I had a deep tissue massage last night. It was my first ever such experience and I won't lie - it was pretty painful. I knew that my shoulders and neck were in knots, but my feet? My calves? My quads? Wow.
The residual soreness is not bad at all today, but I had to "breathe through the pain" quite a bit during the massage. Well, my gal didn't use the word "pain," she liked to refer to it as "intense" or "hard." Hmm. Yes, intense, hard....and painful.
Anyway, while I was taking loooong, deeeeep breaths to get through the "intense" moments, I also tried to concentrate on the music to distract and relax myself. You know the music ~ the gentle, tinkly, slightly Eastern, somewhat nature inspired music that is the ubiquitous spa soundtrack.
Or do you?
I began to wonder if this same music is used worldwide to foster serenity and create a sense of calm? Is there truly an international soundtrack for relaxation? Or are there entirely different kinds of music used in other parts of the world to elicit the same state of being. If I were to get a massage in Vienna, would the background be familiar? Or will it be one of those unexpected differences?
The questions were a bit of a distraction for a few minutes at least. And then she moved on to a new body part.
