- Lead your partner to the corner of the bed or a chair where she can
sit up and her arms will hang freely.
- In this massage, you should do one arm at a time. Squeeze the muscles
in the arm between the fingers and palm of each of your hands, and
gently pull the muscles away from the bone. Even if you are just
kneading the muscles with your fingers, you are relaxing the tension. Go
over the arm you are working on, slowly, about three times.
- Facing your partner's side, place your hands on either side of the top
of the arm you are presently massaging. (Visually this should look as if
your about to clap your hands, but the arm is in the way.) While staying
at the top of the arm, move your hands back and forth in opposite
directions. (Visually this motions looks like you would if you were
rubbing your hands together to get warm, except there is an arm between
your hands.) Apply only light pressure while you do this. Shaking her
arm more then rubbing it. Slowly begin to move your hands, at equal
height, up and down the arm, while continuing the back-and-forth motion.
Go up and down about three times.
- When you have completed the last step, slide your hands down the arm
and hold your partners hand between both of your hands. Take your hand
that was covering her palm off. Use the thumb of this hand to need the
fleshy parts of her palm in a circular motion with light pressure.
- Give each finger individual attention, whether you slide your free
hand around it, or just rub it. The goal is to get your partner relaxed.
If you leave one finger untouched, your partner will become conscious of
the neglect and that will cause some tension. "I lightly pinch the end
of each finger," says Melissa Kirsch, certified massage practitioner
from Wilmington Delaware. "You don't want to make the person who is
trying to relax feel uncomfortable about anything."
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