As it turns out, quite a bit. And why is that so? Here are six good reasons.
Thai Massage and the yoga connection
1. Thai Massage therapy has its origins in yoga. Yoga is not just a system that teaches you how to turn yourself into a pretzel or stand on your head. It is a process to reconnect with your higher self, your spiritual nature, your divine essence, or God, or whatever else you might want to call it. It’s not about religion or arguing about which kind of God we are talking about. Yoga is a process that helps you to raise your consciousness to a higher level. Continue reading
Thailand is quite a traditional place and generally not as open to new ideas and influences like the western world. One example is the massage scene. Thai Massage, foot massage and oil massage are the only modalities on offer, and it has been like that for a long time. Compare that to the US or Europe where you can find dozens of healing arts and massage modalities. There are specific reasons for this which I have written about in other places.
However in the last few years Thailand has been experiencing a renaissance in the healing arts arena (see the video below). This happened largely due to the influence of western visitors who brought their knowledge with them and applied it in Thailand.
Thai Massage is mostly known for its work on energy lines, called Sen lines in Thailand, and for its many stretches that often resemble yoga moves. Most Asian bodywork is based on the concept that there is a system of energy lines in the body. If they are blocked, health problems develop. Unblocking this energy flow results in improved health. In Thailand this energy is called Sen, in China Chi, in Japan Ki, and in India prana.
There are various ways of working with those energy lines. Acupuncture uses needles on specific points along the lines. Qigong uses gentle movements combined with breath. Yoga uses a variety of methods to open the energy. The best known in the western world are yoga asanas or postures. Continue reading
Massage therapy is not just about technique. It is also very much about your health, your energy and your attitude.
As a massage therapist we have to protect our bodies and our energy. Our most precious tool is our body. If it malfunctions, our career can stop dead in its tracks. Sometimes we have to know when to say NO.
My first exposure to potential problems in my new career
When I first started learning Thai Massage, we were taught many, actually way too many techniques that required strong pressure with the thumbs on legs, arms and back. It only took me a few months of daily Thai Massage work to develop problems in my thumb joints. I soon realized that I had to use different techniques if I wanted to survive as a massage therapist. Continue reading
I definitely recognize a Thai Yoga Massage move when I see one. After all I have been teaching them for over a decade. Some time ago I met a very interesting fellow and watched him perform. I recognized all the techniques, only they came with a major twist: They were all executed in the air, not on the mat – the client was “flying”.
I was really impressed by the gracefulness and the mindfulness of this healing arts practitioner. His name is Lorenzo Becchi, and he is Italian but lives in Spain. I met him in Chiang Mai, my hometown in Thailand and invited him to come to my studio to record his “Flying Therapeutics.” The result is this video.
Lorenzo’s style looks like a combination of Thai Massage and yoga, but done in the air so that the client experiences a feeling of weightlessness. It is similar to Acro yoga, but with Lorenzo’s very special and unique touch. You really need to see it to appreciate it.
If you would like to find out more about Flying Therapeutics, you can visit Lorenzo’s site at http://flyingtherapeutics.org
Who owns massage? Strange question! But, let’s try to come up with an answer. Do the professional massage therapists own it through their licenses? Or is it the regulatory agencies who pass laws that affect those therapists?
What about the red light districts all over the world who advertise massage in most major cities on the planet – they could not possibly own it?
How about all the billions of mothers who stroke and massage their babies and children lovingly? Do they own it? Or maybe the countless native healers, shamans and medicine people who have used massage in some form or another for thousands of years?
Maybe all the village therapists here in Thailand who learned the craft from their mother, aunt, or grandma, and who have never seen a massage school from the inside. Or could it be that all the couples of the world who stroke and massage their partners lovingly as part of their relationship can stake a claim here? Continue reading
I just watched a short video in which a massage therapist listed some benefits of massage. She looked nice, her work looked good, and I am sure it felt great.
She explained that massage increases circulation, eases tension, brings more blood flow to an area, eases the ischemic points (whatever that is…), brings the person into their parasympathetic nervous system (I have heard that word somewhere…).
Then she said that “often people claim to be more relaxed after the session”, and that “some people claim to have decreased blood pressure after the session”.
Why do normal people get a massage session?
I am sure the therapist was good at what she was doing and she meant well with her listing of benefits. But to me it shows a sorry state of affairs in the world of healing arts. I mean, come on people, who really gets a massage because of their ischemic points or their parasympathetic nervous system! Continue reading
The short answer is yes, my students are doing it all the time, and I have lots of forum posts, emails and testimonials to back that claim up. But, let’s qualify this a bit more and delve deeper into this subject by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of learning massage in a particular way.
Live Massage Course Advantages
You can get immediate feedback and corrections from the instructor
You are part of a motivated group of students which generates enthusiasm
When I started doing Thai Massage therapy over 12 years ago, it never crossed my mind to have a website. That was for big businesses or geeks, not for massage therapists. I thought I was pretty cool because I had an email address and I even collected the emails of my clients.
Well, times have changed. Websites are not just for big business anymore. Anyone who has a real business – yes that includes us healing arts types – really needs a web presence. It might be just a small site which is little more than an online business card. Or it could be a large one like my own site, www.thaihealingmassage.com, with hundreds of pages, blog, forum, picture gallery and product store.
Here are 8 reasons why massage therapists and healing arts practitioners need a website: Continue reading
Why should Thai Massage only work on humans? You are probably thinking that Thai Massage is a system of stretches, and that cannot be done on animals. But that’s not correct.
Let’s redefine Thai Massage. In contrast to Swedish-style oil massage systems that are done directly on the skin and require taking off your clothes, Thai Massage is done fully dressed. Therefore it requires different techniques like pressure, kneading, rocking and stretching. Oil massage does not require movement on the part of the client, but Thai Massage uses lots of movement oriented techniques.
While stretching is part of the system, it is not its main definition. It is entirely possible to do a full Thai Massage without any stretching. Continue reading
My first exposure to potential problems in my new career
I just watched a short video in which a massage therapist listed some benefits of massage. She looked nice, her work looked good, and I am sure it felt great.