I had a memorable full body massage for my birthday last week while Andrea and I were vacationing with my family near Lake George, NY. Here’s what I wrote about it afterwards.

A relaxing massage from “Angie” at a Spa on Rt. 9 heading south into Queensbury. She was about 5’6” with a strong frame, a pretty but somewhat rugged face, and a sweet expressive smile. She had recently finished a session with Andrea, who looked totally relaxed when she emerged from the therapy room. As I stripped down to my underpants and got face-down onto the warm table and under the cover, I was ready to receive an “experience” of body and mind. Andrea was offering the experience to me as a birthday gift, and I was more than happy to receive it fro.

When Angie entered the room, she asked about any areas of concern. I noted my right hip and lower back but said I was receiving regular acupuncture for it and didn’t really want any deep work that elicited a lot of pain. She took that in and said she’d proceed with a Swedish full body massage.

She started with some gentle stroking of my shoulders and neck. Her hands were warm, soft, yet strong. I sensed her feminine athletic presence, capable of working her hands in fluid, stroking motions that were most welcoming. Her steady, even manner also elicited a sense of a very good, “hands on” mother, willing to extend her full attention and energy for an entire hour.

There was a deeply sensuous quality to this massage. It never became overtly sexual, but the pleasurable physical sensations were ones that I habitually associated with sex. I was able to let go of these overtly sexual associations and instead embrace more and more fully the purely sensual splendor.

Living in a 74 YO frame with osteoarthritis and degenerative disk disorder, my body is well experienced in dealing with many hours of physical discomfort every day. On many days, just getting up out of bed is a process requiring full attention and patience. On the table in Angie’s massage room, I was able to move from low level pain to high level, sensual pleasure. It took about half of the session for me to reach that point. Once I did, the feeling of Angies’s soft yet strong undulating hands was absolutely delicious. To actually take pleasure in physical sensation was such a gift.

The playlist for the massage was high quality “spa music” which quickly achieved the desired effect of allowing me to relax into a gentle mindset. There was Native American flute music, Enya-like folk tunes, and the like. One piece that elicited an emotional response in me was an instrumental version of Leonard Cohen’s “Alleluia”.

Angie gave terrific foot massages on both sides. Her work on my back and shoulders elicited frequent skeletal pops from my vertebrae as well as my ribcage. Angie chuckled with each pop. Towards the end, she offered a full cranial massage, which felt utterly delightful. It felt wonderful to experience my brain as another bodily organ that could be massaged into a physically pleasurable state.

I left the session feeling utterly relaxed, happy to fully inhabit my body, and relishing the warm sunlight as we stepped outside.