Are there non-synthetic massage tables? Or any idea on how one could be improvised?

[Tiphanie Oakerman]

I realise there are benefits to synthetic foam and coverings, but I really believe they are not ideal on many levels. A recent reiki session I received used a massage table with plasticy covering and a layer of paper roll, very grim and surely not conducive to the general flow of energy. I avoid synthetic clothes, my children have wooden and enamel plates...if I ever get to the point of working professionally (in reiki so no pummelling etc!) Id feel very hypocritical asking a client to lie on so much petroleum based product.

So what are the options, firstly if money is no object, but also how to improvise if using for friends/family etc...

Are such massage tables made? Eg with wool/coir mattresses?
I know there are companies who make 100% natural mattresses, maybe one could be ordered to fit a table...are tables available without the plastic mattress?

Maybe a futon style thing would do for non-paying friends a thin-ish wool roll up futon is available for around £100, which is tempting.

Any thoughts? Does all the plastic not bother other therapists?

 

[jeepzeke]

Do you know, it's not something I've ever thought about
BUT, I do find even the most padded couches too hard.
I use a single natural fibre quilt, with a cotton cover on top of my couch and then top that with a fleecy throw in winter and a cotton one in summer.

I hate paper couch roll!!!

 

[Pompal 09.]

Well your set up sounds ideal I have a pretty large rectangular couch which would be ok for friends etc. By the way I've found some fab vintage wool blankets in charity shops, very cheaply...good wash and some sunshine and we use them all the time! Im surprised it's not something which seems common, but I guess cost would be prohibitive

 

[Jesus]

Think the easy way is to do what pinkangel does.

 

[arosest1_2000]

I'm not aware of such products myself, so guess you can just look around on google to see if anybody produces any such things.

However, I'm curious about a couple of things you say.

1. The paper roll. Working in a professional manner, hygiene is important, and a client is more likely to be happy lying down on a couch that appears clean than one where they can't quite tell if someone else has just been lying on it before them and how clean that person was. I've had some Reiki sessions myself on a couch that was 'makeshift' and, whilst I can't deny the snuggly comfort of the fabrics, there was definitely some sense of 'unclean' about it. Constantly cleaning bedding between each client is perhaps very unpractical for many practitioners, not to mention costly and perhaps worse for the environment that using and recycling a short length of paper tissue. When I've had a session on a couch with paper roll on it, it may seem a little crinkly when getting on, but once you're settled you don't even notice it's there.

2. Petroleum based produces are made from natural oil which comes from the Earth. Now apart from the standard "eco" concerns about burning oil/petrol in cars and the impact that has, and the wastage of people using plasic bags in shops (which uses far excessive amounts of plastic than the amount of couches will ever produce), I'm not sure I understand how such petroleum based products would effect the flow of energy of a treatment, except through the limiting ideas of the person giving the energy. I don't mean that in a nasty way, I'm just referring to the fact that we often see people who talk of things that will effect the flow of energy, and these 'contraindications' are unexplainable myths that create self limiting beliefs in those practicing Reiki. i.e. if you believe these things will effect the flow of energy, then they will, but other practitioners who don't believe it, don't find these issues in their treatments. So, can I ask, why you believe that such couches effect the flow of energy?

All Love and Reiki Hugs

 

[Mughal]

Paper couch roll is the pits. Only used it at the football club. Never with private clients.

I use fitted or flat sheets for single bed. Going to buy a new batch of flat sheets so i can iron them.

 

[daspspeatty]

I have never used paper rolls within my own practice (but they are used at the hospice where I volunteer). On my couch, during the winter months I have a heated electric blanket, then a fleece, then the couch cover over that (I have a couch that is padded and has wooden legs), I use a towel for clients to lay on.

perhaps they only way for a non-synthetic massage couc/table would be to have one built