The 'Post-Relative' Spa Massage

by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider

Here in the U.S., we are enjoying the four-day Thanksgiving weekend. It happens to be one of my favorite holidays. There is no gift-giving involved - rather people simply get together with family and friends, enjoy the traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings and spend some time appreciating the many things for which they can give thanks.

The holiday does come with a few negatives however. The first (and this is pretty universal) is that almost everyone eats too much. For many it is the beginning of a period of gaining weight that lasts until about New Year's at which time resolutions are made to lose weight and get in shape (fueling a bonanza for the fitness industry in January - but that's another blog).

Then there is the gearing up for Black Friday and the post-Thanksgiving shopping craze. That can be a positive for some and a negative for others. This year I learned from my nieces that Black Friday can begin at one minute past midnight in the wee hours of Friday morning. Apparently many malls are now opening at 12:01 am to capture the early-bird shoppers. Yikes...that's too early for me. I will leave this 'Midnight Madness' to others.

And then there are the challenges of the inevitable 'family issues' that often come up during these times when extended families get together. A lot has been written about family stress around the holidays and there is plenty of advice online including this list on "How to Avoid a Family Disaster at Thanksgiving."

Which actually brings me to the 'Post-Relative' massage.

I must give credit to Peter Anderson (a friend and colleague from California) of Anderson & Associates Hospitality and Spa Consulting for suggesting this new spa treatment and giving it its name. Peter is in town (New York) to spend the holidays with his family and came by our SpaFinder offices to get a demo of our Spa-Booker software. During the demo Peter was shown how people can book spa treatments online and was asked to select from a list of massages available at the particular spa being demonstrated. He read through the list of massage choices: Swedish, deep-tissue, prenatal, post-natal, and a few others. Peter's response? "What I really need is a 'Post-Relative' massage!"

We all had a good laugh. Yet, I have thought about his comment several times since. Yesterday we spent Thanksgiving with my husband's family (and 38 relatives) and tomorrow we will have 12 other relatives to our home.

Yes indeed, this morning both of us booked our 'Post-Relative' massages for Sunday evening.

Alas...one more thing to be thankful for.

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