Thai Massage
Tradition
The origin of this massage style traces back to the time of the Gautama
Buddha in the region now extending over India and Nepal. It is believed
that Dr. Jivaka Kumar Baccha, a contemporary of the Buddha and physician
at the Sangha, created this method and is revered in Thailand as the
“Father of Medicine”. As Buddhism expanded about 2,000 years
ago, the knowledge of Thai massage reached Thailand, where it has been
preserved ever since. The technique was preserved through oral tradition
(from master to disciple), and just a few of its written records survived
time.
The Thai massage art has two main styles: the Southern style
from the Wat Po School in Bangkoc, and the Northern style from the Old
Medicine Hospital School (Shivago Komarpaj Foundation), the one whose
masters I learned from.
The Technique
The traditional Thai massage, more commonly known as Thai massage, focusses
more on the energetic field than on the physical field. Out of the huge
network of subtle channels (sen) through which vital energy flows, they
use the 10 principal ones therapeutically. The physical body is the
vehicle through which one works to restablish the energy flow and to
heal the bodies on other levels.
Through deep pressure
along these sen, besides muscle stretching, joint maneuvers and torsions,
vital energy stagnations and blocks are released.
The several maneuvers used in Thai massage have been conceived
to loosen up and stimulate intrinsic energy currents, releasing blocks
that could hamper the balance which is essential to keep someone healthy
and free of pain.
As pressure “tools”,
hands, thumbs, feet, knees, elbows and forearms can be used. For torsions
and stretchings, the body is used as a lever in maneuvers which are
similar to Yoga asanas. The Thai Massage enables one to press muscles
and move joints, balancing energy levels, increasing flexibility and
harmonizing the effects in both sides of the body. The sensation of
well-being is produced from the release of endorphin. All through the
massage session, a sense of flow, rhythm, integration and 
companionship
is felt. Each maneuver intertwines with the next one as in a choreographic
sequence.
