Nudity and massage

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Permalink Reply by Robyn Morris on August 2, 2008 at 10:34pm

Hi Pia,

This is a great topic of discussion. One of my teachers at school has many clients who prefer to be completely nude in massage without any draping whatsoever. She doesn't seem to have any issue with it and everything is done very professionally with no problematic energy getting in the way.

Of course in school we use very conservative draping but when I was doing a massage trade with a fellow student (in a different class then mine) at my home, he wanted to try it with towels instead of the full sheets we use at school and said he didn't need the towel on him when he was lying prone. I said 'fine whatever you are comfortable with'. However, being just a student and not having much experience in all of this yet, I found I felt quite weird when I got massaging his glutes as there they were just naked on the table. I knew this was my uncomfortableness and just noticed it and kept working. Then when I went to work on the back of his legs I started to lift the leg I was working on to pull it closer to me and realized if I did that I would have a clear view of his testicles and really wasn't ready to experience that in a massage quite yet! Needless to say I didn't do any joint mobilizations at all.

I don't know that once I have my license and am working as a therapist on paying clients if in time and with more experience I'll become more comfortable with working on nude clients. I would certainly love to hear from experienced therapists.

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Permalink Reply by Pia Poulsen on August 3, 2008 at 4:57am

Hi Robyn,

I'm lucky I come from a background where nudity isn't seen that much as a taboo. But yes, it can be a bit odd to see the private parts of a foreign guy when massaging.

I must admit I like massaging buttocks. It's such a nice big muscle where you can really mould and fold so to speak. There are also some very nice pressure points to stimulate where the sciatic nerve runs.

I wrote some articles about massage and nudity ( http://www.starkeys.com/blog/2008/06/massage-and-nudity.html and to a degree: http://www.starkeys.com/blog/2008/07/massage-and-sexual-aspect.html ), and another is scheduled to be published the 6th of Aug, which will in particular address differences in cultures and the importance of all participants in the massage being comfortable.

Take a look and feel free to give me feedback. I'm writing all those massage related articles but could really use to get some feedback from other people on it.

When I took my massage classes one of the first things we all had to overcome was to be nude. In France it's very common to receive a massage nude as there's not the same social stigma about nudity and sexuality as you find in many other countries. For most in my class (we were 8 I think) it wasn't a problem, especially not for me, but there was one who really had to cross a limit to undress and lie naked on the table. And I recall others feeling a bit uncomfortable giving nude people massages. In essence, it became part of our training to be relaxed and comfortable with nudity and draping was just an hours introduction. I'm certainly not good at using that technique, but luckily I don't have to either.

I tell clients to undress as much as they are comfortable and about two thirds I think keep their undies on, and I've only had one who insisted on having her breasts covered. I used a towel for that. She also didn't want her stomach massaged, which to me indicates a person with emotional issues which needs to be addressed. We do have many emotions stored in our stomach.

Where will you be licensed. I know there are some places where it's the law to drape and not be nude.

Pia

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Permalink Reply by Robyn Morris on August 4, 2008 at 6:59pm

Hi Pia,

Nudity is definitely not as common here in the US as it is in France. I personally don't have any moral issues against it, and have gone to a nude beach a few times in my life. But I am not 100% comfortable with it - I'm kind of a private person. And as for massaging someone nude, it just feels weird to me, which is something that might diminish as I learn and get my license and am out there practicing. I definitely will read the articles you wrote on it as I do want to move beyond any barrier I might be putting up.

I will be licensed in Florida and the law here states we have to offer the client draping and if he/she chooses not to use the draping then that is fine. But it has to be offered.

Robyn

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Permalink Reply by Pia Poulsen on August 5, 2008 at 2:06am

It's always difficult to step beyond what you're used to and is the norm. I'm lucky in that regard that I'm a Dane. We're very liberal when it comes to those things, even more than France is. On the other hand, it was a big thing for me to get past the kissing strangers on the cheek and get so close to them.

I had a massage on Cape Cod, MA, where I kept telling the massage therapist to just remove the drape, that I prefered to be massaged naked, and she kept me draped. Was nicely warm, but also annoying. The massage got broken up in sections dealing with one bodypart at a time instead of becoming a long fluent massage.

I look forward to hearing what comments you might have.

Cheers!
Pia

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