Thai Massage

If you have ever had or seen a massage, it was probably a Swedish massage, which is the most prevalent kind given in the Developed World. However, there is another form known as Thai massage which is catching on. In fact, Thai massage is one of the oldest variations of massage and could well be the oldest.

Thai massage is said in some Buddhist scripts to have been invented 2,500 years ago by Jivaka Komarabhacca, who was GP to Lord Buddha himself. There could well be much truth in that, but the Thai massage we see today is also likely to be a blend of styles from several regions including China and India.

– Thai massage is fairly exhausting, which makes it rather different from other variations of massage and makes it appear to be related to Yoga, although all the bending and stretching is forced upon the receiver by the massage therapist. Besides Yoga-like postures, this form of massage makes use of muscle compression, joint mobilization and acupressure.
– Thai massage can be carried out on a stiff massage bed, but in Thailand it is normally carried out on a thin mattress on the floor. The room might be private or there might be more than one client in there at a time.
– Thai massage is not usually carried out in the nude, but loose hanging clothes are recommended. No oil is used in this kind of massage, but lots of masseurs will use a sort of ‘deep heat’ cream.

A normal Thai massage session will last one or two hours, but can go on for three or more and there might be one or two masseurs working on a patient together.

• The masseur begins with the feet and is similar to radiology. The masseur will bend and twist one foot at a time, stretch the toes and apply sustained pressure to various points on the sole of the foot.
• The masseur then moves up the legs working from the front and the back. Thai masseurs employ their hands like most massage therapists, but when they want to apply more pressure, they will also use their elbows, knees and heels. It is simpler to give deep therapy to substantial muscles like those on the back of the thighs with the heels of the feet than with the hands.

The knees and elbows are utilized to massage the spine and the back in general and many masseurs walk on their client’s back to make full use of their weight. A decent masseur will massage you with their toes as they are standing on bones and pressure points in your spine and back. Sometimes they will walk up the backs of the legs too if the muscles are very tight.

Thai massage works with ‘sen’, which resemble but not the same as Chinese meridians. It is known to increase circulation, reduce stress and lower blood pressure and may even reduce weight.

The masseur also works with the arteries ceasing and impeding the flow of blood for short periods of time in order to manipulate the heart ‘from the inside’ so to speak.

Thai massage is very much a healing massage rather than one for light relaxation like Swedish massage, but when you are fit, it can be relaxing too.

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