The touchy-feely messages of massage
First things first: Turn off your noisemaking technology, dim the lights, load up a mellow music mix and lie somebody - a friend, a lover, the TA who's grading your orgo lab - down on a couch or bed and take off their clothes.
A good place to start a massage session is the on abdomen. An easy technique to begin with is called "swimming." Here's how it works:
Lay your palms on your partner's lower abdomen, wrists on opposite sides, fingers pointing inward. Press down ever-so gently, keeping your fingers together. Slide each hand to the opposite love-handle, then slide them back, and forth again. Repeat that a good three or four times, then move just a few inches upward, and continue with the sliding.
You may hear your partner sigh from time to time. This is good.
Try to keep the whole maneuver as smooth as possible, continuing up toward the shoulders and stopping just before the neck. Be sure to attend to the breasts and what-have-you - don't be shy now! These things are, of course, more sensitive, so be gentler.
A key thing to keep in mind is that you're trotting your palms out onto on hallowed ground. The chest is sensitive territory (as are the other areas of the body I'm going to talk about in a minute). The term you've probably heard is "erogenous zone." Perhaps you pride yourself on being able to name all "seven erogenous zones." But this is a misunderstanding. The body's whole surface is capable of channeling sensations into arousal, more or less. And there is no canonical set of most-erogenous zones; the pattern of sensitivity differs from person to person.
From the abdomen, progress to the arms and try some "throwing," "snaking" and "rolling." These three moves will release a lot of tension in the arms, the kind built up after years of writing 5-10 page papers on chloroplastids and Russian grammar. Lift the arm by the hand and elbow and hold the arm vertically by the wrist. Toss the arm from one hand to the other, several times, increasing the span as you go. Then hold the arm upright and "snake": Starting from the shoulder up to the wrist, squeeze the muscle at close successive intervals. Do this repeatedly, squeezing at slightly different angles each time, and varying your speed. Then "roll": Bend the arm over the elbow and knead it, like clay, up its length. Don't forget the other arm.
Another good place to get going is the hands, the most stressed-out part of the body, and one of the most sensitive. Grasp your partner's hand, palm down, with both of yours, also palms down, while you feel out the bony back of the hand, kneading it with your thumbs in small circles.
All of these strokes invigorate the muscle tissue, aiding circulation and even the nutrition of the inner tissue. Alright, alright, I hear you protesting. "Doggy style can do that, too." Yes, loyal readers, this is true. But you've done it doggy style 15 times this week. Surely you want something new?
You'll want to work on the back, for which you may wish to try something percussive, like pounding, knuckle rapping or "hacking." Space won't permit me to explain too much here, but if you'd like to learn more you should check out http://sexuality.org, or The Art of Sensual Massage (1973), an excellent work by Gordon Inkeles.
A good place to start a massage session is the on abdomen. An easy technique to begin with is called "swimming." Here's how it works:
Lay your palms on your partner's lower abdomen, wrists on opposite sides, fingers pointing inward. Press down ever-so gently, keeping your fingers together. Slide each hand to the opposite love-handle, then slide them back, and forth again. Repeat that a good three or four times, then move just a few inches upward, and continue with the sliding.
You may hear your partner sigh from time to time. This is good.
Try to keep the whole maneuver as smooth as possible, continuing up toward the shoulders and stopping just before the neck. Be sure to attend to the breasts and what-have-you - don't be shy now! These things are, of course, more sensitive, so be gentler.
A key thing to keep in mind is that you're trotting your palms out onto on hallowed ground. The chest is sensitive territory (as are the other areas of the body I'm going to talk about in a minute). The term you've probably heard is "erogenous zone." Perhaps you pride yourself on being able to name all "seven erogenous zones." But this is a misunderstanding. The body's whole surface is capable of channeling sensations into arousal, more or less. And there is no canonical set of most-erogenous zones; the pattern of sensitivity differs from person to person.
From the abdomen, progress to the arms and try some "throwing," "snaking" and "rolling." These three moves will release a lot of tension in the arms, the kind built up after years of writing 5-10 page papers on chloroplastids and Russian grammar. Lift the arm by the hand and elbow and hold the arm vertically by the wrist. Toss the arm from one hand to the other, several times, increasing the span as you go. Then hold the arm upright and "snake": Starting from the shoulder up to the wrist, squeeze the muscle at close successive intervals. Do this repeatedly, squeezing at slightly different angles each time, and varying your speed. Then "roll": Bend the arm over the elbow and knead it, like clay, up its length. Don't forget the other arm.
Another good place to get going is the hands, the most stressed-out part of the body, and one of the most sensitive. Grasp your partner's hand, palm down, with both of yours, also palms down, while you feel out the bony back of the hand, kneading it with your thumbs in small circles.
All of these strokes invigorate the muscle tissue, aiding circulation and even the nutrition of the inner tissue. Alright, alright, I hear you protesting. "Doggy style can do that, too." Yes, loyal readers, this is true. But you've done it doggy style 15 times this week. Surely you want something new?
You'll want to work on the back, for which you may wish to try something percussive, like pounding, knuckle rapping or "hacking." Space won't permit me to explain too much here, but if you'd like to learn more you should check out http://sexuality.org, or The Art of Sensual Massage (1973), an excellent work by Gordon Inkeles.
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