel and manipulate energy. From what I've been told numerous times my energy is there, I'm just not conscious of it but I am using it in every treatment I give whether I know it or not.
My second client was a little younger, in her mid sixties and arrived quite late so I had to shorten the treatment by about 45 minutes (we were doing 2 hour treatments on each client). She hadn't marked any areas she wanted me to focus on on her form so I just started to do a general treatment starting from her head as I've been taught when I noticed she kept looking at her watch and everyone around us. I finally stopped and asked her if there was anything she wanted me to focus on and I think she understood what I was getting at because she pointed at her shoulders and back. I realized quickly that she wanted and could handle very deep pressure and once I got started in the right area and with the right pressure she finally stopped looking at her watch and everyone around us and started relaxing. See, you just have to pay attention to the silent cues your client is giving you! I was surprised at how far I could go with her and just went for it, focusing the entire massage on her back, neck and shoulders. She was a very, very happy camper to say the least! She gave rave reviews as well and seemed very pleased with my work, saying that my "pressure was very good".
It pays to watch and listen to your client very closely to make sure you are heading in the right direction and doing what they want. People don't always tell you what they want or if they are unhappy with something you are doing, mostly I think because they don't want to upset you or are too shy to speak up even when asked. I do the exact same thing when I'm the one on the table, I'm always too nervous to say that I want more pressure or don't like something and I do this for a living! It's an odd thing but I never want to let anyone down, even when it doesn't make sense - if they only knew they would have a much better chance at getting it right for you. It's something I'm still working on. Speaking up. As Oprah says "You get what you ask for in life." As an RMT, I try and listen to my clients silent cues and for the most part I think I do it well although I am NOT a mind reader and still get it wrong some of the time. No one is perfect and I try to remember that. I always appreciate when my clients tell me exactly what they want, it makes everything so much clearer and easier to perform a treatment that they are happy with in the end.
Our day at the seniors residence gave us all a little bit more confidence and everyone was glowing and raving about their treatments. For the first time we could do whatever we felt was right instead of worrying about following the exact sequence of treatments, having each hand position perfect, etc. After the initial nerves wore off, I think most of us were able to really relax for the first time and see what it was like to treat a client in the real world. Quite a lot of the students in my class had absolutely no massage experience before coming here, so this was a major break through for them. For me, I learned that I CAN do thai massage on my older clientele and not be so afraid of breaking them. I know all the basic cautions and how to read basic cues (even with a language barrier!) and really, I have nothing to worry about. It was a real eye opener for me and I'm looking forward to incorporating my new techniques on my clientele back home and seeing how they respond.
Unfortunately when I got the CD of pictures from the school last friday I found there wasn't a single picture of me treating. Kind of makes me sad, but at least we got in one good group shot. I'm way up in the back (as usual! ha!) to the right. My second client is in the mid row with dark hair, glasses and a darker shirt. This was taken at the end of the day and as you can see both students and clients are thrilled!
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