relief?

I scheduled a massage for earlier Tuesday night with this guy that I met in one of my classes in spring semester earlier this year. We didn't know each other personally back then, but I saw him at Macys one day massaging some woman on one of those massage chairs and we acknowledged each other from the other side of the room, er, the fragrance/cosmetics department. A few days after that encounter, we talked about what and why he massaged that woman.

Apparently he's a certified massage practitioner, and so he gave me his card. He advertised his rate as $45 for one hour full-body. I was like, wow, that's an amazing price.

I have a nasty history of neck and shoulder pain, and suffered from stiff neck many times. Well now with all the stresses and mousing from my classes and work, the pain of the knots forced me to pick up the phone and call my former classmate to schedule an appointment. Luckily, he was available for earlier tonight.

He upped his rate to $60 for one hour, and $90 for two, but hey, that's still a lot cheaper than most other masseurs, so I took the chance and gave him a test drive. For the last few years, I've struggled to find someone who really can work my body with deep tissue therapy that still didn't cost and arm and a leg.

Anyway, this new guy was pretty good, he specializes in swedish technique, but he did work on my knots, and there were plenty of those on my back, neck and shoulders. I'm glad I got some relief, but wouldn't you know it, later on I went back to my nasty computer habits and posture so I still felt some amount of pain. Bottom line, I need to get back to my holistic ways: correct breathing and relaxation and ergonomic computer set up.