First, I get regular massages (try for every other month or more) and I get regular body work so I…read morecan tell a good one from a bad one.
Second, get the thai to table massage for 2 hours. Its the best of both worlds and it was incredible.
Third, $1/minute is incredibly reasonable and I would have paid more than that for this massage. Now onto the review...
To call Bonus a magician would be to insult his knowledge, body awareness intelligence, touch, and craft that he clearly has mastered. Its been 2 weeks since my massage and I'm tempted to get on a plane back to Austin just so that I can see him.
I spent 2.5 hours with this man and not only did I love his home, love the sacred space he created for massage, and have a great time getting to know him, I left knowing more about my body. I also left walking straighter and taller than ever before. He's incredibly attentive to parts of your body that are tight, for me it was my hips. Which he stretched and massaged in every which way and they felt better for days.
This wasn't just a massage, it was a lesson in body mechanics. I learned about pain/tightness usually occurring on diagonals (sore left shoulder, tight right hip, etc.). He massaged the front part of my shoulder, my pecs, which most people forget/don't work on. Most of us spend our life hunched forward in some way - at a computer, hunched back, etc., so its incredibly important to massage a muscle and joint from the front and back. I kinda knew this, but Bonus cemented it. He also taught me a killer massage for the front of my hip flexors, which almost made me want to puke, but I felt like I got new hips.
There's nothing to think about. This man is amazing, so go get a massage from him. Oh and sassy miss waxy, his lovely partner, is pretty rad too so take care of that if you need.
Hopefully I'll be back in Austin soon or I'll clone Bonus and bring him to SF.
Side note: I'm not sure if anyone reading this is nervous about a male masseuse, but let me assure you, you have nothing to worry about. First, Bonus is just a good, kind gentle soul and you see that the minute you meet him. 2, Sassy Miss Waxy and he run their business out of their home and it rocks. And 3, if you're uncomfortable, get a thai massage where you can wear yoga clothes and it will be incredible.