massages can be intimate. naked skin with a stranger. dimmed lighting and rubbing.
i didn’t think anything could be more intimate between strangers than a swedish or deep tissue massage like i’ve had a few times in my life. and today’s trip into san francisco for a thai massage seemed an implausible choice for something more…after all, you’re fully clothed.
the thing is…it is a full body contact experience.
it begins so benignly.
skin to skin. palms to soles.
then up the leg. bending and stretching.
from the leg to the bum. bum to back. back to arms.
there were feet on my spine. toes working out the huge knots tucked alongside and beneath my scapula. forearms smoothing fighting the knots in my shoulders.
at some point she sat between my legs, crossing them over each other and bending me left, then right. she sat behind me and rocked my back against her knees. pulled my arms gently arching me backwards to stretch fully.
tu, her name, was amazing.
it was an hour and $65 (including tip) well spent.
the knots aren’t all gone despite her vigilance. there is only so much magic one person can do to erase the stress of scary dogs and uncertainty. but i am beginning to remember what it feels like to not hunch. to sit straighter. to not ache.
this will be my new vice. one hour with an amazing woman between my legs.