Meet FocusMate™, our user-friendly, clickable body map, designed to help you pinpoint the areas you'd like your therapist to focus on during your massage.
Introduced in 2010, FocusMate™ is a depiction of the human body that's relevant for everyone!
Which body parts can I choose?
For the purposes of selecting where you would like your massage to be focused, the body has been divided into the following distinct areas:
FocusMate™ can be flipped over, from facing down to facing up - just like you during your massage treatment! This allows you to select body parts on both the back and front.
➪ Head
In our view, a head massage is a great choice for some extra focus, as it can be highly relaxing yet revitalising at the same time. However, the head is quite often not selected as customers prefer to keep their hair dry rather than be oily after their massage treatment. If you are at having your massage at home, we thoroughly recommend you click the head for some extra time. If you want extra focus on your head, we recommend adding our Indian Head massage treatment to your basket.
➪ Neck & Shoulders
One of Top 3 selected body parts. No surprises there as many of us find ourselves hunched over a keyboard for up to 10 hours a day, leaving our neck and shoulders in dire need of some muscle relaxation therapy.
➪ Back
Back massage takes the Number 1 spot for specific extra focus requests. Again no surprise, given the large number of important and hard working muscles that are situated in the back. Back paincontinues to be one of the most common ailments reported by people who are searchingformassage therapy.
Your back is quite literally the backbone of your body's structure and agility - we recommend that you take extra good care of it! To dive deeper into the benefits of focusing on your back, check out our dedicated Back Massage page.
➪ Buttocks
You will often find buttock massage referred to as Glutes (or Gluteus Maximus) massage. We think that is perhaps a tadsilly. If plain English is being used to describeall other parts of the body, why revert to Latin when it comes tothe buttocks? Your buttock area contains some of the largest, strongest and hardest working muscle groups in your whole body. It isthereforeentirely appropriate if you feel the need for thisgroup of muscles to have some extra therapeutic focus. As always, your therapist is professionally trained and will ensure that any treatment is appropriate and respectful. No need for raised eyebrows!
➪ Thighs
Popular with runners - we see a huge surge in clicks of the thigh area on FocusMate when the London Marathon is on every year. This one falls just outside our Top 3 of most selected body partsbut is a very popular choice none-the-less.
➪ Calves
Whilst your calves contain smaller and less powerful muscles than your thighs, you will often end the day with aching calves as they sometimesworkharder than the rest of the leg. Thighs and calvesare very closely connected in terms of muscle groupsand therefore make a sensible combination choice.
➪ Feet
Taking slot 4 in the popularity stakes, a specific focus on your feet during massage is incredibly popular. So popular that feet have their very own special massage treatment in Foot Reflexology.
➪ Arms & Hands
Surprisingly less popular than we would have imagined, this is probably one of the least clicked body zones! We think it is because people do not often associate receiving a massage with their arms or hands, but try one and you will see why we think it should form an integral part of every treatment. Another reason we often hear from our busy customers is that they would like to keep their hands free to be able to continue to use their phone to check messages and emails. Hmmmmm, is that really the best way to get the most out of your massage?
➪ Chest
More popular with male customers than female, this can be a great opportunity to clear remnants of a cold or cough - simply give your therapist some decongestant ointment and ask her to use that into massage your chest to help ease catarrh, congestion and a sore throat. Vicks is a great tried and trusted brand that many of us already have lying around the house - or if you are feeling particularly brave, Tiger Balm goes particularly well with a Thai massage. Be sensible however as it can create a burning sensation.
➪ Stomach
Aiding digestion and a lovely way to end your massage, a stomach massage is usually a gentler part of your overalltreatment focusing on your larger intestine area in large circular clockwise motions.
How do I know where my massage should be focused?
We love how good afull-body massage is for you.A therapeutic massage should be focused most where you need it. Where you need it mostis bestevaluated through your personal selectionsin combination with your therapist’s professional judgement.
FocusMate makes an appearance during the online booking process (another reason to book yourself online rather than call) as soon as you have selected your therapist. Once FocusMate appears simply click the parts of the body where you would like extra focus to be applied. One click turns that body part orange and selects it for additional focus, another click on the same selected part turns it off again.
How long will be spent on each selected area?
The amount of time your therapist will spend on each selected body part will depend on the overall duration of the massage you have booked and also her professional assessment of the condition of that area and how much massage is appropriate. The treatment style is also relevant of course. For example, the system lets you book a foot reflexology massage and choose your glutes as the focus area, because we want you to tell us exactly what you want. However, in such a case, your therapist would (very kindly) explain that you had requested something rather non-sensical.Joking aside, by selecting a certain areayou can expect your therapist to spend around twice as long on that area as relevant for your chosenmassage style than she would have otherwise.
What if I don’t like a particular body part to be touched?
FocusMate is primarily used to identify which areas of your body you would like your massage therapist to spend extra time and focus on. As part of a standard full-body massage, your therapist will usually cover all areas with added focus in your selected areas. If you want any area completely avoided then you should make sure that any such body parts are not highlighted and also let your therapist know in advance not to massage those areas at all.
What are the benefits of being able to choose my focus areas?
We believe you should be able to have a say in how your massage is performed. It is your body after all! Many of us are not so comfortable having to make specific requests verbally. Doing so can make us feel like we are being overly demanding and fussy and can lead to misunderstanding. FocusMate lets you clearly and easily make your requests in advance and then leave it to your therapist to use her professional judgement to adjust your treatment appropriately in accordance with your requests and their assessment of your body and muscles.
Try FocusMate™ right now!
To get started, simply enter your London postcode below, pick your time, date, and therapist. FocusMate™ will appear if you're on a desktop. Booking on mobile? You'll see a list of body areas to choose from instead.
Follow the tips above and make your next massage a totally bespoke session suited to your needs.
