I discovered massages a couple of years ago. At my old work during our users conference I would get the free chair massage. I was too shy to try the full body on a table massage. But after years of chair massages I thought I would try one and if I felt too invaded I wouldn't get another.

I had been molested as a child by my scoutmaster. I wasn't shy about getting naked. It was the stranger touching me. I am very ticklish and I was afraid I would flinch too much.

Before ExMormonism I wouldn't have gotten a massage because of the edict to not remove the garment. It wasn't anything sexual. I knew and know massage services are all about touch and working the body not working the sex organs.

So I was curious tonight to see what Mormons and massage would bring up in my Googling. Here are some things from the first page of results.

"Rori Smith, an LDS massage therapist in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has noticed a lack of member clients who participate in the benefits of massage. "So few LDS [people] take part in mind/body therapy." Despite her unique gift of touch, Smith sees only a small handful of member clientele. "[Many people] don't realize they have the power to rise above the stress and tension circulating within their bodies. They don't understand it is okay to invest in their health on a regular basis." "
http://www.ldsliving.com/Taking-a-Breather/s/4169

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,288083

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100412081630AA7cprq

I gather from these results that Mormons are what they always are - hung up on "even the appearance of sin."

I know because I was one of them. It is interesting how many Mormon doth protest too much. It is like they want to hide the facts that their prudishness and sacred underwear are probably the biggest reason Mormon probably don't get massages like the rest of the world.

My wife is one of the Mormons who does get massages.

And my neighbors are Mormons who don't. In fact the husband, when I told him I get regular massages, said that no matter what gender, age, or ability of the masseuse, he would get an erection.

I wouldn't get a massage. I'm just too what? It is just who I am. I still wear turtlenecks and would all summer if I could. I'm not comfortable naked.

My daughter is a TBM who gets massages. She used to skinny dip and wear bikinis, but doesn't now because she isn't suppsoed to. You'd never catch me skinny dipping.

For me, it is just who I am. I think the mileage varies. I don't even wear shorts even if I look okay in them.

My ex, he likes being nude. My boyfriend likes being nude. They've both said they'd live nude if it was possible to do so, etc., etc.

My son is like me. My daughter like her father in terms of comfort with nakedness. My brother is like my son and I. But I probably could have told anyone that. My brother and I are so much alike, it is uncanny, other than what gender we are.

After you leave the church, you get to set your own boundries. Everyone should know that and decide what works for them. What the church rules are and what others might think is completely irrelevant. If you know your own boundries, it is easy to relax.

So here are my boundries when it comes to massages. I am straight. If a man is giving the massage and if it is strictly professional/stress-relief, I can relax. If it is a woman giving the massage, there aren't really any boundries that she could violate that would bother me, so I can relax even more while expecting only non-sexual touching.

The less non-sexual touching takes plece in a person's life, the more a person will sexualize any touching. When you leave the church, you not only get your mind and soul back, you get your body back.

Shortly after I had my name removed, a female friend at the time took me to a family-type activity at a nudist event. Everyone, parents, children, grandparents, were all completely naked, over a hundred of us. A mormon friend at the time (a woman) found out about it (the woman I went with invited my mormon friend too) and called the police. She called the police when she found out that there would be naked children there, along with their naked parents and everyone else there naked too. I suggested to the detective that he show up at the next event and look around and talk to the people there. I told him that without any clothes on, no one would know he was a cop and that he was welcome to be there. He didn't show up. That day, a ladder truck with fully dressed male and female firepersons showed up as a part of the activities. The kids got to play in the water and see the fire truck up close. This kind of thing is great for de-programming. It starts out like those nightmares where you are naked in a crowd, and ends up like you're naked in a crowd and no one (yourself included) even cares. One missing elements is any kind of sex. One friend pointed out a woman and whispered to me "I wonder what she looks like with her clothes on". That really happened.

Great post.

I was an LMT in Utah for a few years. In my experience, lots of Mormons get massages, especially Mormon women. Plenty of people flocked to our school's weekend student massage clinics, which were a lot less expensive than going to a spa or to an already-licensed therapist.

Bodywork has nothing to do with sex. It's not legal to touch genital area during massage; therapists lose their licenses for doing so. There are plenty of modalities that don't even require a client to disrobe; in Utah, modesty draping is the law and clients are always free to wear any piece of clothing they want during a massage session. Some modalities take place on a mat or on the floor, with the client in loose-fitting sweats or exercise wear.

In my experience, what keeps Mormons from getting massages is that they're cheap and don't want to spend the money (or don't have any because they spend it all on church-related stuff). It's seen as a luxury even if they have health issues that would greatly improve with bodywork. Some are weird about any kind of touch -- until they finally get work done and the migraine, sciatic pain, or whatever goes away and they realize it's not different than other health care treatments.

when I was living in Utah almost 2 decades ago massage was looked upon as akin to going to a strip club. Times have changed it I suppose.

I still think Mormons have a problem with it generally. I tell Mormons here I get them regularly and they tell me a variety of things - all showing their queasiness.

I believe you, it just seems so weird to me because I treated people who were usually in a lot of pain, recovering from surgery or auto accidents, or getting massages with their physical therapy. That anybody would equate that with going to a strip club seems kind of messed up... but, hey, that's Mormons.

One of his ward members/female is a masseuse and offered to come to Dad's house with her table. Dad agreed. He was first....and wore his garments. Then I had my massage (no garments).

I loved it..............Dad said he did but I'm not convinced.

We did pay her.

He'd been seeing a Mormon Chiropractor so maybe this wasn't too unusual for him to get a massage.

That was his first & only.......He's in his 90s.

Wish he'd agree to another appointment next time I visit.
But I really doubt he will.

KJ/AnonyMs

Hey, KJ. Hope he's doing well. He's a great looking guy. Don't know how he does it.

I get massages (full body) all the time. 60-90 minutes and nothing but a piece of cloth across my mid section. I get an erection when the wind blows and am horny all the time, BUT...

I never get aroused during a massage. Even when it's a cute Asian woman (my favorite kind of woman) because I don't think about it. They are professionals and are doing their job, I respect that. It works for me but I can imagine that it doesn't work for other people.

Right? The feeling of human touch alone is very stimulating mentally, emotionally, and physically.

interesting topic. I think most mormons don't go for it. but as for the OP posters comment about pedophile scoutmasters, it's a small world I had one of those too when I was a blazer. back in the 90s. It was an inspired stake calling too, that was made clear to us boys from the priesthood leadership at the time.

poopstone Wrote:
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> interesting topic. I think most mormons don't go
> for it.

It is no brainer for most Mormons.

Lose garments and get rubbed by someone who isn't your spouse.

I've never heard of it being a thing Mormons don't do because of religious principles. I don't do massages for personal reasons.

Times, they are a changing.

I never gave it a second thought when I needed a massage, nor did I care what gender the massage therapist was.

My TBM-but-inactive hubby says he wouldn't be able to relax if he had a male massage therapist, and that's been the feedback I've seen from most of my straight male friends.

I was single for 11 years after my divorce, and tried to make it a point to get a massage every month or two. I understand how important human touch is to your physical and emotional health. I use to joke that I'm not too proud to pay for it!

Journey Wrote:
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> I
> use to joke that I'm not too proud to pay for it!

That's a joke? :)

I loved getting massages and my ex TBM spouse thought it was weird. I found them beneficial to my stress, post pregnancies, post car accidents, etc.

The client gets fully undressed and is completed covered under a sheet, with only the exposed body part being revealed to work on. My TBM ex insisted I wear pantie. Ok..so I did. He insisted I always had a female therapist. Fine. Done.

Then he wanted to see what it was all about, so he thought it would be romantic to get a couple's massage. We had a male and female masseuse, so he insisted the male did not massage me. Ok fine, so I'm laying there and my ex would not stop jabbering the entire time. I tried to gently coax him into silence. He would not shut up.

The massage was ruined for me, and I felt just as tense walking out..which the ex picked up on. I let him know that he did not contribute to a relaxing environment and probably getting a massage for himself was something so foreign that he could not "let go" and relax. His answer, "Well it was weird having a guy touch me, I didn't want him to think I was gay or anything.."

I never asked my ex if he had any kind of reaction, but any kind of touch and affection from me always put him in the "OMG, she wants sex" freak-out mode. I never could get my ex to understand that sometimes a back rub..is a back rub. Sometimes a nuzzling kiss is just a "hello there and I love you" sort of thing.

Jeez..that was a fun flash back.

RMM

Sorry. He needed to not get a massage but it sounds like he has personal issues with touch anyway. One of my love languages is touch. I probably drive my wife crazy with all the affirmations through touch I want and give her.

I love touch and married someone who equated it ONLY with sexuality. I did not get back rubs, hand holding, kisses, etc. unless it was intended to lead up to something more erotic.

I could not do the same for him without him thinking it was a proposition.

The real problem was that my ex had touch AND sexual hangups.

It was a sad and draining experience to not have that intimacy with my ex TBM without him feeling threatened in some way.

I was, and still am a sensual/sexual person (which is often confused in the conservative realms as a promiscuous person) I only wanted one partner in my life and was constantly starved for affection.

I have known way too many people who like me ended up with spouses who only put up with affection so they could nail a spouse. (No pun intended) then gave it all up once the "prize" was won.

Church Inc. created a lot of "bait and switch" marriages in my opinion. But we did it because the church was true....because of the guilt to be a good Molly/Peter.

RMM