I’ll Panic Later

I’m not one to lose it in the moment. The more serious the problem the more composed I seem.

I’ll navigate through the hurricane…and collapse a week later.

The worst thing I’ve ever heard someone at the wheel say to me: I feel like I’m going to pass out.

My mind races with possibilities. A car slamming into us from behind. Her passing out and the car swerving into traffic. What to do. What to do.

I calmly tell her to pull to the side. She signals and brakes. I reach over and cock the wheel into a nearby driveway.

I get her to ease up on the brake. The car inches into the driveway.

I tell her to brake. Then I put the car in park and turn it off.

We sit there. I stay calm. Eerily calm. Because that is what I do.

I repress in the moment and deal when there is time to do so.

I wait until her dizziness eases and then we switch seats.

I take over the driving.

We have lunch.

I come home.

But I can’t get the emotions to surface again. I guess I buried them too deep.

And a week later, my neck is spasming and I’m having nerve pain in my hand.

I’ll panic later has its consequences.

Best Massage in CT

I’m the biggest skeptic when it comes to finding a new  massage therapist.  Probably because every time I need one, I’m already injured, which means  if they’re too aggressive, I’m screwed.

I have had this problem with my neck  since high school.  Rather I have six or so muscle knots  that pretty much paralyze my right hand. But only when they are active.  Unfortunately, they’ve been active a lot the past couple years.

I’ve done physical therapy several times and  I know all the exercises I need to do. But a good massage tends to yield more benefits than my stretches.  Especially if done together.

Yesterday, I went to Bill Gibbs Massage Therapy  for a half-hour massage. He located on Wolcott Rd in the Salon 69 Spa.  A seven minute drive from my home.

The spa is super clean with soothing music playing. Bill is über chill and immediately puts you at ease.  He asked questions about my neck problem, including what flared it up and what types of stretches I was doing  to relieve the pain.

There are couple private massage rooms with very comfortable massage tables that feel more like beds.

When Bill started the massage, his hands were warm. Definite plus in my book. He worked on the muscles in my neck, shoulders and arms.

He applied the right amount of pressure and I never had to ask him  to ease up. He found all the problem  muscle knots and  worked on each one.

This is one of the best massages I’ve ever had in Connecticut. Definitely one of the top five in my life.

By the time I left, my neck felt looser and longer than it had in weeks. I didn’t have any nerve pain in my hand  and felt  20 times better than when I walked in.

I’m going back on Thursday because he’s that good.

Do You Tui-na?

I was skimming through Time Out New York for an inexpensive massage in the city. Luckily, as a mild horder, I kept the “spa issue” from the winter. And lo and behold there is a 60$ 60 minute massage at Asia Tui-na Wholeness Center. (Just a little background…Tui-na is Chinese for push-pull. It’s a type of massage that focuses on doing just that to open up energy blockages and relieve pain)

So I head uptown on Saturday for my massage. As usual, I am early. So I wander into Madison Square Park and read a few pages of my book. Finally, I decide, it’s too hot and I’d rather wait in air conditioning. I finish my walk to 28th street. I end up in my old neighborhood. 28th and Park Ave South. Ah good times. Back in 2000-2002. Feels like another lifetime now.

The massage was painful, but amazing. I stripped down to just my panties and got on the table face down with a blanket over me. Luckily, I read the online review, because the woman doing my massage, literally, climbed up and sat on me to get leverage. She found about 6-7 muscle knots around my right shoulder-blade that seem to be causing a lot of my right hand problems. She pushed and pulled. Used her knuckles and elbows. Most of the time, it hurt, but when it was over…well I still hurt.

I felt woozy–same as I do after acupuncture. I went home and took a 2 hour nap. Today I feel a lot better. I think I will go back a few times and try to work out all these knots.