Toronto Blue Jays sportscaster Hazel Mae.Illustration by The Globe and Mail/Fred Lum
When Blue Jays sportscaster Hazel Mae gets a rare day off from on-field reporting (and sprinting from players keen to douse her in Gatorade), she takes some quiet time to herself by booking a massage. She deserves it: Mae’s trailblazing work for Sportsnet has earned her a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and her memoir, Before I Let You Go: My Life in Broadcasting, Baseball and Beyond, will be on store shelves in November.
In this instalment of Joy Diaries, Mae explains why the massage table is her favourite off-field place to be – and why women need to embrace self-care as part of their overall health and well-being.
I spend my days literally running after baseball players and across airports in wedges – you know, shoes that you shouldn’t be running in – so my feet hurt and my body gets achy. I’m always on the go and always kind of stressed, and even when I have a day off, I’ve got a list of errands to try to jam into the day. To actually get some alone time, I book a massage.
I go once a month, but I’d love to go more often. I always go to the same place and I always see the same person. I’m sure everyone there is fantastic, but she just gets me. She’ll always ask, “Anything in particular we should focus on?” Then she allots the perfect amount of time for that area of my body. She’s amazing.
A good massage therapist knows your body and what you need. Now I just can say hello, get on the massage table, and there isn’t much discussion needed after that. I’ve never been a talker during massage, which she totally gets and doesn’t mind. It messes up the whole vibe for me.
I need the quiet because this is my time to gather my thoughts. Unfortunately, some of the thoughts are still, ‘What do I need to do tomorrow? What did I forget to do today?’ But at least there are no external voices to deal with during a massage. There aren’t four people in the room asking me questions. It’s just me and my thoughts. My husband cannot understand how I’m not totally bored. Bored? That’s blasphemy!
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When I get a massage, I always turn my phone off. But I’m still worried that there will be some breaking news and I won’t be there when my boss is trying to get in touch with me, so I turn it right back on in the change room afterward to see what I’ve missed.
This isn’t just oh, I’m off to the spa. In the long run, I think these massages are so beneficial for my body and my mental health. Massage therapy has a lot of benefits and I really think it’s money well spent.
Family gives me joy, obviously. So does having a cup of tea next to a big window. But that time when I go for a massage is such a treat, and I feel like women are not as good about taking care of themselves as they should be. They take care of everybody else. We just need to do a better job of just being good to ourselves, just because we want to, and for me that’s a massage. It’s a reward I give myself for a job well done.
As told to Rosemary Counter