Namaste

Trinidad Carnival 2011 is around the corner. Well, that depends… While for some it is a well-anticipated event, for many others it has already started. Like highly colourful thread on an intricately woven fabric, such are the events leading up to Carnival climax. And I wonder…what is the colour of the thread that represents Massage Therapy on this fabric? Does it readily catch the eyes of the onlooker?

I remember standing on the South Quay sometime after six o’clock one Carnival Monday morning watching Mud Mass. Interesting indeed, but I kept my distance, trying to ensure that my fear of being smeared with mud was not realised. My phone rang. I opened my purse to retrieve it and answered. On the other end was a gentleman in need of a massage. He had travelled a great distance to play Mass in Trinidad, and intended to be on the road in his costume both Carnival Monday and Tuesday. However, he was all bent out of shape (more psychologically than physically) from the stress of coordinating, travelling, and being out with friends late Sunday night. He wanted a massage now.

I was silent for a while. I wanted to help, but was uncertain how to go about it. When I left home, massage was the last thing on my mind. Hence I was inappropriately dressed for work (by my definition) and ill equipped as well (purse only in hand). There were too many people on the streets, and too many streets blocked, and too many routes re-routed, to facilitate a quick run home and back.

The clock was ticking while I was thinking. The gentleman enquired whether traffic was going to cause a delay. Not at all! I was right on the South Quay and he was at Crowne Plaza. I only needed to take a stroll across. I asked whether he had any oil, and explained that I did not leave home prepared to do massages. He did have a bottle of Neutrogena Sesame Oil. Cute! I walked over.

Carnival is an ideal time for outcall/residential massages. Hotels spas are booked and few Day Spas are opened. After a night of fun, or a full day revelling on the road, a massage in the ambiance of one’s hotel room is most welcomed. The client just has to roll over and sleep when the Massage Therapist leaves.

For a hundred and one reasons, it is certainly not convenient to be carrying a massage table at this time. The ability to do massage treatment therefore boils down to appropriate lubrication, a pair of hands, skilful techniques, a touch of love, and excellent body mechanics. Body mechanics is critical because in a hotel room during Carnival, the situation is often less than ideal. In some cases massage may have to be done a low or soft bed, or on a quilt on a patch of floor after the luggage has been pushed aside; real people, in real-life situations.

It may be a good thing, as a Massage Therapist, to go out to Carnival equipped with a few business cards and a bottle of oil in your pocket. Someone may be thanking you…profusely.

For those of you who do not need an occasion to appreciate the silent comfort of touch, I invite you to vist www.wix.com/rinalda/rinalda to make your appointment for a massage.