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How to give an unforgettable romantic massage

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It is the month of love, and an important aspect of love that many people take for granted is the power of touch, specifically massage.

Humans thrive on love and one of the ways we can express our love for another is through touch.

How massage works

Whilst massage has taken a back seat to pharmaceuticals and other modes of care, this is changing as scientific studies suggest massage therapy can relieve stress and pain, enhance immune function, and curb anxiety.

Massage can affect the musculoskeletal, nervous, and circulatory-lymphatic systems, with many of its positive effects including increased relaxation and decreased stress hormones such as cortisol.

Telling someone you love them can be less effective than hugging them in a warm embrace - holding your loved one in your arms so that they feel the love. Because we live in a busy society with lots of rushing around, not to mention smart phones and tablets taking up our time and resulting in information overload, we are lacking in non-verbal communication.

Read: De-stressing with aromatherapy

Enhancing your relationship

If you find that your relationship is becoming stale or if you want to enhance a good relationship, massage can certainly help.

If music links the right and left-brains together, massage nourishes the body, mind and soul, knitting our practical thoughts with our spiritual being.

Give your partner or yourself the gift of touch this Valentine’s Day. 

Essential oils stimulate our senses, with our sense of smell playing an important role within romance and intimacy. Massage introduces touch in a safe way, enhancing the mood and making an intimate experience more sensual. And essential oils go far in uplifting the spirits and setting the scene.

Read: the therapeutic properties of essential oils

A few tips on a loving massage:

 - Choose a beautiful fragrance that you both like that is not too overpowering. Premixed oils are easiest and simply use a natural vegetable oil to dilute if needed.

 - Use a room with soft lighting - lay a towel on a bed or couch or the floor.

 - Add further fragrance to the room using an oil burner.

 - Begin with small amounts of oil and gently rub your hands together to warm the oil and your hands.

 - Use gentle but fairly firm strokes. Make the strokes long and firm using flat hands following the contours of the body. Caress with the intent of transferring energy.

 - Add more oil only as necessary. Remember that more oil is not necessarily better, but a dry massage is unpleasant.

 - Use long strokes on limbs and back, introducing a wide circle movement on the back and also on the stomach.

 - If you are massaging with one hand then lay your other hand on the recipient’s arm, back or leg with firm but gentle pressure.

 - Back massage is the most soothing, whilst legs and feet are sensual for some and off putting for others.

 - Ask your partner about the sort of pressure they enjoy or where they need more or less massaging.

 - Play gentle music or maintain silence allowing your hands to do the talking - use the time to communicate by touch and eye contact instead of words spoken.

 - For some, a face-to-face seated or standing co-massage may be delightful and very sensual - each one massages the other mirroring the massage.

 - Always use a plain carrier oil around genitalia.

Love the one you’re with

If you are on your own you can still treat yourself with love by creating the mood – self-massage your limbs, lower back and stomach with strong but gentle slow strokes using a premixed oil.

If giving or receiving a massage does not appeal to you, then run a bath adding beautiful oils to soak in and lighting candles to create a mood.

(Article written by Doryce Sher, a registered pharmacist, aromatherapist and reflexologist; and the founder of Aromatic Apothecary.)

Read: Get in touch with yourself


(Photo of woman enjoying massage from Shutterstock)

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