Massage Tip – Finding the Right Place

If you are lucky enough to live or be visiting a city in Florida where you have choices about where to get a massage, then you may want to consider the following points when making that decision. First, are all your questions answered when you contact the facility? Or, do you feel as if you are wasting someone’s time? No question should go unanswered.

Every massage facility must be licensed. Licensing ensures that each location meets a minimum set of requirements for safe practice. You can easily check the validity of a license because the exact location will be listed on the Florida Board of Massage Therapy’s website. Massage establishments are inspected annually to maintain licensure. An exception to this rule is that a massage therapist is allowed to travel to your home to perform massage. Hiring an out-call therapist might be the best option for some people, but if it’s not your cup of tea, then you may need to find a place to go for massage.

When you make that initial call, are you calling a large chain or are you willing to consider a small local business? Or, perhaps a woman-owned business is important to you. Many people are hip to supporting local and small businesses and business owned and operated by women. Keep in mind that contacting a small business sometimes means the phone won’t be answered on the first ring and you will probably have to leave a massage. This should not deter you from getting a massage there as these types of businesses value their time with the customer more than being available to take that call. Take this into consideration when making a choice based on responsiveness. This shouldn’t affect booking future appointments since many small businesses now have online booking available. Check their website.

How much time is allowed between appointments and how many minutes of hands-on work do you get? This may not seem to be important, but if you can’t arrange to arrive in something that is easy to slip on and off, will the time used to dress or undress cut into your massage time? The more hands-on time you get, the better you will feel. However, you don’t want this at the expense of feeling rushed to dress and undress. Feeling rushed is counterproductive to a relaxing experience. At Sacred Pathways Sarasota, we strive to give you an entire 60 minutes of hands-on experience instead of the industry standard of 50 minutes.

Do you have the option to add nap time to the end of your massage? If you find yourself in dreamy land and want to stay there just a bit longer to really allow the good feelings of a massage to go deep, can you arrange this? Or is this out of the question? This factor is important because you don’t want to feel that your therapist is in a hurry to get you in and out.

When you walk in, are you treated as if you are the most important customer ever and do you feel you just walked into a quiet sanctuary? It is not unreasonable to expect to feel as if this was true. Some facilities can feel chaotic or cold. These feelings doesn’t set the right mood for the experience you are about to enjoy. Therefore, it is important to feel as though you are walking into a sanctuary separated from the outside world where you can feel at home and cozy. This will go a long way to making you feel calm and relaxed more quickly.

Finally, is the facility clean? If not, you may consider going somewhere else. After all, you are exposing your body to their environment. Make sure it’s tidy and well kept.

These are but a few things to consider when choosing a facility that is right for you. At Sacred Pathways Sarasota, we believe that setting the right mood for a massage is as important as all the safety precautions required by licensing. We are a small, local, woman-owned business. We value each customer as if they were the only customer. You will not be part of an assembly line when you see us.