cupping, explained

Cupping is old, simple, and slightly mysterious to anyone who has only seen the marks. This is what it actually is, what it feels like, and how it fits into a massage session here. It is always optional.

what it is

Glass or silicone cups are placed on the skin and a gentle vacuum is created inside them, so the cup draws the skin and the tissue beneath it upward rather than pressing down. Cups can be left still for a few minutes or moved slowly across an oiled area, usually the back and shoulders.

what it feels like

A pulling sensation rather than pressure, warm and tight at first, then oddly relaxing. Most people expect it to be more dramatic than it is.

about the marks

Cupping can leave round marks where the cups sat. They are not bruises in the painful sense, but they are visible for a few days before they fade, so it is worth knowing before a wedding or a beach.

Pelin tells you this before, not after, and shows you the cup before it is used. If you would rather not, that is the end of the matter.

how it fits into a session

• A short conversation first: where the tightness lives and what set it off this week.
• Massage through the shoulders, neck and back, at a pace that is slower than you expect.
• Cupping, if you have said yes, on the areas that are holding on.
• Water, a moment to sit up slowly, and an evening you should keep quiet.

what it is not

Not a treatment for injury or illness, and not a substitute for seeing someone about persistent pain. It is part of the slower room of the practice: time set aside for shoulders that carry too much. The massage and cupping page has the rest.