I recently had the good luck to exchange some e-mail with that rare beast, The Polite and Pleasant Gay Man. In this case, the gentleman in question is a member of a local massage exchange Web board. He came across an old post of mine seeking therapeutic massage services to help deal with my repetitive stress injuries and general physical creakiness and wrote to ask if I’d had any luck.

We got to exchanging e-mail about the subject and he invited me to give isolated stretching a try. I’ve had a similar form of therapy in the past, where the practitioner focuses on specific areas of the body and uses manipulation and stretching to help deal with stress and pain. I agreed to give it a try and my first appointment was last night.

It was an interesting experience! First, this form of stretching is definitely different from the other—in that case, I was much more of a passive participant and the practitioner also combined aspects of traditional massage with the stretching. The type I had last night was more a mix of active and passive. Various specific parts of the body are focused on (last night we worked on my shoulders, neck, arms, and hands) and multiple individual stretches are performed. In each case I started by actively stretching, with the practitioner passively guiding me and helping keep the rest of my body in good form. Once I reached my limit of motion, he actively assisted to extend and complete the stretch while I relaxed (or tried to!) my efforts. Each stretch is combined with deliberate breathing to oxygenate the muscles and repeated twice for five to ten repetitions depending on the part of the body being stretched.

It sounds pretty simple, right? Fairly easy, right? Well, no, and no Despite all the movements being very deliberate (each stretch is held for two seconds at peak), there’s a lot of exertion involved! I wore a loose t-shirt and trousers to enhance mobility and quickly discovered just how much heat they both retain. I wasn’t dripping with sweat by the time the three and a half hour session was over, but I really felt like I had had quite the workout. It’s amazing to realize how parts of the body are connected, too: stretching one part helps another relax; while stretching one area, another that you might never think about reacts to the movement and—with luck and time—you become more limber and stronger. Yes, stronger: while you’re not exactly building muscle in the same way as, say, weight lifting, you are toning the muscle you do have and reinforcing its strength through deliberate use.

This is a big part of why I am enthusiastic about the therapy, because my repetitive stress and strain in my arms and hands is threatening to get worse. These movements will help open up the carpal tunnel and strengthen my body so that the activity I have to engage in (as an I.T. person, I can’t not type, for example) won’t damage me so much. “Opening up” the body helps it deliver oxygen to the tissues, too, which keeps them flexible and working efficiently.

Another aspect of the therapy that is beneficial to me is that it involves human touch. Unlike most working out, where you are focused on your own body, these stretching exercises involve passive and active assistant from a practitioner. This means their hands are on you—your bodies are in contact in various ways during the stretches—and while it is all very professional, you’re still getting the benefit of caring touch from another human being. It’s amazing how relaxing and comforting that can be. While I don’t hold to any traditions of faith or mysticism, I think there is truth to exchanging energy between people. Touch via stretching is a gentle, constructive, relaxing way of sharing the human connection.

I am looking forward to my next session, this coming Monday, and expanding my range of motion!