How to choose the right massage for you

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Spa menus generally open up to a long list of massages, ranging from relaxing to more complex types and techniques.

Choosing the right massage for you is crucial if you’re to get the most from it, and improve your sense of well being. At Constance, we find that guests tend to look for the familiar that they have read about or experienced before, as a safer option.

But here’s another approach you can take to choosing the right massage for you. The important step is to recognise that the process needs to start with you. What is it that your body most needs in this moment?

How the body copes with stress

Our body has 3 main ways that it copes with stress in modern life: nervous tension, muscular tension or chemical tension. To put it simply we either need to relax, energise or detoxify.

1. Relax

If your body has built up mostly nervous tension you will feel the muscles are tense, you will have knots in them but it is coming from stress of the nervous system. Perhaps your sleep will also be restless or you tend to feel tired in the mornings as if you have not fully rested.

If this is what your body is feeling like then what you should choose is a long deeply relaxing slow type of massage. You need a massage that will take time to calm the nervous system, and help your body to switch into a state of rest. The sign of a good relaxing massage is that you find yourself dreaming or drifting off to sleep without realising it.

2. Energise

If your body has stored a lot of physical and muscular tension you will feel aching in the muscles, stiffness and knots that are a result from overuse and tension of the muscular system. You may find that you wake up with stiffness, or muscles get tense in certain postures such as at your desk or computer.

When your body is feeling like this you need to choose an energising and circulation-stimulating massage. The objective of the massage is to bring a lot of fresh circulation to the muscle fibres, and warm up the connective tissue so that you feel more flexible and relaxed. The sign of a good energising massage is that you find the muscles feeling warm, flexible to the massage strokes, with a deep feeling of relaxation physically.

3. Detox

In modern life we have so many factors that overwhelm our body with excess. Too much pollution, chemicals, toxins, sugar, alcohol, junk food, stress, emotional tension – all of these lead the body to develop a toxic load and can leave you feeling tired, heavy, bloated, puffy and generally overwhelmed.

If your body has just had enough of modern living conditions and toxins it is time to detoxify. You need to choose a draining and cleansing massage. The massage focus will be on draining the muscles and circulation by focusing on the lymphatic system and circulation system together.

The sign of a good detoxifying massage is that you feel the muscles relax and become light whilst the skin feels tighter and less puffy as excess water is draining. Drink enough water and natural foods after your massage to help replenish with the right chemicals.

Taking the next step

So for your next visit to our spas at Constance Hotels & Resorts, take time to see what message your body is telling you and then choose a massage with the focus that you need.

Sometimes you may even feel that you need all 3 to fully rejuvenate, in this case start with the most urgent feeling and then progress over the next few days as your body re-adjusts.

I always find 3 massages is the ideal to really improve the state of the body. So I start with a good Detox Massage to get the system clear and drained, then move on to either deep relaxing or energising massage depending on the need.

Dr Chase Webber

Find out more

• Dr Chase Webber reveals how to get the most out of your spa experience
• Learn more about spa holidays at Constance Hotels and Resorts