Module 2. My daughter and I really enjoy Thai shoulder work and the "sandwich" image is perfect for helping her feel secure and relaxing as the hands work together for a circle, in close, push and pull down. It's a circle!  You get a real feel for how a shoulder works with just this first technique, and then you shift the angles of the hands for a different way of both moving a shoulder and feeling the shoulder adapt. The whole rotation is different but feels good to my daughter. There is a lot of strength in shoulders that work together.

Then the traps, after taking the time to support her arm and shoulder actions, and my own ergonomics. One side was easier than the other to get into the best body position, probably because I start the same side as the video and then have to figure it out again on the other side. Traps were much easier than on a table.

Upper arms, using my forearm for circling, the angle change was also accepted by my daughter. I used the thumbs/fingers technique instead of the elbow, just because! My daughter was very relaxed and the tension release in her face reflected this.  Thank you Shama!

Module 3. Traction following the principles worked for my daughter. I liked how the lean-back gave me the sensation just before the traction happened, if you know what I mean. Both ways brought something different in the feel of it, both good. The Triangle stretch was too much, so I simulated it with her solder eased, using the 70/30, a really nice way to help figure out which applies to push/pull.

Arm swinging was fun for her, then shaking and rocking and grabbing the arm. It really switched things up to do this and my daughter laughter as I moved around, noticing where the "feel" changed for her arms. Her shoulders can take a lot, much more than mine can, and then my daughter tapped her left shoulder to indicate she liked the shoulder sandwich and wanted it again. Of course!  And both shoulders were repeated with this technique.

Oh yes, the foot in the armpit reminded me instantly of having this technique done in my session last weekend, and I thought it was great to turn around and offer it to my daughter. Thanks Shama!

Shoulder 4.  Prone position for my daughter was relaxing to her.  Started with circles, scapula, one hand on the other, palms, nice and slow. I liked the variations of speeding up, heel of palm, and of course the rocking. Was in the groove of varied pressure and breathing, and switching when at lowest pressure.

My daughter was not crazy about fingertips hooking the scapula, which I expected from previous experience, so I started with that, heard her response, and then moved to hooking the Traps, circling. I liked the reminder in the video of correctly doing this,  of pulling up and releasing down; getting into the rhythm and seeing her relax again was very good. The neck squeeze and pull, other hand on the Traps, worked well. I moved back to the scapula and my daughter again anticipated it, and I was ready to move to Traps and upper arm squeeze/pull/rotate forward. Oh, so nice!

I thought the arm in the groin and rolling might not work for my daughter, but she handled it well, nice and slow shoulder rotation.  I was careful with it, forward, down, forward, and it was not a hard Then I moved to the spinal twist just to get a feel for the slow version, a relaxing finish with percussion that she likes.  Thanks!

Module 5. I worked the first part of this module yesterday with my daughter, when I did the Thai Massage Hip in the side position. It was perfect to move from the hip up to the shoulder on that side. Today she was turned to the other side and I was able to get a little more practice in the whole module. The set up was great to secure her arm and to have her leg bent on a pillow. It helped her relax.

The progression is to loosen up the shoulder with circles and then circling with one hand and fingertips on the Traps with the other hand. I changed the hands around to decide which one worked better on the right side and was happy with having a choice. I could see how the stretch worked next, with the shoulder pushed back; it was not stiff but required good support with my daughter's muscle mass. It was slow and easy and the rhythm was very nice. She sighed a few times and I kept going, and then changed to more of a sideways rocking.

Once I had the next technique  figured out, holding her arm, forearm loose, circling the arm and swinging her arm around, I found that my daughter liked this deeper stretch. I'll need my notes to again set up, and this is a strong technique, but it catches a lot of areas where shoulders have problems. Even practicing it on myself for the rotation and where it might "catch" was good.

I also liked moving my position from next to her to moving up to lean in and to rotate. The stretch is really great. I followed the directions to make it more intricate, circling one hand and pulling back the other. I released it when my daughter said she had enough, for the third technique of power was going to be too much.  I then moved to my daughter's feet for a minute of Thai foot massage, which was definitely enjoyed, and then our session was over. Thanks Shama, these are great techniques!

Update-practice. I was fortunate today to visit a friend who had asked for shoulder work. Several years ago she had Frozen Shoulder in the other shoulder and was experiencing problems with the right shoulder now. I am on Module 6 right now, and I jumped ahead to go over the remaining modules, which were active for me. I had not practiced these last lessons with my daughter yet. I also reviewed all my previous notes and made a list of how I might approach this. My friend's favorite technique was with her supine and I was able to be squatting above, hands reaching under her shoulders,  from front to back, going back and forth lifting one shoulder, releasing, and then getting into the rhythm of lifting her other shoulder. She relaxed so much. I felt very comfortable.

I was able to do many techniques with hands, forearms, elbow, for supine, prone, side positions. No power techniques because of the pain in the shoulder. Bending her arms up, one at a time, in the three positions, rotating and finding restrictions, stretching, bending her hand back, and then a lot of focus on the scapula and Traps was great. There was benefit to working with Thai Massage, for when I found a difference from one shoulder/scapula, I could stretch it from a different angle and get a different answer, and give feedback. I finished with neck and head Thai massage.

The previous Frozen Shoulder was the surprise for her, that it was bothering her but also that she needed to pay attention to that side. It was good practice for me: I felt great afterwards. Moving from one side to the other was much easier, toes were not hurting with sitting back or squats.  She gave me feedback, esp when it felt good. She was loosened up and ready for a nap.

I am ready to go back to the videos and learn more! Thanks Shama!

So True, Shama!    Education has always been my forte, first with being a Registered Dietitian for 36 years. I did yoga for years before becoming a teacher in 2020, which I just love,  and my  yoga students know I'm going to focus on an area such as sciatica or shoulder injuries or anything related to spine/joint health. It ties in very well with massage and now with Thai massage, which is really fascinating to me and I do think of myself as a Thai Massage therapist. This whole study of Thai Massage has increased my awareness of many aspects of physical health and I don't have a set sequence for Thai Massage. I am  keeping myself open to the possibilities with clients and also listening to my intuition, which I think that a basic element such as rocking triggers those energies to move through me.  I keep tucking away some of these many fascinating techniques, aware that practice is what I need, and that my interest is high in all these Thai Massage courses.  You have great courses.  Thanks!

Module 6.  This module used the side-lying position, which I had found to be a very accessible way to get to the shoulder, and to loosen the scapula, and then to apply traction to the shoulder in several different ways.  I'm getting more comfortable setting up the client with positioning next to them and adjusting their arm for stability and to swing it around.  My daughter enjoys the shoulder work and she was not ticklish with this. She let me get to the shoulder from the different angles. There was one instance when her right scapula was tight and I worked to loosen it, resulting in her saying she didn't like that.  Hooking the scapula in the lower medial side was okay to her as I moved around, and it seemed to be relax her, so that was good.

Rocking goes well with the shoulder techniques for relaxing after a stretch, and I am amazed at the flexibility of the shoulder with my daughter's arm behind her, resting in my hand, and my other hand on the upper arm for traction. The second traction move was also good for my daughter, and also good for me to feel the strength. I felt more energy from the Hara in breathing to the traction, and I probably felt it more in all the stretching today. Getting out of my thoughts and back into breathing brings a positive change to the technique being applied.

My daughter has strong arms and this was one of the times when she was okay with both shoulders being worked on, which I really appreciated. Now my feet, she says!   Shoulder work is really good, thanks!