Types of Massage Therapy and Bodywork: Traditional Thai Massage
Traditional Thai Massage
Background: Traditional Thai Massage is also known as Nuad Bo Rarn, or “Sacred Method of Body Work.” Traditional Thai Massage Therapy and Bodywork has its roots in the Ayurvedic Healing Tradition of ancient India. Indeed, Shivago (Jivaca) Komarpaj, Lord Buddha’s physician, is considered the founder of Traditional Thai Massage Therapy and Bodywork and the source of other Thai Ayurvedic practices. His teachings reached what is now Thailand around the 2nd or 3rd century B.C., or around the same time as Buddhism.
When Thailand was overrun by the Burmese in 1776, most of the ancient texts of Nuad Bo Rarn were destroyed. In 1832, however, King Rama III had the most complete of the texts collected and inscribed in stone on the walls of Chetaphon Temple, commonly called Wat Po; these can still be seen today in Bangkok, at Wat Po. Traditional Thai Massage was always considered a spiritual practice closely connected with the teachings of Buddha.
Method: The most adept massage therapy practitioners practice their art in a meditative mood characterized by the word Vipassana (mind body awareness or moment to moment awareness). The massage therapist starts with a prayer to center on the work and on the healing about to be undertaken. The meditative mood facilitates a connection with or intuition for the energy flow in the body. This bodywork modality supports and maintains wellness and optimizes physiological functioning. Traditional Thai Massage Therapy and Bodywork is performed with a loosely clothed, client lying comfortably on a mat on the floor. The practitioner uses a wide range of stretching techniques combined with pressure on the 10 or so most critical of the 72,000 Sen lines (Ayurvedic – prana nadis, or energy lines) of the body. Thai Massage is often referred to as ‘lazy man’s yoga.’ The position of the client allows for many movements and procedures that are impractical or even impossible in table work. For example, the practitioner can use her body weight rather than muscular force for the transmission of the most therapeutic pressure, force or energy.
Results: Traditional Thai Massage Therapy and Bodywork creates a powerful release of stress and tension, an increase in vitality and well being, and it deepens the connection between mind, body, and spirit in both the giver and the receiver. Overall, Traditional Thai Massage Therapy and Bodywork stimulates the flow of healing energies in the body by opening areas that are blocked and bringing mind, body, and spirit back into harmony.
