Seated Massage Without A Massage Chair

Sometimes you must perform seated massage without a massage chair!

You may need to get a little creative. Why?

First off, let's say you are somewhere without your massage chair (big mistake!), such as at a friend's house for a dinner party. One of the guests is having a little pain in her shoulder blade and your friend says to you, "Maybe you could help since you are a massage therapist."

You graciously agree to try. (What else could you do in front of everyone?) You look around wondering what you can use in place of your trusty massage chair. You settle on a kitchen chair turned sideways so you can reach her shoulder blade and you have her place her head, turned sideways, on a pillow on the kitchen table. Creative improvisation #1!

You have gone to an office building to talk to a company rep about doing seated massage once a week for the company employees. Since you are there for a meeting, you did not bring your massage chair. The company rep wants to personally feel what you can do for the employees. (Translation--she wants a free massage.)

Of course you are not going to turn down this chance to prove yourself. So you tell her that you would be glad to massage her in her office chair with her head resting on her desk. Hopefully she has a blanket or sweater or something soft to place on her desk for her head.

Then you do your best to prove to her that your seated massage will benefit all of the employees. Creative improvisation #2!

You are giving seated massage at a health fair using your trusty massage chair when someone in a wheelchair comes up and asks you if there is any way that she could have a massage but stay in her wheelchair. Of course you will oblige her! You simply massage whatever you can get to without tipping her out of the chair.

Maybe she can lean forward on a table so you can massage more of her back. If not, massage the portion of her back that is accessible along with her shoulders, neck, arms, and head. You just do your best on what you can comfortably reach. Creative improvisation #3!

You are at a mall doing seated massage when a mother comes over to you with her short 10 year old son. You know your massage chair will not adjust enough to properly fit the boy, but you are willing to give him a massage. Fortunately, you brought a folding chair with you to sit on in between clients (like that ever happens). You have the boy sit on the folding chair for the massage and voila--Creative improvisation #4!

You are working in a health clinic with a physician who has hired you to come in a few days a week to massage some of his clients, freeing up his valuable time so he can see more patients. He refers an overweight patient to you for a back massage. The patient is a little unbalanced and physically cannot climb on your massage table. You know that your massage chair will not safely support the patient. What can you do?

You think for a moment and then remember the large, sturdy wooden chairs in the waiting room. You get one of the staff to help you move one of the chairs into a treatment room, without the patient knowing any of this as you do not want to embarrass him. Problem solved. Creative improvisation #5!

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