One of the things my office does to try to convince you that they care about your wellbeing (other than increase headcount of course - you can't have the one thing you need) is to invite a masseuse in every month and offer us all subsidised massages. I was really looking forwards to this when I learnt that head massages were on offer and this is probably my biggest weakness in life (and when you consider the stiff competition for that title, it's clearly a big deal!) Nothing could be more relaxing. Done right, I just lie limp and grin happily. Like a cat.
At first as she began I wondered if I ought to practice mindfulness (I can never usually find the time) then I decided that was too much of a chore and instead proceeded to be entertained by my own thoughts, which is ironic, as I'm pretty sure that an observation of your own thoughts is what mindfulness is.
At the beginning the masseuse worked on my neck and my most prominent thought was; if she had it in for me I would be very quickly dispatched. I took this to be a clear sign that the relaxing effect wasn't working yet. Then she started massaging the back of my head and everything changed. I wondered if I should give some sort of positive feedback, but it was no good, I was feeling too limp to talk. My thoughts got progressively more silly (I shan't document them here, it's probably for the best!) until it dawned on me that she'd made my hair quite knotty. Not that I minded (there's little a tough hairbrush can't solve), but she was trying to run her fingers through it and they kept getting stuck. She was gently trying to tug them out again while pretending it was intentional. I snapped right out of my reflective daze. There's nothing therapeutic about this any more. Suddenly I was wide awake trying very hard not to laugh (as I thought this would be disheartening!) There is nothing unfunny about a perfect stranger who is trying to pretend she hadn't got her hand stuck in your hair!
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