What is Thai Massage?

Thai Massage:
Thai massage is the unique and powerful combination of accupressue, gentle stretching and applied yoga.  It’s known by several names, such as, ‘yoga for two’, ‘yoga for lazy people’, ‘nuad bo rarn’, and ‘Thai yoga massage’.  The roots of Thai massage are found in northern India and are believed to have arrived in Thailand along with Buddhism around the third or second century B.C.

The founder of this form of massage is believed to be a man called Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha, physician and friend of the Buddha.  Thai people call him Shivagokumarpaj and continue to honor him as the ‘father of medicine’.  Many practitioners say prayers each day to remember him as the founder and source of the healing art they practice.

Even with the origins of Thai yoga massage being strongly from the traditional Indian healing arts, or Auryvedic medicine, it also has similarities with the meridian system in Chinese acupressure and acupuncture and in the Japanese therapy shiatsu.  It’s a case of ‘close but not quite’ in that the Thai energy pathways, known as Sen lines, have their distinct differences from other modalities.  It is believed that valuable life energy, or ‘chi’, moves through the body via the Sen lines and it is when these pathways become blocked that the person will encounter pain or disease.  The Thai techniques are traditionally performed in a manner to clear the Sen lines, beginning at the feet and working throughout the body.

Thai healing art traditions have been passed down from teacher to pupil verbally, or as in many cases from parent to child.  The earliest written form of Thai medical scriptures is written in the ancient Pali language.  The few surviving text remain carved on the walls at Wat Pho, a famous temple in Bangkok.

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Traditional Northern Thai Massage:
Emphasizes stretching and is more relaxing, gentle and less painful than Southern style techniques which focus more on acupressure and is harder and stronger.  The gentle rhythmic rocking and compression provide a meditative quality to your session while providing your body with a thorough sense of muscle release and relaxation.

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Nerve Touch Massage:
Developed by Master Lek Chiaya of Chaing Mai, Thailand is a unique style of Thai Massage all its own.  Incorporating both Northern and Southern techniques, this style of work uses both deep muscle manipulation and a twanging movement to stimulate energy flow in the body.  This work can be quite deep and provides powerful therapeutic results for the receiver.

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Thai Herbal Massage:
For areas of chronic or severe pain and tenderness, steamed herb packs are applied to loosen the muscles, preparing them for stretching and pressure point work.  The herbs are a traditional Thai recipe which combine Thai yellow ginger, eucalyptus, cinnamon leaves, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, camphor, turmeric and cumin, all bundled up in cloth and used for warm compression during your session.  By first melting away the tension the muscle is more receptive to the compression and pressure of the Thai techniques.

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