I watched the introduction to the Thai Massage course tonight and was reminded of the importance of breathing. I have seen amazing progress with my clients as well as myself when we consciously breathe. For the last few years I have been studying kundalini yoga which focuses a lot on breathing and different breathing techniques. The experiences have been profound. One experience in particular my daughter was under some stress and wasn't feeling well, I had her begin some simple breathing exercises and not only did it put her in a calm and peaceful space but it lower her temperature immediately. Truth is simple. Thanks for the reminder and I look forward to awareness through breath while learning Thai Massage.
Nina, I am so glad that you have a background in kundalini yoga. It will help you a lot in this Thai Massage training. Sometimes when I am teaching live classes, there are students whose main goal is to learn as many techniques as possible, and they get impatient when I talk about breathing and energy.
The truth is that you can learn one thousand Thai Massage techniques, but if they are all done in a mechanical way without the breath and energy components, then all you have is 1000 ways of doing a substandard, mechanical, heartless massage. Thai Massage does come out of the yoga tradition, and it is not just a collection of techniques. It is a graceful, artistic, conscious way of moving a body and moving energy in this body.
Some therapists develop this naturally and spontaneously, and some never develop it. I want to make sure in this course that all my students learn Thai Massage in a very conscious way and become healing artists and not just manipulators of muscles and tissue. Clearly you are a perfect candidate for this with your background!
Jan, I have some books about breathing. However I don't think that you need to get into some complex breath training. In Thai Massage, at least in my style, you breathe out when you lean into a move, and you breathe in when you lean out again. This only works for slow, sustained moves. Otherwise just maintain a general awareness of your breath, make sure that it is relaxed and flowing. Whenever possible synchronize it with your movements, but don't stress over it. It is not supposed to be a strict science, more of an increased awareness.
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