Today I had the opportunity to practice the Chi Machine technique on one of my sacrificial bodies(*) for this course. Surprisingly I managed to get a good rhythm almost straight away and movement throughout the whole body (including the nose) most of the time.

After a couple of minutes I slowly brought the movement to a halt and after allowing her to rest for a minute or two she burst into tears and carried on crying for the rest of the Thai Massage session.

Have you ever had tears after the Chi Machine?

Prior to that I did foot massage, palming and thumbing of the leg lines, single leg stretches and double leg stretches.

(*) Once again I have been extremely privileged having managed to recruit a Yoga & Thai Massage Therapist, a Yoga & Pilates instructor and a Neurodevelopmentalist so far. Still hoping to recruit an athlete and then of course I'll blackmail my other half who is probably the only person on the planet that doesn't really enjoy Thai Massage. 

Module 1

As I was treating a client on Monday I had the opportunity to think about the techniques described in this introductory video and had a go at incorporating some during my regular treatment. Client was naturally supple, however she was holding some tension in her hips, middle back, shoulders and neck area.

The most effective technique was massaging the shoulders in side position using the fingertips and the rotational movement shown in this video. The result was the whole body rocking from head to toes and a client thoroughly enjoying the rocking movement and feeling the tension in the upper back/kerrie-rundes-thai-massage-shoulder-therapy-course-notes blades area dissipate slowly. 

Another technique I used successfully was rolling the thigh muscles between my hands during the hamstring stretches with client supine and one leg straight, foot up towards the ceiling. Although supple she was resisting the stretch so I "rolled" her quads like you would do when trying to lit a fire with a couple of sticks and she soon let go of the resistance allowing her to experience a deeper stretch. I guess it's important to be fully present when doing this to be able to discern whether the resistance is purely physical or mental.

Module 4

The squeezing + rocking motion was fairly easy to get into and resulted in a most interesting reaction that's not totally unusual also with some clients: my other half was finding this very ticklish and because of the giggles it took probably three times longer than it should have done.  I think this is another excellent technique especially to help people relax their legs in preparation for the hip stretches which cause a bit of anxiety in some clients. 

The foot rotation technique I have been using already as it's part of the sequence that I learned at college but I love the way you sit down in front of the client. We were taught to kneel facing the client directly towards their centre line but I sometimes find this position uncomfortable as my ankles aren't supple but was also never shown an alternative way of positioning myself in relation to the client. So awesome discovery that made my technique a little bit more effective just because I was sitting comfortably and therefore better able to use my body weight.

The hip rotation technique with the leg bent I also had used before to persuade clients to relax before carrying out a similar stretch. The way I was taught this stretch was to push the foot towards the buttock as far as it goes and then pull the bent leg straight but slightly towards the inside. I think your technique is a great variation of this stretch which, again, will prove very useful with those clients with super stiff hips and heavier legs. With my other half in particular it was great because the rotating motion provided almost a distraction for him and took away any opportunity to resist the stretch which for some clients is an automatic reaction. 

The last technique shown in this module will require a bit more practice especially in being able to find the correct spot for my hands at the top of the legs near the groin without being intrusive. It will also require a bit more experimentation with regards to being able to apply the rocking motion along the thigh with clients that cannot let their leg to all the way to the floor. So far with my other half it was just a matter of resting the thigh on a cushion (but then again his hips are supple in that direction) but I had clients who were so stiff that to do this stretch (static version) I had to place my leg under theirs and then apply direct pressure that way allowing their leg to slide over mine when I was able to open the hip joint. As a final note on this, when I managed to get into a good rocking rhythm it seemed to help my other half get into a very relaxed state.

Thank you Shama. I am really looking forward to putting all this together as a sequence in its own right in conjunction with whichever other technique I feel is appropriate for each client.

Module 5

This I had to watch a few times as I struggled a bit to get to grips with the first technique shown in the video. If there was such a thing as a list of how not to do it I would have ticked all the boxes. I suppose it's a matter of co-ordination and perhaps of practicing on somebody lighter at the earliest opportunity.

The second stretch was easier, I tend to do a similar one but with the client's foot resting on my hip bone. I also tend to add some kind of rotation to the thigh when I do that if I feel a lot of resistance coming from the client. That way I can confuse them and then lean into the stretch a bit more (when I am sure the body is up for it). BOOM!

The third technique was also a bit tricky for me, mostly because my other half's leg is so much longer than mine and fairly heavy so it was a bit of a struggle to hold it in place in the way that you have shown. Definitely a technique to practice a lot before unleashing it on clients as I felt a bit clumsy getting into the correct position and easing myself into the rocking motion using my body weight as opposed to strength.

I wish I remembered about the fourth technique earlier today when I was with a client who is a bit stiff in the hip joints when "pushing" his feet inwards towards the opposite leg. I always use the rocking techniques shown in Module 2 on him but I really wish I remembered this whole little sequence while I was in the exact same position during the single leg stretches as it would have helped him a lot especially as he was resisting instead of just being. I'll have to make a note for next time!

The following technique was fairly straight forward for me to learn and fairly easy to create the gentle rocking motion in his body. I must admit, since I started watching the videos for this course I have been paying attention to how I can create a rocking effect whenever I use similar techniques on various parts of the body. They are just magic.

The spinal twist rocking technique is just beautiful... when you do it. When I attempt it I am going back to the first one when I am totally clumsy. I suppose it's going to take a bit more practice to get the rhythm and co-ordination just right. I was just wondering though... the girl in the video seems naturally flexible and can easily twist her body and keep her shoulders on the floor. However, a lot of my clients are quite stiff when it comes to body twists and I would imagine they wouldn't be able to keep both shoulders on the floor as pressure is gently applied to the knee. Does it matter? While practicing on my partner, due to the weight difference and body shape I was focused on developing the technique but it came to mind earlier today, again, as I was doing a body twist on my client slightly different from the one you showed.

Fantastic advice Shama, thank you ever so much!

Module 8

I thought this module was going to be an absolute breeze to practice, especially after the acrobatic efforts of practicing the previous ones when the weight/height equation between client and practitioner was reversed in relation to the video. BUT... then I got to the really awesome shoulder rocking techniques and as soon as they involved using my body weight to lift my partner's shoulders off the floor my bubble burst.  

I just about managed to do the shoulder rotations with one hand under each shoulder but almost ended up sitting on my partner's stomach and lower ribcage as I was shifting my weight from left to right and viceversa. I can see that this is a viable technique with most people and I guess all I need is a bit more practice in getting the positioning just right. Partner enjoyed it a lot, he does suffer from occasional shoulder pain from doing physical work (bench pressing gear boxes under cars) and after practicing this module I never heard him mention the pain once. 

I think what did the trick though was the following technique with the fingers interlocked under the shoulder blades. I got big thumbs up for this so I guess it's what my partner needed the most at the time. The only part I had a big problem with was with the rocking/body twist as I couldn't place my right leg on his quads away from the genitals area so I tried resting my leg across his hip bones and, although not as effective as what you have shown, it proved an acceptable workaround. I avoided being intrusive, didn't cause any pain, and managed to limit the amount of lifting of the glutes off the ground to a bare minimum. 

Changing sides smoothly was a bit difficult and will take me a lot of stretching to be able to do it seamlessly and gracefully. Despite my little "struggles" once again I was blessed with an opportunity to spend great quality time with my other half, getting great feedback in the process.

On a "funny" note... one of my cats was absolutely fascinated by this module. He is not always very friendly with my partner but all the time we were practicing rocking techniques he was curled up on his chest, abdomen, arms, legs, near his head and so on AND has been very affectionate since. I have tried to practice some rocking techniques on them and while the girl enjoys the attention the boy needs careful handling as can turn vicious in a blink. Dogs are more receptive to Thai massage techniques, especially the older ones love having their backs massaged/palmed/thumbed. This is something I would love to try on my horse too later in the year when it's warmer and she doesn't need rugs anymore.

Thanks again for the great advice on packaging my expertise. Really appreciated. 

Module 9

The arms rocking techniques are really great and fairly easy to get into for me although perhaps not so easy to gauge how much energy is needed to create a smooth rocking motion. Sometimes I went into the rocking or swinging a bit too positively which placed the technique just past the pleasant point.

Hands and arms are so often overlooked when it comes to holistic treatments and yet, in my limited experience, they are one of the places where people inadvertently hold an awful lot of tension. Especially those that do a lot of physical work but also those that do a lot of typing. The feedback I received from my partner was positive, he enjoyed receiving the techniques and found that he gained a tiny bit more free movement in his shoulders as a result.

I really appreciated the comments about good communication with the client. It's always great to hear different ways of asking similar questions that might make it easier for a client to understand our requests. Thank you.

Lovely flow during the demonstration at the end.