GRAVETTE -- As the year winds down to a close, life seems to get ever more hectic. There are appointments to keep and commitments to honor. Stores are filled with frantic shoppers. It's enough to make you tight and tense -- to make your neck and back ache. Monica Thomason, licensed massage therapist at Holding Hands Massage and Bodywork in Gravette, offers the perfect remedy -- a massage.
Although most folks think of massage as a special treat, a way to pamper oneself, Thomason said she hopes to change the way people look at massage and convince them it's not a luxury but a means to better health. She just set up shop Sept. 1 in a room inside the Shabby Chic salon in the new strip mall next to the county offices on the south edge of town. She has worked as a massage therapist for 13 years.
She began working at age 13 and had a variety of jobs over the years, waitress, receptionist in a doctor's office, work in retail and fast food, and was a secretary for 10-12 years. A Texas native, she met her husband Alan in College Station, where they both worked at Westinghouse. She quit work when her daughter Shelby was born and was a stay-at-home mom for 11 years until her son Will turned 8.
A friend of Thomason's was going to school to learn massage therapy and sometimes needed a subject to practice on. Thomason responded to her request. She knew from the first massage she had found her next career and immediately enrolled in school to study and become a massage therapist. She went to school for a year, got her diploma from Lauterstein-Conway Massage School in Austin and received her license to practice massage in the state of Texas. When she graduated, one of her instructors hired her and some of his other students as contract labor to work in several locations in and around Austin. She worked at the penthouse spa at the Hilton on 6th Street in Austin and several Dell Computer campuses in the city, as well as the student clinic at Lauterstein-Conway. After she became state licensed in 2003, she studied and tested to become nationally certified as well since she was contemplating a move to Arkansas.
Her husband Alan's job was ending and he didn't want to have to commute into Austin. He and Monica decided to move to Arkansas from Round Rock, Texas, in August 2006. They moved to the family farm in Maysville where Alan's father, Bill Thomason, was born. Monica soon began working at massage in her adopted state. She says Arkansas is home now and she likes it here but, "My heart is still in Texas."
Thomason worked at Massage Wellness in Lowell and then at the Elite Day Spa in Bentonville for a year and a half. She always maintained her mobile service where she took her portable table or chair to homes and businesses and gave massages on site. She still does corporate chair massage where she goes to a company and works on their employees.
Monica obviously takes pleasure in her work. She says, "I enjoy making people feel better, finding issues they have and figuring out ways to correct them. When you're a massage therapist, everyone you touch leaves happier. You have no dissatisfied customers."
She repeated a comment she had read on the Massage Therapists of Arkansas Facebook page: "Whenever you give a person a massage, you're likely the high point of his or her day."
Thomason likes educating people about the positive benefits of massage. She said that the advent of personal computers has ruined the posture of the whole population. The body is built to be active and, when workers stop moving around and remain sitting for long periods, the torso muscles shorten, the legs stiffen, the shoulders get rounded and pull the head forward. This unnatural position puts stress on the spine, creating tension in the neck, shoulders, back and hips.
Massage improves a person's circulation and loosens tight muscle fibers, Thomason says. It moves the lymphatic fluid throughout the body, helping the immune system work better. Touch improves a person's emotional state because it relaxes him. It lowers blood pressure and helps eliminate many aches and pains.
Monica has been able to help many clients with sciatic issues and chronic pain.
Thomason explained that the muscles get sticky with inactivity and adhere to each other.
"They don't slide across each other like they're supposed to, creating a knot or adhesion. Roll it out like bread dough. That's my job," she said. "I loosen the muscles by applying heat and pressure."
"My hands are my tools," Monica says, but she also uses her forearms and elbows when working on a client. Another tool she uses is a firm foam roller, and she recommends people buy one for home use and roll it between their tense muscles and a wall or other hard surface. She also encourages clients to do a lot of stretching.
"Stretch before you get out of bed in the morning. Stretch before taking a step. If your muscles are tight, they are more easily torn and the problem gets worse as you get older."
A relaxing atmosphere surrounds each client as Thomason massages away the tension and stress. She uses elements of aromatherapy and asks the person to inhale deeply of the pleasing fragrance of the essential oils she incorporates into the session. Lights are lowered and soft, soothing music plays in the background during the one hour session.
Those seeking relief for the tension in tight muscles or those wanting to give a loved one the gift of relaxation are invited to call and book an appointment with Monica at Holding Hands Massage and Bodywork, 901 1st Ave. S.W., Unit B, in Gravette. Her telephone number is 479-721-1138 or she can be reached by email at [email protected].
Gift certificates are available and Monica is currently teaming with the hair stylists in the salon to offer a special package. Clients can get a one-hour massage, a shampoo, haircut and color, one liter of shampoo and one liter of conditioner, all for only $110, while supplies last.
General News on 12/17/2014