This Works for Me

I used to work in a dental office. I was the Office Manager for a Periodontist, and I worked 3-4 days a week. A Periodontist is a dentist who specializes in bone and gum disease. Periodontal Disease is painless, so it was often difficult for patients to understand why they were in our office. It was a challenge to educate them and make them understand the importance of getting their disease under control. It could be and often was very stressful.

I truly valued and appreciated the dentist I worked for, but he was a Micro-Manager. It’s okay for me to say that out loud. He knows it now, and he knew it then. As much as I liked him on a personal and professional level, he was very difficult to work for.

Stress became something that I dealt with on a daily basis, and it wasn’t until I retired that I truly realized how that stress had affected me daily.

I give you this background only to explain why I started going to a massage therapist. The last few years that I was working, I held so much stress in my neck, shoulders, and back, I had a headache nearly every day.  There was a local massage chain near us (Massage Envy) where I could go for reasonably priced massages. And I did. Every two weeks. It was very therapeutic for me.

I noticed that after I had a massage, I slept much better than night.  I Googled Massage Therapy to see what other unknown-to-me benefits there might be to this practice. And there are a lot! (14 Surprising Massage Benefits)

When we moved 4 years ago, one of the things that I was dreading was the fact that I would not be able to have my bi-monthly massages. The closest Massage Envy to our house now is 40 miles away. After some searching, I did find a local therapist that I liked, but sadly for me, he moved out of state about 6 months later. I had a hard time finding another therapist, so just didn’t go for a while.  Even though I wasn’t working for the dentist didn’t have the daily headaches, I still do work at my digital art and find myself sitting at the computer many more hours than is good for me. This often results in the same neck, shoulder, and back strain. So massage therapy still is a much-needed practice in my life.

But a few months ago a therapist that owned her own shop in a nearby town, sold her shop and started offering in-home therapy sessions. WHAT????

YES! This therapist is not only GOOD, but She. Comes. To. My. House. Yes. I will say it again. She comes to my house.

She’s been treating me at my house for several months now, but yesterday… yesterday, was the ultimate.

Yes, a massage… at my house… in my backyard… in the warm sun.

I definitely felt spoiled, but at the same time, when I thought back to what awaited me in the house, I thought… no, I deserve this, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Outdoor massage Karen Schulz 01

Kitchen and Breakfast Room Renovation… going into the end of the 2nd week.

Kitchen Renovation Karen Schulz

 

Do you enjoy having a massage? Do you have it done on a regular basis? Would you like to have it at your home, or do you prefer the whole Spa experience?

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Comments (7)

  1. Is that an aspirin bottle I see in the right lower foreground? Speaks volumes!

    April 13, 2019 at 8:07 am
  2. Pssequimages

    What a great story. You have me convinced!

    April 13, 2019 at 8:17 am
  3. I’m so happy you can get a relaxing few hours, you deserve it. AND in the sunshine? far too cold for that here yet in the UK. LOL.

    April 13, 2019 at 9:46 am
  4. Sue Ogden

    Karen, your kitchen area is starting to look “sort of” like a kitchen again! Yeah! I know exactly what kind of pain you are talking about. I worked most of 30 years as a medical transcriptionist, either in a hospital or at home and yes, sitting at a word processor initially and then at a computer. I too sit many more hours now that I should! Did back then too. In the 1980s for about 1.5 years we had a really cool store here that sold jewelry, knick-knacks, art from all over the world AND did massage. The mom was licensed and the daughter was in training. Sadly this is just not a town big enough to support a store of that type, too high-brow for Enid I guess. The mom started to work at her home but for some reason that just didn’t work out. I still miss her even though I can’t think of her name right now. In place of that I discovered acupuncture! It’s AWESOME! And it doesn’t matter if you’re afraid of or have a phobia about needles. I have a traditional Chinese medicine gentleman (not Oriental) but he doesn’t take Medicare so for now I’m paying half of $80 to my PCP, an MD who thoroughly believes in the benefits of acupuncture. He probably believe in the benefits of massage too! AND for a short time back in the 90s, I dated a retired Navy Commander who was still trying to figure out what he wanted to be when he “grew up” and had just completed a several month-long massage school in Okla. City. So yes, I had in house massages! That was totally incredible! Sadly, I just wasn’t his cup of tea (or he mine) and he moved to Denver! Eventually (we had mutual friends) he hung out his shingle as a psychotherapist! Very unusual man! I’m thinking I might have to see what’s available here in Enid again in the way of massage therapy – I know there are several places but don’t know anyone that gets massages anywhere! Hope that one in the sunshine will give you much joy and help you get through this renovation!!!! Take care! Be sure to get lots of sleep too, that’s also good for stress management!

    April 13, 2019 at 10:10 pm
  5. Deb Case

    Oh yes. A monthly massage for me also is just the very best self indulgence. Good for you and thanks for sharing.

    April 15, 2019 at 8:23 am
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