BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Spas Favorite Type of Massage

What's your favorite type of massage? A gentle, soothing one? A deep, muscle-pounding one? Something with a lot of aroma? Something that leaves you worn out but knowing the knots are gone?

I find I like both types. Sometimes I just want a very gentle, soothing one to remove the stress. Sometimes my shoulders are *killing* me and I need the stronger kind in the hopes that my shoulders might regain usefulness ...

I always like the shiatsu/deep tissue massages; I never like the soft touch!

I like deep tissue massage. I miss my massage therapist. SHe had the best hands, the right pressure, flow, technique, entegy. She had the nerve to have a baby and move back home. Some people eh? I miss her. I haven't gone in years because the few people I tried to replace her just didn't measure up.

The neck massages by those people with the portable chairs that come to your workplace.

I also like a scalp massage at the hairdresser.

Oh, I never thought of body parts. I like the neck right up to the bottom of the skull, scapulas and hips. I also like foot reflexology.

I recently had a full body massage that included a hot oil scalp massage...OMG, this felt so good. Even though it sounds messy, the oil washed right out of my hair.

Massage is one of the best ways to relieve stress, both physical and mental. A calming room, low-light, gentle talk add to the massage benefits. Increased blood flow, gentle thoughts and perhaps a lovely talk with a terrific therapist result from a sometimes much-needed chance to recharge, relax and rejuvenate our achy bodies. Day and destination spas offer massages from A to Z, so check out my latest article on spas.bellaonline.com.

I prefer a massage that is really hard and deep. I can take a bath or nap, or do gentle yoga to just feel drowsy and relax. If I am paying someone, i kinda want them to beat me up. Really get in there and pry apart the tendons, get to the interior of the muscles. That kind of thing.

Jill, Not me! I want to be pampered and soothed during my massage, especially if I have had a strenuous day sunning, running or lounging around the pool. Usually that relaxes my tense muscles and readies my body for another round of lazing around.

Thus, my favorite massage? Swedish or hot rocks which is usually a gentle body restorer, too.

Rachel Rome

I love the hot rocks massages, too.

The last massage I had I mentioned to the therapist that I had been suffering some really bad migraines lately - so she targetd some areas that I didn't even realize were sore (until she started kneading them - like the front of my shoulder area).

But, I found out very quickly that if you are going to have this kind of massage done, it needs to be done in a series and to drink LOTS of water. Because she was literally teasring down the muscles and releasing all the toxins and amino acids into my system. The next day I had an even worse migraine. But the 2nd day they started getting better.