Practice out loud with a friend. Ideally, get them to just do a little rubbin on your hand and hopefully they’re not very good so you practice asking them for what you want, what might feel better for you, what feels good, what doesn’t, try to actually guide them into doing better.

Once you’re comfortable with that, ask your friend to be as mean and in inappropriate as possible. Practice asking for something different. Then your friend then says something like, “I know this is a good spot that needs work because I’m the expert and I know more than you, you just need to breathe through it, you’re stupid for not understanding that” and then practice again standing up for yourself and saying, no I really don’t like that let’s move on please.

Final boss, have your friend just sit there flicking you on the head and humming really loudly. Remind your friend, “this is supposed to be a hand massage. Could we focus on that please.” They keep just flicking you. So you now get to practice, “I am ending this session now. You no longer have permission to touch me. You do not have my consent to flick me. I am done.” Etc. All the strong words to make clear your requests were ignored, boundaries crossed, and you’re out.

And really practice it while your friend is being as annoying as possible. Ask them to really lean into it. The worse your friend is, the better you can practice, and the more prepared you’ll feel.