How To Combine Thai Massage Skills And Relationships

Thai Massage for couples, friends and family

Learning Thai Massage will give professional therapists amazing skills. However, there is also another way to use it.

Aside from our professions, we are also spouses, parents, and friends. Thai Massage can be applied to both scenarios – professionally and socially.

Let’s take Thai Massage out of the professional context for a moment, namely the kind where you make an appointment with a therapist, go to their office, fill out the forms, and pay a fee.

What happened to the human touch?

One big reason why I became a Thai Massage therapist is that I always loved and enjoyed the human touch, both giving and receiving it.

I am pretty sure that all humans love this touch, but unfortunately, all too often it has become repressed by our cultures, religions, and social environments.

Some religions have severely restricted sensual or even physical contact. This then results in a cultural environment that avoids any physical contact because of the fear that it could be interpreted as sensual or sexual.

For example, restrictive rules are that catholic priests are not allowed to marry, Muslims are prohibited from any relationships before marriage, Hindu men have to come up with a substantial dowry in order to marry, etc.

Sometimes it is cultural environments. Just compare the touching habits of Italians and British for example. Italians spontaneously touch each other whereas the British rarely do so in public.

Clearly, not all relationship restrictions are bad. Some of them are necessary to protect us from abuse and sexual predators.

However, it is unfortunate if such restrictions result in a general feeling of shame and guilt regarding touch.

The votes are in: We do love touch

When we look at animals, it is obvious that they have zero issues with touching each other. The same goes for little children. But once their cultural conditioning kicks in, they suddenly do not want to be touched anymore.

Later on in life, many adults become outright phobic when it comes to touch. This can result in something we could call touch starvation.

This is not officially a disease, but maybe it should be classified as one since it can have serious negative emotional consequences.

Professional massage is often the one outlet where non-sensual touch is permissible outside of socially sanctioned institutions like family and marriage.

It is obvious – most people don’t go to get a massage to get their blood circulation increased or to raise their endorphin levels. They love to be touched. That’s why spas advertise to pamper you.

There is plenty of evidence that touching is a natural expression of caring, helping, and loving:

• When someone is crying, we spontaneously want to console that person by holding and hugging them.
• When a baby is crying, every mother knows that touch, hugging, cuddling, and rocking are often the best solutions.
• When we have an attraction to another person, we naturally want to express it through touch, hugging, and kissing.
• We all love touching, stroking, and holding our pets.
• Couples love touching each other spontaneously, holding hands, leaning on each other, and maintaining lots of physical contact.

It is obvious that we love the human touch. We all know how to touch someone lovingly. It is a natural instinct. And the quality of this touch can be greatly improved through some massage skills.

It does not take a 1000-hour massage training program to learn how to develop a great touch, but some massage training does go a long way.

Thai Massage in relationships

Of course, any kind of massage would work for relationships, but Thai Massage has some unique advantages. It is done fully dressed without the need for a massage table, sheets, or oil.

Therefore it can easily be done without any professional setup. All you need is a carpet, or an exercise or yoga mat, or a bed. Even the grass in the park or a towel on the sand of a beach will do.

It is much easier to offer your spouse or kid or friend a helpful Thai Massage session for their aches and pains or for pure relaxation and pleasure if you don’t need to haul out a massage table, ask them to undress, apply oil, and offer them the use of your shower afterwards.

How to rekindle the spark in a relationship

Typically relationships start out in a fresh, intense, and exciting way. But then, as time passes, the partners often settle into a routine.

The excitement and intensity of the initial passion gradually fade away. The question is – what if there would be a way to get it back?

Massage can be a perfect tool to rekindle the fire in a relationship, introduce better ways to connect, bring back a sense of novelty, and dramatically increase the quality of the relationship.

One example of using Thai Massage in relationships

Can massage help to save or improve a relationship? Let’s start with my personal experience. My wife and I have a delightful routine. We love to combine watching a movie with a massage.

One of us is sitting on a chair, and the other one sits on a cushion on the floor in front of our partner. That’s a perfect position for working on the shoulders, neck, and head. We take turns massaging each other, and we both love it.

We have been doing this for many years, and it is still one of the highlights of the day for us.

Other ways to use massage in relationships

• My favorite way to fall asleep and wake up in the morning is when my wife rubs my head. This also happens to be my favorite childhood memory:
• When I was a little boy, my mother used to sit on my bed and rub my head until I fell asleep. I never forgot this delightful feeling.
• If your partner has some ache or stiffness, what better way to deal with it than offering him or her a good massage for relief, even if only for 10 or 15 minutes? Can you imagine how your partner (or you) would appreciate that?
• If the intimate life in a relationship has become stale over time, couples massaging each other can work miracles to rekindle the loving feeling that we all crave.
  After all, that’s why we entered the relationship in the first place, and it is a tragedy to let it die through neglect.
• How about giving a massage as a birthday present? How often have you wondered what gift to give to someone, and could not come up with something appropriate? A massage can be the perfect gift.
• What about massaging your pregnant wife when she is aching?
• Massage is also a great social tool. Your friends will really appreciate it if you can help them with their stress through a few minutes of neck, arm, hand, or foot massage. All these can be done anywhere quite easily.

Acquiring Thai Massage skills as a hobby

There are so many applications for some highly useful massage skills outside the professional or for-profit setting.

It is not difficult to acquire some know-how. We all have hobbies – so why not learn massage as a hobby?

It can help your relationships, your friendships, improve your self-esteem, and make you feel that you are contributing something to make the world a better place.

Two ways to learn Thai Massage skills

Here at Thai Healing Massage Academy, we offer online Thai Massage training courses.

With them, there is no need to enroll in a school and attend classes. You can learn it all from home.

1. If you want to learn the entire system of Thai Massage and possibly use it professionally, then the Complete Thai Massage course would be your best choice.
2. If you are not interested in becoming a professional massage therapist and just want to have some skills to work on friends and family, then the Massage For Friends And Family course would be ideal for you.
   
   This course teaches you plenty of easy, practical, useful, and delightful Thai Massage skills which could become the most beneficial and rewarding hobby you ever had.

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The author, Shama Kern, has been practicing and teaching Thai Massage for over two decades. He is the founder of Thai Healing Massage Academy and the creator of 20 online Thai Massage training courses.