25/07/2026
It takes so much courage to receive a treatment.
People sometimes feel nervous before their first massage; they’re worried it might hurt, or they’ll have to make conversation, or they have cellulite or hairy legs (which absolutely does not matter btw!) But I wonder if it’s something deeper than that.
For an hour or so, you’re inviting someone into your personal space. You’re trusting them with your body and for most people, that’s a really big thing.
I also think a lot of us are just not very good at receiving. We’re good at looking after everyone else, getting jobs done, pushing through and staying busy, but when someone asks us to lie down, close our eyes and do... nothing, that can feel surprisingly uncomfortable.
Before I start a treatment, I set my own intention, that I will be present and attuned to my client throughout the entire session, but I’m starting to invite people to set their own intention as a receiver.
It could simply be, ‘I’d like to slow down today’ or ‘I’m going to try not to spend the next hour thinking about my to-do list’. Even better could be to set an intention ‘to trust and surrender and be open to truly receive the treatment’.
It doesn’t have to be deep or profound, but having a little intention can help you arrive, rather than still mentally being somewhere else.
My job is to create a space where you feel safe and looked after. Your only job is to see if you can soften into it a little, which is often easier said than done!
If receiving feels difficult, you’re definitely not the only one. In fact, learning to receive has definitely been one of my hardest lessons, and I’m still working at it 💚