I broke the news today. Since my boss was at home recovering from his surgery, I emailed him and asked him when it would be a good time to call. Ten minutes later he calls me. I told him I was leaving at the end of July and if he needed more time I could give him an extra week. He said that he wanted as much time as I could give him. We agreed that August 6 would be my last day. We talked for a while about where I was going and what I was doing. He was very supportive. I would have given him more time because he is a good boss and a great person but Mysore is calling me. I just realized how lucky I have been. I don’t know why I was so stressed last night and this morning but now I feel so relieved. I have now closed a window but I know I can open it anytime.
Last night I had a female client who was having back problems. She said her whole back was tight and that she felt miserable. I asked her if she wanted a nice relaxing Swedish massage or some deep tissue work. She said that she normally gets a Swedish massage but she wanted some deep tissue. She had never had any deep tissue so I warned her that it could be painful and unpleasant but more therapeutic. I could tell by our conversation that she hasn’t had that much bodywork. I told her that I will play around with the pressure and if at any time she felt the pressure was too much, I would back off. I started warming up her back and I instantly felt tightness on her shoulders and lower back. I told her that I was just warming her up and she laughed because she thought the pressure was good enough. I told her that if she wanted me to stick with a Swedish massage I would do that. She insisted on getting deep tissue work. I started working on her upper back and slowly increased the pressure. She started moaning and groaning. I asked her if she wanted me to back off but she insisted that I continue. All throughout the first half of the massage she kept moaning, groaning and complaining and each time I asked her if she wanted me to back off. I couldn’t get a positive word from her. In deep tissue, there is a fine line between good pain and just painful. I was working on that edge. I occasionally threw in a joke to get her mind off the pain. Midway through the session she could feel her muscles loosen and I finally got a positive word from her. Although she was still in pain, she started laughing. Now that I got her laughing I could even go deeper. Her muscles started to let me in. We decided to just laugh about her pain the rest of the way. It actually felt like we were in a comedy show because we couldn’t stop laughing. After the massage I asked her how she felt. She smiled at me and then gave me a big hug. It’s moments like these is when you know that life is worth living.