Giving a quality massage is one of those things that sounds easy to do: Oil ‘em up, rub their body in a way that feels good, bing bang boom.
But when you’re actually going to actually give someone a massage, your thought process is probably more along the lines of, “does this even feel good?” Just so you know, even with this great advice, you’re going to have to rely on trial and error and actually communicating with your partner to figure out exactly what they like.
Massage can have many benefits. Such as relieving tension and improving blood circulation.
But more importantly it can be a mutually satisfying way for couples exhibit as well as build intimacy.
An important area of experimentation is pressure. In general you want to give firm enough pressure that you can feel the muscle move underneath the skin without making your partner grimace or squirm. It’s one of those things that are completely a personal preference; that can be influenced by your health, diet, mood, environment, and chemistry with your partner. For your first few times giving your partner a massage, switch things up a bit to get a feel for what they like. Unless you’re hurting them, you’re doing a good job!
-
Avoid Bones and Joints
Never push directly on the spine and be careful not to put too much pressure on muscles that run over the ribs and shoulder blades. If someone has thin muscle tissue, you can bruise bones by going too hard
-
Hands get Tired?
An even easier way to work tight shoulders? Grab a tennis ball. Simply roll the ball all over with the palm of your hand. They also sell really great massage rollers or stones!
-
The Hand Slide
Begin with your hands parallel to each other and slide them down each side of the spine, massaging all the way down to the lower back and over the booty. Then slide your hands up all the way to the neck, over the shoulders, and down the arms to the fingertips.
-
Kneading
If you have ever kneaded pizza or bread dough, then this technique will be a breeze, but if you haven’t, try squeezing your partner’s back and buttocks between your thumb and fingers in a flowing motion with one hand and then with the other hand. Now slide your hands to another area on the back and repeat until your partner has been well kneaded from neck to booty.
-
Moving Down to the Feet
Do the hand slide technique on the legs in slow motion. Follow this with the kneading stroke and do one leg at a time. Then take one foot at a time and cover it in oil, spreading it around the ankle, the heel, and in between the toes. Now use the palm of your hand to slide over the bottom of your partner’s foot back and forth about four times. Then gently rotate every toe clockwise and counter-clockwise and finally slip your forefinger between each toe.
-
Do the Butterfly
Use the palms of your hands and move them in the shape of a butterfly in circular movements across the back, and up towards the shoulder blades, you can use both hands or just one hand at a time. Shoulders are where people carry most of their tension!
-
Travel South to North
Starting at the bottom of the back and use your thumbs either side of the spine and move up slowly pressing, release the pressure as you move towards the neck.
The bottom line is that massage is supposed to be fun and feel good, no super-fancy tricks necessary.
The most important goal of massage is the desire to please your partner, whether it’s with a healing scalp massage, relaxing shoulder massage, friendly foot massage, or sensual full body massage.