I just got home from the most amazing massage from my favorite masseuse Stephanie Kamla.  In fact, every massage she gives me is amazing. She can singlehandedly (well, with two hands) put me back into the land of the living.  I’ve touted her skills endlessly, but decided that blogging about her was the ultimate referral.  Here now … are the Top 5 Things I Dig About My Massage Therapist.

5) I’ve gone to Stephanie for so long that she knows all the little incidental things that make a good masseuse phenomenal. She knows I like the bed to be superhot, so she cranks the heating blanket to the inferno setting.  Yes, even in the dead of summer. She knows I adore the smell of peppermint and always lightly dusts the headrest with essential oils.  Ahhh … aromatherapy.  If she does this for me, you can guarantee she does it with the rest of her regulars. It’s just one of those perfectly nuanced, symbiotic client/service provider relationships.

4) She always reminds me that we were clearly friends in a former life. I think we were related … or possibly separated at birth. She finishes my sentences. She reads my mind. She acts or reacts before I tell her something. And she can sense exactly where I’m holding my tension about eighteen seconds after I walk in her house. “What is up with your minimus?” she asked this evening.  “My mini-what?” I repeated. “I’ll guarantee your gluteus minimus is out of whack,” she announced confidently. Turned out my slight gimping gate was a sure sign I needed maximus work on my minimus. Who knew?

3) I was so ridiculously tired this evening; I barely had the energy to drive to my appointment. 75 minutes later I’m practically the new Jan Brady. Well, a really malleable Jan Brady. Stephanie knows exactly when to infuse me with energy, when to let me relax and when to beat the living bejeezus out of me because I’m like one big giant clenched fist.

2) Stephanie puts good stuff out in to the universe 100% of the time. That means she’s putting good karma, juju, wavelengths, energy and enriched enlightenment into my body during every session.  It’s not just a massage, it’s a cosmic cleansing of anything toxic going on in my psyche.

And the #1 thing I like about her? I made her a couple CDs of my favorite “mood” music. It’s a weird playlist of anything and everything — from Celtic chanting to bongos to the whisper-singing of Sia.  She’ll ensure that music is playing from the minute I walk in the door until the time I leave. Even better? Not once has she ever mentioned how completely effed-up the mix is.  In fact tonight I actually caught her humming along to one of the songs. Or maybe that was me. I dunno. I was having some sort of out-of-body experience.  Just one more reason I adore her Zen-tastic skills.

Props to you, Stephanie. You’re a godsend!