He motioned for me to lay on an oversized recliner covered in towels, so I did. He then roughly tucked a folded towel over my eyes and under my head, bumping me around and pulling my hair until I assisted his efforts. I then lay there awkwardly for about 5 long minutes. He eventually came back to put my feet in a tub of hot water, then left me again for an uncomfortably long period of time. I was glad for the tub, and it had a spiky texture on the bottom so I could use that to sort of entertain myself while I waited, listening for my friend and hints on what the guy was doing. I finally started taking the blindfold off because I just felt so uncomfortable, and I don’t know if that was his cue or what, but he sat down by my feet the moment I did that, and began the treatment.

It mostly felt good, and it was a positive reminder that you can do the same stroke over and over and over again and it doesn’t get old. He was a bit rough on the insides of my toes, but it didn’t feel bad. I didn’t recognize anything as specifically reflexology vs a foot massage, and he worked a bit on my calves as well. The person who recommended it to me described it as a massage that covers everything from the hips down. I did not have that experience. He mostly stayed on my feet, worked a bit on my calves, and then it was just at the very end of the session when he roughly manipulated my thighs, rotating my femur in the hip joint, and did quick, hard compression strokes up and down my adductors and IT band. I could barely handle the IT band work, and when he repeated it on my adductors, I had to tense up to protect myself and just grit my teeth for a couple seconds, because he wouldn’t understand me if I tried to speak anyway.

I don’t think I’ll do that treatment again. However, in his defense, in massage school I was taught to treat a client as if they were completely relaxed, and we practiced manipulating each other without assisting each other at all with movements such as putting a pillow under the head. Most clients are not relaxed when you start to put a pillow under their head, and they always lift their head to help. I was being abnormal by not lifting my head in the beginning, and he had probably never tried to put a towel under someone’s head without them helping him out. I have to admit I have lost the skill of lifting someone’s head with one hand and placing a pillow beneath with the other. But I communicate to my client what I want them to do.