7. PERFORM THE FEATHER TOUCH TECHNIQUE

At this point you have essentially finished the massage. The muscles have been warmed up by the fan strokes and circling hands, they've been kneaded and milked to work out the kinks and get the blood flowing, and they've been raked for further circulatory benefit and to stretch the muscles. What else could your victim want? Well, "feather touches" are a nice way of bringing the massage to the end.

  1. After you perform your last raking motion, put your hands back up at the shoulders and rest them there for a second.

  2. Draw your fingers slowly and gently down the back, not applying any pressure at all. Just allow your fingers to run over the skin.

  3. Then start tracing little patterns, circles, figure eights, or whatever. This is a tender, closing ritual that says: "I'm exhausted and you're not getting any more massaging, but I'm giving you a minute to get used to the idea before I stop touching you."

  4. After a minute or two, allow your fingers to come to a rest and just stay motionless until one of you speaks and breaks the spell. We don't want to get all mystical on you (you can do that on your own time), but when a massage is done right it creates a pretty special atmosphere and feeling, and you don't want to bust it up haphazardly.

In closing, we want to provide you with two pieces of advice that are easy to remember:

  1. From the moment you first touch your victim at the beginning of the massage, you should never stop touching him/her until the massage is finished. Even if you have to grab some more oil or re-light a candle, make sure that one hand, a knee, or even a foot is still in contact with the body.

  2. The more responsive you are to the nature of your victim's body, muscles, and reactions, the better your massages will be. Try closing your eyes and imagining what is happening inside the muscles you are manipulating, and other similarly flakey stuff. It works, and if you really get into it the massage will be more fun for you, too.