As a professional masseuse for my Puerto Vallarta massage service, I handle a lot of customers each week who want to unwind and enjoy an hour of pure relaxation. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is a big tourist hot spot and I make my rounds with lot of customers. But I also run into a lot of fellow masseuses who ask me about what I do. “What’s it like to give a great massage?” the inquire. I run into a lot of women and even some men who enjoy talking about giving massages, and by far the question most frequently asked of me is “what’s the secret to giving a great massage?”

I’ll say this right up front: it’s not a secret or really anything special or out of the ordinary like you’re probably thinking. The way you give a great, enjoyable massage is exactly the same way you give a great any kind of physical therapy service: you work slowly.

When you’re in massage training, be it in Sweden, Thailand, or even Mexico for Puerto Vallarta massage training like yours truly, the instructors beat into again and again you the importance of moving slowly through the massage moves and really stretching out the time you take for performing each motion. When you’re a masseuse just start out, you have to keep this at the forefront of your mind when delivering your massages because, oddly enough, we humans have this weird habit of accelerating and moving faster and faster with time when doing something repetitive like giving a massage. And if you’re somebody who has massages frequently, you probably have noticed that the slower the massage is given to you, the better it feels: it’s more sensual, more relaxing, and bottom line: a lot more enjoyable!

And this is at least doubly true of the massages I give to vacationing guests with my Puerto Vallarta massage service. Relaxing massages like this are a lot more about stimulating the mind than the body. Now don’t get me wrong: there is definitely a physical element to massages that I think every customer would be rather peeved about if it were missing. But sensual massages like these are much more about the client letting go and relaxing his mind completely, than merely relaxing his body.

As a very attentive Puerto Vallarta masseuse, I notice that the slower I deliver my massage, the more sensual it is for my clients, the more enjoyable it is, and the more they enjoy it. So work your massages more slowly. Don’t spend a bunch of time in the beginning trying to learn fancy, exotic techniques for impressing your client: just get good at working your massage a lot slower than you are used to. Start there.

Juanita is a Puerto Vallarta massage worker, servicing the Banderas Bay in Jalisco, Mexico, honing her technique and relaxing customers each day.