Living abundantly- Flexing your risk muscle

    
"Everyone has a 'risk muscle.'  You keep in in shape by trying new things. If you don't, it atrophies.  Make a point of using it at least once a day."  Roger Ban Oech

My friend Lisa Conley decided to celebrate her 40^thbirthday year by “living abundantly” and trying something new each month. Inspired by her beautiful spirit and zest for life, I too have started doing new things, and thanks to Groupon I can try stuff pretty inexpensively. That’s how I ended up at Foot Joy foot spa.

According to their website, Foot Joy “offers a range of reflexology therapy services. They tailor their works to meet each individual’s needs.” I had no idea what to expect when I went entered the dimly lit room full of reclining chairs for my “60 minute acupressure foot massage”. I WILL tell you that what my masseuse thought my “needs” were certainly did not live up to what I thought my “needs” were.

I was expecting a breezy foot rub, and I did get that. The first thirty minutes were a sweet mixture of pleasure, pressure and pain. They washed my feet, massaged each foot and lower leg, found a few pressure points that made me squirm and ultimately kept me in at the fine line between asleep and awake. Nice! Completely worth the $20.00 I paid.

That’s when things got weird, and the masseuse turned all ninja on me.

He reclined the chair straight back, had me lie on my stomach, jacked my shirt up, and began working on my back right there in the middle of the salon. “You muscles too tight” he told me- and the massage turned into a wrestling match as he caught me with a bionic elbow drop between my shoulder blades that literally knocked me breathless. I was “fist dropped”, “chopped”and for the finale received a “double axe handle”.

“Ok- you done.” He said, pulling my shirt down and patting my back. Owe! What the hell just happened here? I scrambled blindly in the bright outside light to my car and sat for a while to gather myself. Was it horrible? No. Would I go again? No.

I stopped to eat at a Chinese BBQ place on the way home (another first) and although they had roasted ducks that winked at me, I decided to stick to Beef and Broccoli.

My next adventures include paddling boarding with my work girls, indoor rock climbing with my kids, and trying exotic fried foods at the fair. Stay tuned- it’s going to be a fun ride.