For years, you’ve told us the scent of our space is part of the experience – that mid-century calm, the warmth, the way it feels to finally exhale.
Now you can take it with you.
We’ve partnered with Lakehouse Candle Company in Brown County to create an exclusive line that brings our vibe home. Three collections, each with a purpose:
The Rub – Our signature scent Library: Antique sandalwood that smells like worn leather, quiet afternoons, and rooms that have stories Bohemian Rose: Unexpected, a little moody, totally us
Intend – For when you need energy, motivation, creative spark Grapefruit & Mint: Bright and clean Ginger & Spice: Warm momentum Citrus Grove: Morning clarity
Presence – For grounding, meditation, the kind of calm you come here for Matcha & Bergamot: Soft focus Smoked Oud: Deep, earthy, centering
Every candle is hand-poured by Lakehouse Candle Company with 100% natural soy wax and clean fragrance oils – no phthalates, carcinogens, or the chemical garbage hiding in most candles. Just scent that does what it’s supposed to do.
Pricing: Small tin: $10 Small glass: $20 Large glass: $25
Limited time: Buy a large candle, get a free eye mask while supplies last.
We’ve all seen the pattern here in Bloomington: February arrives, and the rush for generic, “fluffy” gifts begins. Whether you’re a stressed entrepreneur, a busy Indiana University staff member, or a local athlete looking for recovery, you know the usual suspects: chocolates that disappear and flowers that wilt.
This year, break the cycle. Instead of a temporary gesture, give a gift that fundamentally changes how your partner feels.
Why Choose Therapeutic Results Over Pampering?
At That’s the Rub, located in the heart of Downtown Bloomington, we specialize in therapeutic outcomes. While a “spa day” has its place, we believe the greatest gift is physical wellness.
Our sessions are designed for long-term relief:
Chronic Tension Relief: Perfect for those spending long hours at a desk or in the lab.
Athletic Recovery: For the sporty IU students and local runners who need to get back in the game.
Clinical Excellence: Our advanced intake process ensures we understand your specific body goals.
Valentine’s Day Recovery Options
1. Digital Gift Certificates (Instant Delivery)
Perfect for the busy partner. You can purchase these online and have them delivered to an inbox immediately. If you’re strolling through the B-Line or visiting the Downtown Square, pop into our Body Boutique on North College Ave to pick up a physical certificate in person.
Our couples’ sessions are the most requested slots in Monroe County and require precise scheduling to maintain our clinical standards.
Call our Bloomington clinic at 812-333-3393 to secure your time.
Don’t Forget Your Own Recovery
Self-love is critical for staying active in the Bloomington community. While sorting out the perfect gift, ensure your own body is performing at its best. Hit the Big Friendly Booking Button below to get on the books for your next treatment plan.
A Community Wellness Event to Kick Off 2026 Strong
If your New Year’s resolutions include feeling better, moving better, or finally getting serious about your health, the New Year’s Resolution Health Fair is a smart place to start.
Hosted by Paragon Wellness Center, this free local wellness expo brings together a wide range of health-focused businesses and practitioners in one place, making it easy to explore your options, ask questions, and build a realistic plan for the year ahead.
Event Details at a Glance
The New Year’s Resolution Health Fair will take place on:
Saturday, January 10, 2026 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The Warehouse 1525 South Rogers Street Bloomington, IN 47403
Admission is free and open to the public, making it accessible to anyone curious about improving their health in the new year.
What to Expect at the Health Fair
This is a hands-on, in-person event designed to help you explore wellness resources available right here in the Bloomington area.
Throughout the four-hour event, attendees can browse booths and tables featuring a diverse mix of health and wellness vendors, including:
Gyms and fitness providers
Massage therapists and bodyworkers
Chiropractors and physical therapists
Acupuncturists and herbalists
Functional and holistic health practitioners
Local farmers, ranchers, and apiarists
Insurers and wellness-focused service providers
In addition to vendor booths, the fair will include wellness talks, local food options, raffles and door prizes, and curated goodie bags. It’s designed to be informative without being overwhelming and welcoming whether you’re just starting out or refining an existing health routine.
A Practical Approach to New Year’s Wellness
Many people start January with big intentions but little guidance. The New Year’s Resolution Health Fair flips that script by offering face-to-face conversations with professionals who can help you make informed, sustainable choices.
Instead of guessing which gym, therapist, or wellness service might be right for you, you can meet providers directly, ask specific questions, and learn what each approach actually offers. That clarity alone can make the difference between resolutions that fade and changes that stick.
That’s the Rub & Wellness Through Art at the Fair
That’s the Rub Massage Therapy Center will be participating in the fair alongside Wellness Through Art, offering attendees a chance to learn more about results-oriented massage therapy and creative approaches to wellness.
Our team believes effective self-care should be practical, evidence-informed, and personalized. At the booth, you’ll be able to ask questions about therapeutic massage, injury prevention, stress management, and how massage fits into a broader wellness plan, without hype or pressure.
Wellness Through Art will also be on hand, sharing insights into how creative expression can support emotional health, stress regulation, and personal growth. Together, we’ll be focusing on tools people can actually use, not trends that look good on social media and disappear by February.
Vendors & Community Participation
Paragon Wellness Center welcomes a wide variety of wellness vendors to participate in the event. Past and current listings include energy workers, physical therapists, farmers and ranchers, apiarists, insurers, dispensaries, and more.
The event is also listed on regional platforms such as Eventbrite and local tourism and community calendars, where attendees can find updates or additional details as the date approaches.
Why This Health Fair Matters
Bloomington has a strong, diverse wellness community, but it’s not always easy to see the full picture. The New Year’s Resolution Health Fair creates a single, accessible space to explore what’s available, connect with local experts, and make informed choices without sales pressure.
If your goal for 2026 is better health with fewer gimmicks and more clarity, this is an event worth putting on your calendar.
Mark your calendar for Saturday, January 10, 2026, and join us at The Warehouse for a practical, community-driven start to the new year.
As funny as it sounds, there was a time that online booking software wasn’t as prevalent as it is today. In fact, while I’m not certain of this, I believe That’s the Rub was the first “spa” to have a full online booking package in Bloomington (we’re really not a spa, we prefer “massage center”). But, online booking software is not good at everything, and one of the things it really struggles with is room allocations. This is why, to this day if you look at your emails confirming appointments you’ll often see you are in one room only to arrive at The Rub and end up in a different room entirely.
Enter The Booking Board. When we opened The Center, we had three treatment rooms, but those rooms were shared by as many as seven therapists at any one time. In order to keep track of who was where and when we purchased this whiteboard (which really was white at the time) and the closing front desk person the night before would organize the therapists for the following day into the rooms based on preference, seniority, the needs of the client (some rooms are better for hot stone or pregnancy massage, for example) and post it for the morning shift to coordinate the rooms.
Your therapists would come in every single shift, check this board to know where they would be working, sometimes they would have to “jump rooms” in the middle of a shift, and this simple board is what made it possible as we grew from 3 rooms to 4, to 5, to 7…and beyond!
This humble board has been our silent partner every single day of That’s the Rub’s existence–over 5000 days, in fact–which explains why it looks very used, very loved, and has now, just last week been retired.
I’m sorry to say the retirement plan for such an important piece of equipment is less than ideal. There’s no gold watch, no grand vacation plans, just a heartfelt goodbye as it moves on to the local landfill. However, it has honestly been such a big part of all of our lives for so long, it would have been a shame not to eulogize it for you here.
I am happy to report its replacement is young and shiny, and while it is not the same friend we have all known for nearly 15 years, I believe it will be excellent in its new role and in time will find a place in our hearts as well.
The holiday season is here, and at That’s the Rub, we’re embracing the spirit of giving with a delightful twist! 🌟
🌈 Discover Bloomington’s Premier Holiday Gift Cards
This year, we’re taking our traditional paper gift certificates to the next level. Introducing our Brand New Custom Gift Cards – the perfect choice for massage therapy and personal training gifts in Bloomington.
🛍️ Your Destination for Holiday Shopping in Bloomington
Step into The Boutique at That’s the Rub for an exquisite selection of skin and body care products. These luxurious items make perfect companions to our therapeutic massage gift cards, ensuring a holistic wellness experience.
💻 Convenient Online Gift Certificates for Last-Minute Gifting
Can’t make it to our Bloomington location? No problem! Our easy-to-use online gift certificates bring wellness and joy instantly. Ideal for last-minute holiday shopping, they’re available here: Online Gift Certificates.
🎁 Why Choose Our Gift Cards for Your Holiday Gifts?
Our gift cards are more than just presents; they’re an invitation to a personalized wellness journey. Perfect as unique wellness gifts for Christmas, they offer the recipient a choice of tranquil massages or energetic personal training sessions.
Join us at That’s the Rub this holiday season and transform your shopping into an adventure of relaxation and joy. As always, we’re here to help you answer, “What is YOUR Goal?” Let’s make those wellness dreams come true this holiday season!
TL/DR: Hey there,Friend! 🎃 October’s HUGE at That’s the Rub! We’ve switched our software (again! 😅) to MindBody, aiming to serve you better. If you’ve got a Gift Certificate from before, bring it or its number. And guess what? Our beloved Series is BACK and cooler than ever! Got questions or just wanna chat? Shoot us an email. Thanks for sticking with Team Rub through these tech adventures! 💆♂️🎉
Welcome to October, one of the BIG months around That’s the Rub in general (we’re all a bit Halloween happy around here), and this year in particular it’s pretty huge!
First off, an explanation of the BIGGEST NEWS:
We changed software AGAIN!
To recap our software journey this year for those just joining us: In January, after 13 years of using the same platform it was announced it would be discontinued and we would need to find a replacement. As we, The Rub, have been dissatisfied with the support for the last couple of years (the company was acquired and cannibalized but allowed to flounder) we were happy to switch, especially in light of our increasing turn to advanced therapeutic massage techniques and treatment planning. So, three months ago we adopted a software designed for physical therapists which really wants to be used by spas and wellness centers.
This software came with a lot of good ideas, several innovative concepts our clients liked, and sadly quite a bit our clients did not, so after working with the company on a near-daily basis to resolve our (and your) concerns we made one of the hardest decisions we (Lisa & Jim) have had to make in our careers and once more go through the hundreds of hours necessary to change software to something more suited to what That’s the Rub does: Therapeutic Massage.
Welcome MindBody (with juice!)
After quite a bit of deliberation, research, and hand-wringing we opted for Mindbody (the 10,000lbs gorilla for spa and salon scheduling). This was not easy, and we didn’t go into it lightly, but we did go into it knowing with it we would be able to support you, our team, and our community in the way you have been accustomed to for the last 14 years That’s the Rub has been part of Bloomington’s wellness scene and be able to continue to doing so for another 54 years.
What’s it Mean to YOU?
Hopefully not much more than a few new emails, a better scheduling experience, and a much, much faster check-out time in the boutique. for a few of you it will also mean…
If you have a Gift Certificate from the previous systems you will need to bring it (or at least the number) in to redeem. They are all still valid, however we have lost the ability to look up the old numbers as that software is no longer with us. But we do have all the numerical records, so as long as the number exists, so does your gift certificate (WHEW!). Future Gift Certificate purchases will be trackable, however.
ALSO! Gift Certificates are once again available for purchase directly from our websitein a very easy and pleasing to use way (this was one of the biggest complaints we received over the summer about the previous software). We think you’re really going to like this interface!
Series are BACK and they’re wearing sunglasses! Folks who have been with us for a long time know that the BEST way to save money appointment after appointment, week after week is to purchase a SERIES of APPOINTMENTS in advance and save up to 20% on ALL of the appointments! NO MEMBERSHIPS to worry about, just buy a pack of services and use them. Simple! you can buy these right away if you call (you know, 812-333-3393), click here (or here), or in a couple of days Jim is going to have a proper landing page for these. They’re BACK and better than ever!
IMPORTANT IF YOU HAVE A SERIES ALREADY: They’re being brought over to the new software and you won’t lose a thing. However, you might get a receipt that says you just “bought” a series…you DID NOT GET CHARGED, it’s the way the system has to attach it to your account, and it has been throwing out receipts on occasion. If you have any questions or concerns, write jim@thatstherub.com (ye ole humble writer) and I’ll be happy to send you proof from my side of the software that shows the payment type wasn’t you.
Why do I KNOW it wasn’t you? Because one other thing that didn’t transfer over was anyone’s card on file. Which means you will likely have to enter it again or will be asked for it by the Front Desk next time you call in. the software still requires it, but US law does not allow them to transfer, and I’m okay with that from a security standpoint and we thank you for your understanding.
Friend, YOU are a big part of That’s the Rub’s story and our software is what allows us to keep telling that story to more and more people like you. We wouldn’t be here without you, and it just means the world to us to have your love and support. THANK YOU for being here and thank you again as we head once more, for what I hope is the last time, into the murky depths of software changes.
Stay tuned for more announcements including an upcoming special, Halloween trick-or-treat announcements, and EVEN MORE new staff coming on board soon because we want YOU to get the RESULTS you deserve!
That’s the Rub,
Team Rub!
PS – Want to try out our swanky new software and get on the books for the weekend? OF COURSE you do! Click hereif you’re so inclined or that big Blue Button in the menu above!
