The Sensual Massage Blog

Where does stress come from?

Monday, November 10th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

In massage we think of stress as a physical, not a mental problem. Masseurs recognize that the “after work blues,” like other stress-related complaints, originates in the body, not the mind. Indeed, once you eliminate the physical manifestations of stress with massage, a host of “emotional” problems begin to disappear.

Quick set-ups for massage

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Unplug the phone and dim the lights. Make sure your massage surface is warm. Have a squeeze bottle filled with warm light, vegetable oil handy. Lay out towels nearby. Bring a pillow.

Put on your partner’s favorite music. If you must speak, your tone is more important than what is actually said.

During the massage itself, everything your partner experiences is simply felt.

Massage Tips

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

This is in response to recent emails asking for “startup” massage tips. Keep these in mind so your partner can focus on the massage——and nothing else.

DO

Be sure your partner’s head and torso are supported
Include the whole upper back
Be sure your partner’s eyes are closed
Warm your hands first

DON’T

Massage while your partner does something else
“Dig in” under the vertebrae and bony shoulder area
Put pressure directly on the spine
Massage under a bright overhead light

I’ll add more massage tips here soon.

The financial crisis: what to do now

Thursday, October 9th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Is the whole country having a nervous breakdown?

People are becoming desperate for a way to relax and get some sleep. We know that pills extract a price hours or even days later. Why not give your partner a massage instead of a pill? There are no side effects to massage and it works to relax the whole body. You will see results in minutes and the longer you continue, the more relaxed your partner will become.

That’s one of the things human hands can do: ease tension.

PROFILE: Rama Wong, designer of “Sensual Massage Made Simple”

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

In 2007 I worked with Rama Wong on a beautiful new cover for Massage for a Peaceful Pregnancy, Ever since, I’d been anxious to see what he could do with a whole new book. Sensual Massage Made Simple gave us the chance to start from scratch with an entirely new project. I wanted an ergonomic design; something that would reflect the beauty of massage while allowing the reader to move directly into a hands-on experience. The layflat binding gave Rama the maximum page surface to work with in an economical 6X9 format.

After many iterations, Rama came up with a design that brings the reader right into the massage experience. Indeed, many of the pages have an almost filmic quality; you can almost feel the strokes move from one part of the body to another.

Here is Rama Wong’s Linkedin profile:

Preview “SENSUAL MASSAGE MADE SIMPLE” on Google Bookscan

Saturday, October 4th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Now you can sample selected pages from the book on Google Bookscan. This site offers a more comprehensive selection of actual pages than Amazon.com. Colors are a bit cooler than the book itself but the quality is good. You will get a sense here of how the book works as a massage guide.

Who is being “Highly inappropriate?”

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

A third grade teacher in Florida is about to be crucified for asking her students to rub her upper back. Men often feel job-related tension in the lower back, women freeze up around the neck and shoulders.

We live in a sensually frigid society, where virtually all touching between adults has been forced into two rigid categories: sexual or commercial. Outside of purely sexual touching, everyone goes out of their way to remain as impersonal as possible. This is from the introduction to my book THE ART OF SENSUAL MASSAGE:

“Since nearly all physical contact is construed as potentially sexual, people constantly avoid touching each other. Those licensed to touch, like Doctors, Barbers and Hairdressers and Tailors, are careful to remain as impersonal as possible lest they be accused of making an advance. The simple fact remains, however, that you can use your hands to bring immense pleasure to another human being without the coldness of traditional therapy and outside the intimacies of sex—I call it the sensual.”

I wrote that back in 1972. I had hoped we had made some progress since then in permitting our citizens to touch each other. I do hope this poor woman can be left alone and restored to her job. Teaching is stressful enough. If the kids can’t be permitted to massage a teacher’s neck and shoulders, maybe the parents can.

SENSUAL MASSAGE MADE SIMPLE SHIPS TO 400 BARNES & NOBLE STORES!

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Look for SENSUAL MASSAGE MADE SIMPLE in the health section under “massage.” You should find the other popular Gordon Inkeles massage books there too.

Barnes & Noble will feature the book for Christmas and Valentines Day.

The real colors of massage

Thursday, September 4th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

There’s a glow you see during a good massage. I had seen it during my photo sessions on previous books but never in the books themselves. My publisher was always moving to a cheaper paper at the last minute or simply eliminating color as a cost cutting measure. Sensual Massage Made Simple had to be better than that. I wanted the reader to see what I saw so I sat down with my production team and we worked patiently on each photo until  we got it. I’d like to thank Taavi Taijala and Scott Harrison for their beautiful work on these photos. Kenny Yu and his team at Prolong Press held the line on the color quality on every page of the book. When I saw proofs like the one below from Prolong, I knew we had finally preserved the real colors of massage in a book. Viewing this art on a computer there may be some color shifting but I think you will get the idea.

The Massage-Industrial Complex

Friday, August 29th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

I wrote The Art of Sensual Massage (shown below in 1972, on the cover of Rolling Stone) to demystify massage and liberate it from the cold, impersonal clinical model. The practice of massage in those days, had been handed over to a small group of self-appointed experts who took pains to make it as complicated and unfriendly as possible.

Now massage is available everywhere, but very often at great cost. Schools sell complex licensing programs, professional therapists offer it on cruise ships and in hotels and spas bundle it with comprehensive treatment regimens. Fast-Massage booths have appeared in airports, train stations and stadiums. Massage has become a commodity available in low cost “fast” versions and complex expensive ones.

So the promise of this new book had to be to simplify the whole process. Massage is like cooking: you can always buy it from a commercial establishment, but if you want it done right, you may just want to do it yourself. This is not a diet book or a get rich quick scheme: the promise I make to the reader is quite real. And so is the massage.

Here’s the promise: take Sensual Massage Made Simple home and you will be doing a sensual massage tonight.