In our current social climate geared towards quick fixes and instant gratification it's good to take a step back and realise that there's hardly ever such a thing. Unless you're talking about mending your broken glasses with some sticky tape.

I'd like to quote from Gerry Pyves - the founder of No Hands Massage, he says it so well!

"Massage is a natural therapy that works on the ancient 'cumulative principle'. This ancient healing principle has almost been forgotten in our modern age of 'quick fix' and instant gratification.

Yet Massage was being used thousands of years ago – in a time when there was a greater understanding of the natural rhythms of the world, the psyche and the human body.

Massage works because you literally accumulate touch. Touch is the missing link in health. There are libraries of research papers documenting the phenomenal power of touch to heal disease and illness as well as prevent innumerable conditions from ever developing. Of course they don’t earn drug companies any money so we don’t hear about them, do we? Only Massage therapists seem to take action on this research.

The loss of touch in our families and communities, in the workplace, in schools and would you believe, in our hospitals is a subject that has occupied this author for his whole life. Massage redresses this in the simplest and most direct way imaginable. It does it through this ancient principle of accumulation. What this means is that your first Massage session is probably your least effective! That is why the really deep power of Massage still remains a very well kept secret – even some Massage therapists have not yet discovered it!

You see, the real power of touch happens at a deeply subconscious level and this takes time and repetition to truly embed. Most people do not realise this and only go for an occasional Massage. The secret remains safe…

All ancient healing disciplines that have remained unpolluted by our very modern need for everything to happen in a rush work to this tried and tested formula:

HEALING = SLOW + REPETITION + SUPPORT

The human psyche is a profound and complex mechanism and does not respond well to ‘quick fixes’. Even the most profound and dramatic changes in our lives only have a permanent effect if reinforced by this formula. Healing is like a good marriage. It often takes time and persistent work to last beyond the first dramatic and exciting whirlwind of the romance and falling in love. The only real change is change that lasts.

Here is how Massage actually works for you as the client:

You come for your first session and you are a little apprehensive of the unknown. If you are wise, and follow the advice of this book, then once you find a therapist you feel safe with, you will book yourself a series of 10 Massages over a period of approximately 10-20 weeks. It works even better if you have managed to find a regular slot (not always possible) and a regular day. This regularity also helps your subconscious to programme you for the very best results.

At this first session, you probably ask yourself "Is this practitioner a good Massage therapist? Will I feel comfortable and safe? Will this person pry into my personal life? Will the practitioner respect my privacy? Will the practitioner be sensitive to my needs? Have I made the right decision coming for a Massage? Will they give me the Massage I want?"

During this, your first Massage session with a new practitioner, everything is new: the room, the decor, the smell, the oils, the system (where do I get changed? do I have to take all my clothes off? Where will they start? How will I know when they have finished?

It is not so easy to completely let go fully in this new setting because it is such a new experience. Your Body and Mind have no reference points, so they stay alert and in a learning mode and in a protective mode. This is natural and instinctual. During this session, these fears should be assuaged and your body will let go. But it is still only the first session. You are still just a Massage Baby! (If your fears are not assuaged, cancel all future sessions and look for another therapist!)

So how do you measure the effects of this first session? If it has been a good first session, then you have only experienced the smallest nibble of the hors d’oeuvres of the full menu that touch actually has to offer you!

If we could give the impact and effectiveness of Massage in unit values, let us say this first Massage scored a 2 or 3. Let us say that a single unit is like a great cup of coffee or glass of wine, or a blueberry muffin . . . .and the most powerful experience you have ever had in your life scores 100."

Next week you can find out what happens in session two ...... it just gets better!