Regularly I am being asked if the price for my session is for regular work or deep tissue. This is an interesting question. I like to answer it is the price for the session you want or need.
Often when looking at the different options offered by spas, prices differ based on modalities. This is a typical up-selling technique. If you want more than oil spread on you and for the practitioner to really start working with you, you need to pay extra. While this make some sense when selling cars, it is harder to quantify when it comes to services, specially when the service cannot be standardized. And I consider massage to be one of those services. Everybody coming to my office is unique. Each body is different. Each pain pattern, stress pattern, life pattern is unique to every one of us. So it is therefore impossible, in my opinion, to standardize a massage.
Sometime you hear some 'enlightened' spa owner talking about how much harder a deep tissue massage is for the practitioner. While this might be accurate, it is also harder to work with someone who doesn't hydrate enough or is particularly tall or small. And really, how do you quantify what a deep massage is? Depth is one of those interesting metric that everybody talks about but no one can really measure, partly because it is unique to each of us.
Maybe a better metric than duration and depth should be the intent of the session. If you want the great, overall relaxation session, we would use particular payment scale. If you come for help with your back/neck/ankle or other (more treatment oriented session), we would use a different scale. And if you come with a post/pre event related goal (running a marathon or training for the curling event in the olympics) we could use a different scale all together.
Food for thoughts I guess... Any opinions?
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