Massage and the world of touch therapy

What comes to mind when you hear the word massage? Do you have an accurate, complete and without error definition of the word?

What about the word therapy? Touch therapy to be specific? Will you associate this word with massage?

George Downing, in the book about massage writes beautifully on the why's of massage. This is what he said:
Massage is for your mate, your family, and your friends. It is for grandmothers and babies, for pets, for those you love and, if you are up to it, for those you hate. To do massage is physically to help someone, to take care of them. It is for anyone with whom you feel prepared to share an act of physical caring.

Contrary to myth, massage is a healing art and not an advance sexual technique. Naturally, when practiced by lovers, it can be a beautiful extension of sexuality. The flowing peace and aliveness it so easily brings to the body, can be channeled, if both parties desired things so, in that direction. But this is merely one of the many possibilities that massage holds out to us.

The core of massage lies in its unique way of communicating without words. In itself this is not unusual; by touching and hugging, for example, we often let those around us know that we like them, or that we sympathize with them, or that we believe in their worth. Massage, however, can transpose this kind of message into a new and different key. When receiving a good massage a person usually falls into a mental-physical state difficult to describe. It is like entering a special room until now locked and hidden away; a room the very existence of which is likely to be familiar only to those who practice some form of daily meditation. By itself this state is a gift. However, he who is giving the massage need not stop there. The more he can tuned in to his friend's heightened awareness, the more he can convey something of his own inner self and experience as well. The least touch becomes a statement, like drawing with a fine pen on sensitive paper. Trust, empathy and respect, to say nothing of a sheer sense of mutual physical existence, for this moment can be expressed with a fullness never matched by words.

In its essence massage is something simple. It makes us more whole, more fully ourselves. Your hands have the powers to give this to others. Learn to trust that power and you will quickly find out better than anyone can tell you what massage is really all about.

Vangelis - Chariots of Fire - from Mythodea Concert