Yesterday my masseuse contacted me in the early morning and asked if I could attend her clinic later and be her model for she is taking on a new lady to help her. (I take back all I said about her and being unavailable so often because she is doing something about it and realises the problems it is causing for her business). The lady is another Thai person and is trained in traditional Thai massage which does not involve oils. As you know, I go for Thai massage and do not have oils myself. However, to run the clinic successfully and meet demand my masseuse also offers Thai oil massage which is popular. The new Thai lady was not confident with oils and wanted to have some help. So I agreed to go along. She was a very good masseuse and strong in hands but she was hesitant with the use of oils. I would be happy to have her for Thai deep tissue massage. I am going again on Monday so that she can have a further training in oil session. This is a bit of a bonus for me in that I am obviously not paying anything for this and I get to have a relaxation session with the two Thai ladies. They speak in Thai so I haven't a clue what is going on except occasionally I am asked for feed back. It is nice to be asked and trusted in this capacity.
Today my car is being MOT'd so that takes care of the day. I was unable to get it booked in locally so am travelling 20 miles later this morning. I will wait with the car whilst it is tested.
It looks like a perfect day with sunshine and blue sky.
I am setting myself a new goal in exercising - I am aiming to learn to skip with a skipping rope again. Much harder than it sounds for a woman of my age. I don't know why this idea came into my head but I was watching Arsenal play Sporting at the time and was doing exercises on the floor whilst watching. Arsenal scored in the last minute having dominated the match all the way through and should have been 2 up before half time. The young Dowman (16) came on in the 70th minute. Sporting is Sporting Lisbon in case you are interested. I was thinking that although I have been to Lisbon several times it is the one city I have visited and never sought out the football stadium and I could not for the life of me place where it is. Others like Barcelona and Prague and Kyiv and St. Petersburg and even Skopje I have not only photographed but visited and walked to in and around and in Madrid even went to a match when there at the Bernabéu. In St Petersburg I photographed the Zenit stadium from a bus but Irina refused to go to a match as she said it was "too dangerous" and the fans were like "animals" and in Marrakesh Allal refused to let me go to Casablanca v Marrakesh because, likewise, he also said it was too dangerous in the crowd. Pfft, chickens. Back to the skipping rope, I gather I have to take it slowly and it could be many months before I am skipping.
PS In doing a round up of news commentary this morning on X it beggars belief that people really think that world leaders say on a public platform what they are going to do in conflict of war. Have people got so wound up in derangement that they have lost sight of common sense? Remember propaganda. Churchill and a big cigar, a romper suit, onesie, naked and dictating letters to his secretary whilst in the bath drinking brandy and champagne, WW2. Just do some exercises and watch a football match tonight and turn off the computer.
I dont know if I could manage it, of course finding a level spot outside here, would be a problem. I imagine, it means a number of different parts of the body working together but doing their own thing. So I perhaps jumping up and down might need perfecting first and then maybe swinging a skipping rope, where the ropes are not joined, at the same time as jumping ? Good luck. Like to know how it progresses.
ReplyDeleteThe massage sounds good, I am sure they know what they are doing and will judge how much treatment is right for you.
Supposed to be sunny again to day, but temperatures drop again tomorrow.
Walk in beauty
Kathy
Looking at a skipping for the elderly you tube video before I went to bed last night the actual plan takes several months to execute. It is also suggested throughout that the place to do the routines is on a softly carpetted or similar floor. It is a gradual build up from heel lifts and squats and incorportating some bounce but it takes a long time. I am not sure that I will achieve it but I will keep trying. I have a piece of washing line I can use as the rope although it is not needed at the beginning.
DeleteAs for the oil massage, this is nothing like the deep tissue variety and also as a training session it tends to stop and start.
Looks nice here today and hopefully a shade warmer. Rachel xx
Itrained for several years in two different branches of massage and also at another time inn sound healing (which can also be a form of massage) I have used ot mainly for friends and family and was in demand from farmers around , especially at harvest time. I jave neber tried thai massage though.
DeleteKathy
I went somewhere for a 'sound bath' last summer. It was relaxing. It was there that I realised I couldn't get up from the floor without something to hold on to and vowed to do something about it.
DeleteHow nice to be the model for a trainee 'oils masseuse.' A strong back, legs, arms and hands are essential for a masseuse. It's as much an exercise routine for them as a relaxation for the recipient.
ReplyDeleteI have volunteered in the past and helped out. I am often free at short notice. Yes, a masseuse's life is physically hard work.
DeleteI'm glad you got to have a massage Rachel. Good luck with the skipping! I got a weighted hula hoop this year and love it for exercise. I can do 200 spins before dropping it! I'm not so good with skipping as I trip myself up not being able to jump very high! Hope your MOT went well and you got to enjoy the sunshine. x
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing with the hula hoop Simone. Last time I tried with my old childhood one which was hanging on the wall of my mum's coalshed I was hopeless. You give me incentive to certainly try well with the skipping as clearly these things can be done. The car passed the MOT and the temperature on the way home was 23C. Rachel xx
DeleteI doubt I could do so many spins with my old childhood hoop. These ones come in pieces that you have to slot together and as they are weighted - I believe it makes them easier to use. It was bought from Amazon. Good that the car passed its MOT and you are having a nice bit of warmth! x
DeleteAh, like an electric bike!
DeleteMy first thought when you wrote about learning to skip again was bone density. As you continue with this, it may improve your bone density because you are doing a weight bearing exercise. Bone density is a big thing as we women age because it's the little old ladies who break their hip that have rapid downward decline. Good for you! Will you be reciting a catchy little skipping rhyme at the same time? ;) -Jenn
ReplyDeleteI don't think bone density has ever been an issue in my family but you never know. I am following the exercise plan to the letter so I should be safe and it will take months. I don't think we had skipping rhymes in England, or at least not at my school. We had vast skipping ropes that the kids from farms, like me, would bring in made from baler twine joined together and we would have games running in and out without getting caught. That is my biggest memory of skipping at school and many happy times.
DeleteYou may laugh when you read about my skipping routine: I do it in my bedroom, and usually while my favourite computer game is firing up... when the game's intro music starts, I skip to its rhythm :-D
ReplyDeleteIt is something I have been resorting to for many years, mainly in winter when it's too dark/cold/wet for after-work walks. The rope is in a drawer in my bedside table, always at hand, and it's the bedroom because there is the largest open space in all of my flat.
PS: Very good to know that your Thai lady is doing something about her work, and very good of you to help with the training!
DeleteYour skipping comment is interesting. On the You Tube channels it is mentioned many times as a good form of exercise when walking/running is not available.
DeleteI felt guilty at my thoughts about moving to a different masseuse when she contacted me and said she was bringing in another lady to help her. I felt bad! I am the one she turns to for help in training sessions because I am retired and often available during the day when many of her other regular clilents are working.