ACDM - Association Canadienne des Massothérapeutes et Autres thérapeutes en Médecines Alternatives
NUDITY AND MASSAGE THERAPY
By: Jocelyn
Vincent, translated by CATCM's team
Massage therapy is frequently associates with nudity, but what one often forgets to specify is the level of nudity that is required to receive a massage.
Numerous are those that deprive themselves of massage therapy cares simply by the fear to have to undress itself. But do we really have to be completely naked on the massage table? No
Partly naked? To this question I reply, that depends. That depends on witch massage technique you choose.
Type of Massage.
Certain technical known as
energetic, like Shiatsu and Polarity are done over the clothing,
therefore no need to undress itself. Nevertheless, It will
be necessary to take care to remove belt and jewels to facilitate
the circulation of the energy. One will privilege loose-fitting
and comfortable clothing that do not tighten the waistline.
Next come massages with oil. In this category, we find between other the Swedish massage the Californian, the Esalen to name only the more known approaches.
In a Swedish session, the client is covered with a sheet. The therapist discovers one segment the body at a time while taking care to replace the sheet after the massage of the area. For example, if he massages a leg, only this one will be discovered. In Swedish, the pectorals are not generally massaged (see item " The massage of the pectorals with the woman" , March 2005, Jocelyn Vincent) thus not discovered.
In a session of Californian massage, just as for the Swedish, the client is covered with a sheet and only the treated area is discovered. In contrary to the Swedish massage, the Californian massage includes the massage of the pectorals that then must be discovered to proceed.
In a session of Esalen massage, the client is covered with a sheet, but in contrast to the two others approach that discover only one area at a time, it is not rare that several areas are discovered at the same time, for this is a massage very including. As for the Californian, the massage of the pectorals is generally lavished.
Each therapist is different and by the fact adapts the technique according to his personality and his comfort level with the nudity.
The professional massage therapist should always inform you about the course of the massage at the time of the health report. If you have certain reserves or apprehension, it is of your duty to talk about it. The professional will be able then to adapt his massage according to this information.
The client has its limits so has the therapist. The limit of the nudity is at lowest common denominator. Thus, if the therapist asks his client to keep his underwear and that the client would prefer not to keep it, this one have to keep it anyway since this is the limit required by his therapist. The inverse one is also true.
As you were able to note it, massage therapy offers a large variety of approaches and of techniques. There is surely one that corresponds to what you look for as care.
N.B. It is important to remember that no matter what is the technique, the professional massage therapist should not lavish massage of the genital part, in any times. At the Canadian Association of Massage Therapists and Other Therapists in Alternative Medicine (ACDM), we adopt a firm position on this subject and such practice is prohibited and liable of penalty with the faulty member. If such a situation where to occurred, it is of your duty to declare of such schemes to the association.
Jocelyn Vincent is a massage therapist and president of the ACTMD
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