Massage 101

In an ideal world, every guy would know how to give a good massage.  But for some reason it just doesn't work out that way.  I am aware that not all women are able to give a good massage, but since I would rather get a massage from a guy, I don't really take note of other women's abilities.  Well that isn't totally true, but I will get to that soon.

I am writing this because it seems guys don't understand what it is that women want when they ask for a massage.  Remember this is just my opinion from what I have learned from my friends and my own experiences.  In many cases, it is that the girl wants to feel the warm touch of a guy because it is comforting.

TIPS:
- Learn about massages by taking notes while getting one.  Try to remember what the person is doing to you and how they do it, becasue if you like it, chances are other people will like it too.
- Massages aren't necessarily meant to be hard and painful.  So it isn't necessary to be digging your fingers into their back (unless specified) because they will end up hurting more after compared to before the massage.  On the other hand, the massage shouldn't be too light.  You need to know the person is there, so barley touching their back with your fingertips will also not be the best.
- Don't spend too much time in one spot.  If you stay in the same spot for to long the massage looses its effect and can become annoying.  Remember there is the whole back, neck, shoulders and upper arms to work with.
- A good way to get them to tingle is to give the ears a little attection.  The best effect is working up from the neck.

The different kinds of massages that can be given: face and head massages, back massage that is intended to loosen tense mussels, or just a comforting, warm touch.  The extent of the massage also depends on the relationship between the people being and getting the massage.

BACK MASSAGE:
The most common always starts at the shoulders, just don't forget the rest of the back.  Here are some ideas of what you can try or you can just ignore this whole thing and go with the flow:
- Go with the curves of the body.  For example, follow the direction of the ribs.
- Run fingers up and down spin
- On the lower back, start at the centre and work to the sides with smooth, firm sliding hands.
- It is also quite nice for some people to have nails or fingertips running all over the back.

FACE AND HEAD MASSAGE:
Here you could continue from the back massage to the neck then to the face.  Once again some ideas to try.
If the person is sitting upright, in front of you:
- At the top of the neck, applying slight pressure as you run fingers along edges of scull.
- Run fingers down from behind ears along back of jaw then along the bottom of jaw towards chin.
- The slow, running of fingers through the hair is also nice.

If the person is laying with their head resting comfortably on your lap:
- Strokes starting at the neck and running up along jaw or over cheeks.
- Running fingertips along eyebrows or just above eyes.
NOTE - with face massages, it is best to work with a motion starting at the centre and working out.  Try not to use downward strokes.  Since all day the face and body is being pulled down by gravity, try using out and up strokes.

If you are not in the mood to give an all out massage, you may be able to get away with just running your hand around their back.  Another tip would be to play with their hair.  When playing with their hair, try not to mess it up.  If you ruff house their hair, they will not enjoy anything because all they are thinking about is that they have to fix it after.  Instead just fiddle with little strands of hair, or run your fingers through their hair, as though you were combing it.  This way it feels as though you are admiring her instead of making her feel as though she forced you to do this and you don't enjoy touching her.

This is not to be taken as women pointing their fingers at guys saying, "you really should know all of this".  It is just a puzzle piece to help figure out another aspect of the ever confusing woman.