Before your first massage, it is important to arrive about fifteen minutes early. Your massage therapist may have you fill out a form. Your massage therapist will do an intake. An intake is usually a few questions asking about your aches and pains, trouble areas, allergies, and what your intent is.
Before any massage, you should set an intent. You need to know what you are there for. Is it just to relax? Are you there because you are in pain? What would you like your outcome to be? Better flexibility? Relaxing your mind? Painfree? Fix your posture?
Always get to your appointment early. Your session on the table begins at your scheduled time. This means, if you arrive at your scheduled time, your intake and undressing will be counted as hands-on time. Basically, if your massage starts at 3, but you arrived at 3, you will lose between 5-10 minutes of massage time because you need to check in, chat with your therapist, undress (or use the toilet first), get on the table, and wait for your therapist who is waiting to enter the room. Because of this, many massage establishments have stopped doing 1-hour massages and are now doing 50 minute massages. Just be early.
Rest assured, massage therapy will help you. It may not be a permanent solution, but it is helpful. You should discuss your aches and pains prior to your massage session.
If you feel you are tightening your glutes (your buttcheeks), flexing your legs, making straining faces, or balling your fists, you are NOT relaxing. It is important to know that the term, "No pain, no gain" does not apply to massage therapy.
Massage shouldn't have to hurt to be effective. If the pressure or technique hurts, you may need it to be knocked down a few notches. It is important to communicate this to your massage therapist. If they ask you how you're doing, don't say, "fine," if you are not fine. Your therapist doesn't want you to leave feeling worse or thinking they were a bad massage therapist because they hurt you. Your massage therapist also doesn't want a bad review on a public forum on the internet.
Aftercare is so important. After massage, your therapist may discuss future massages or exercises and stretches you can do at home. This homework is important for your next massage. If your therapist tells you to stretch and shows you a few stretches, go home and do them as instructed. It will help with your next massage. For instance, if your massage therapist notices tightness in your calves and had a difficult time breaking up adhesions in your legs, then I structs you in simple stretches that you adhere to for a month; your next massage should be so much easier to do. The goal should be to get you feeling and moving better. If you don't listen to your therapist, you will be back with the same issues, and the same exercises will be instructed. It will be a broken record of the same story.
That said, namaste.
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