Thai Yoga - Ancient Practice, Modern Therapy
Dr. Ida Rolf, founder of the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration, used to say: “Anyone can take a body apart; very few know how to put it back together.”
For thousands of years, the Eastern approaches to the human structure have been concerned with putting the body back together. Asana Yoga practice, Chi Gong, Tai Chi and many other forms of self-structural integration have proven themselves, if not simply by how old they are, but by the living testimonies of the health and well being of their practitioners. These practices are not, in and of themselves, just a form of therapy. They enhance every aspect of living. Not only do they help put the body back together, they rejuvenate, reform and recreate.
While it may sound trite, deep down, when you get off the massage table, don’t you wish to feel renewed, reshaped, regrouped? And, why not? According to Ayurveda, the ancient system from India known as the “science of life,” every seven years we have a brand new body, new bones, new muscle tissue. This idea is not so bizarre when we consider that every second, cells die and new cells are created to replace them.
Today, there is ample evidence and expanded research into the physical effects of Yoga, Tai Chi, and Chi Gong, from the efficient use of the muscles and conservation of energy to the facilitation of a more economical and refined pattern of movement. Regular practice has proven to significantly reduce chronic stress and indeed can change the structure of the body. No wonder Dr. Ida Rolf was into Yoga. One might wonder if she was into Thai Yoga. Perhaps. When one explores her philosophic approach to the body, and the manner in which she has chosen to pursue it by providing the healing aspect of intentional touch, the parallels are striking. Her techniques might vary, but the results are very similar.
Thai Yoga, often called Thai Massage, is an ancient, powerful form of structural and energetic integration. Gravity affects our structure moment by moment, and years of walking, standing, sitting in a chair or sleeping in our favorite position take a toll on our physical structure - usually in ways that limit the full use of our muscles, our mental acuity or the heartfelt sharing of our joys. Thai Yoga balances and rejuvenates every aspects of your day - in 90 minutes or less!
Thai Yoga affects the entire structure in every session. Rather than observing the body in microscopic section, each part is considered as a section of a bigger whole where muscle tone, skin temperature and joint flexibility are all indications of how well the structure is put together. Rather than using vocabulary that treats the body as a puzzle, Thai Yoga utilizes words such as “energy” to describe the above physical sensations. How dense the muscle is or how much range of motion the joint displays are all indicators to the flow of energy in the body. Imagine a ballet dancer, flowing gracefully, moving with ease, effortlessly gliding across the stage. Or picture small children and how they move with ease and grace, even if their movements are not so elegantly executed. These are some examples of energy flow. More than a skill, it is the natural expression of the body.
As we grow older, we step away from the body and focus our attention on our careers, our family and life in general. We sustain just enough energy to keep us going throughout our day - unless we take the popular cultural advice and exercise. Then, we experience first-hand the jolt of energy it provides. When our energy is tainted (when we feel sick), we visit the doctor.
Thai Yoga is designed to expand the flow of energy in the body. The movements and the manipulations are all based on ancient practices, most of which have been shared via practice, rather than by thinking or talking about them. For hundreds of years and still today, the people in Thailand go to the temples to rebalance and increase their energy. They also practice Thai Yoga at home with family members or friends. This popular home practice is what arrived in the West more than 20 years ago. A traditional sequence of movements which is both relaxing and integrative. Thai yoga undoes the tension from working out in the fields all day, clears the mind from mental agitation, and through the power of touch and physical connection, expands the heart. Thai Yoga’s effectiveness lies in the fact that the traditional sequence addresses all three aspects of our daily life experience: our physical body, our emotional state and our mental disposition.
Have you ever noticed that it is difficult to lie on your back, perfectly still, without moving? Try it now. For five minutes, simply close your eyes and lie motionless. What most people become aware of very quickly is the motion between our ears, the speeding motion of thoughts. Yet, if you’ve ever enjoyed a yoga practice, you may have basked in the recharging effects of attempting stillness. Thai Yoga begins lying on the back, which allows the spinal chord a chance to unwind and release from the pull of gravity, and also one reason Chiropractors advise sleeping on the back rather than the belly.
Something interesting happens when your body is touched by another. Whether because the intention is to serve your body and mind into balance, or due to a nervous system trigger, what happens is that you quickly sink into a relaxed state. In this relaxed state, your body is guided through a yoga routine. Specific positions allow energy to move more freely. Pressure stimulates circulation and movement aligns bones, increasing range of motion. These various manipulations lead into the first powerful principle of Thai Yoga- the principle of stretching. Stretching is considered extending the limbs of the body to the edge of their muscle and ligament reach. This action releases stiffness, increases traction and space between bones at the joint capsule and enhances blood circulation. Over time, stretching improves joint movement. The direction and angle is changed with each position, reaching various muscle attachments and insertions.
The second principle is pressing. Rather than pressing slowly on each part of the muscle, the pressing follows a pattern of beginning, middle and end. One, two, three, and you go back to two, and then one, now you are done. This deep pressure stretches the myofascia in all directions and breaks down fibrotic tissue while stimulating the production of elastic fibers.
The third principle of Thai Yoga deals with specific pressure points. Over years of experience, Thai Yoga practitioners have discovered that there are certain areas where sustained pressure increases, and in fact enhances, the flow of energy to the body, as if opening an energetic dam. The surcharge of energy helps to alleviate pain, restore balance and even improve posture. Similar to the effect of joint pumping, this principle generates heat in the joint capsule, increasing blood circulation and producing an improved range of motion. When combined together in a flow-like session, the receiver of Thai yoga massage arises from your final relaxation feeling enhanced, elongated, invigorated and reformed.
These principles are very similar to more contemporary massage modalities, such as deep pressure, myofacial work, neuromuscular massage and trigger point therapy. Although, as previously mentioned, Thai Yoga is an ancient modality, it is relatively new to the massage world in the West, and often the above principles are exchanged for light pressure over loose clothing with limb extension, which by itself is very relaxing and soothing, but lacks the full rejuvenating experience that follow a more traditional approach.
Thai Yoga is not only effective and therapeutic (therapy being an action that enhances function) for the receiver, but when practiced correctly, it is actually a yoga practice for the therapist, as well. Thai Yoga is a practice where the giver improves their own physical energy flow, joint range of motion and mental balance, and each movement is designed so that both the practitioner and the receiver are balanced.
Once the movements have been assimilated, much like a yoga student, a Tai Chi practitioner, or a dancer assimilates movements, the therapist can then sense the client’s lack of energy flow, where the physical areas of tension, soreness or stiffness lie and apply the principles in a variety of ways, maybe even enhancing the experience through Western techniques, such as palpating, effleurage or specific deep pressure.
Yoga is a self-practice where we discover how physical postures enhance our internal energy and improve our external experience. This discovery is revealed through sensation. What we see is what we have been accustomed to feeling. From the texture of rock, the heat of sun light and the nourishment of fruits, life is an energetic experience, and that energy is the same in every person. In Thai Yoga we go a step further. We feel beyond ourselves. While staying perfectly attuned to our experience, we sense our client so we can actually serve and benefit them. This feeling beyond ourselves is the core behind the philosophy of “loving kindness,” or, as it is called in the East, “metta.”
As we develop our own capacity to extend loving kindness to one person, we find that we can share that attitude with the universe. Every day, our experience is new, and every day our body, our mind and our emotions feel different. Thai Yoga addresses these fluctuations in a unique and powerful way. It connects us to this moment, both client and therapist, and when we are in the moment, there is nothing we can not accomplish, from better health to personal achievement.
Thai Massage - Building a Community
Twenty years ago Yoga was a non descript word. One was not sure if they misheard the sounds or was it some new slang term. Today Yoga is an every day word, where its sound alone evokes images of relaxation at times, and pretzel-like actions for others.
As it has expanded and grown, one organization in particular, The Yoga Association, has worked very hard to inform the community at large, as well as to provide some sort of unifying aspect to this ancient and diverse lifestyle. Their work has helped differentiate Yoga from Aerobics when yoga entered the fitness world and became one of the most popular group classes in gyms and athletic centers. While yoga was working the body, it was a different type of work out.
Thai Yoga Massage, or Nuad Boran in it’s original Pali-Sanskrit, is often called Thai Massage. It is also an ancient, powerful form of working the body. Much like yoga it is a structural and energetic activity that balances mind body and spirit.
Nuad Boran is designed to expand the flow of energy in the body. The movements and the manipulations are all based on ancient practices, most of which have been shared via practice, rather than by thinking or talking about it. For hundreds of years and still today, the people in Thailand go to the temples to rebalance and increase their energy. They also practice Thai Yoga at home with family members or friends.
The principles of Thai Yoga are very similar to more contemporary massage modalities, such as deep pressure, myofacial work, neuromuscular massage and trigger point therapy. Although Thai Yoga is an ancient modality, it is relatively new to the massage world in the West, and often the specific principles of stretching, and working the energetic lines and pressing into the muscle tissue are exchanged for light pressure over loose clothing with limb extension, which by itself is very relaxing and soothing, but lacks the full rejuvenating experience that follow a more traditional approach.
Thai Yoga is not only effective and therapeutic (therapy being an action that enhances function) for the receiver, but when practiced correctly, it is actually a yoga practice for the therapist, as well. It is a practice where the giver improves their own physical energy flow, joint range of motion and mental balance, and each movement is designed so that both the giver and the receiver are balanced.
Thai Healing Alliance International (THAI) is one of the leading organizations in the US that is working very hard to educate and help bring together and support the wide variety of skills and knowledge of the Thai Massage community. Their goal is to inform the public about the amazing value and benefits of this beautiful practice, such as, enhanced range of motion to clients, and fewer physical injuries to the therapists. Thai Healing Alliance International (THAI) seeks to support the activities of all its members, and help them expand and succeed. At the same time, they are constantly bridging the gap between Thailand’s experiential knowledge with the western world’s detailed vocabulary.
Thai Yoga Massage has its roots and principles in the Yoga system, and as Yoga continues to provide opportunities for personal and collective growth, let us embrace the various gifts and branches this system has created over time. By choosing to become members of organizations, we take an active step toward connection, thus putting into action the meaning of the word Yoga - to connect.
Please register with Thai Healing Alliance International (THAI) and have the opportunity to browse through their amazing archives of articles, interviews and research. Also, please register with Yoga Alliance and find a yoga center or teacher close to you.
Why Touch
Babies do not use language to communicate; rather their way of communicating is through expressing their energy. If they are frightened, they cry. When they are hungry, their cry has a very different quality. When they are happy, their faces glow. When they are confused, their eyes open wide. If you are a parent, you can probably name many other patterns you have noticed with your particular child.
While every child is different and unique, there is a beautiful Chinese expression: “there is one beautiful child in the world, and every mother has one.” This expression echoes the yogic word “namaste”, which loosely translated, says, “I honor myself, you honor yourself, because there is only one of us.” The philosophical view of life, as it is reflected in the East, suggests that all aspects of existence arise from one source. This source is called many things, from Prana, to Chi, to Energy. It is energy that lives and breathes through each and every one of us.
Centuries ago, individuals in India, through deep meditation, noticed that there are thousands of energy lines that run inside the human body. By breathing a certain way, through placing the body in various positions and by focusing the mind, the energy in the body could be affected.
For these early mediators, the experience with the energy inside the body was but a glimpse into the larger concept that Energy is what was before we entered this physical form, and what will remain after this form decays. While ancient texts differ on the actual number of energy lines (known as Nadis) located within the body, the underlying message about an amazing system for affecting this Energy that sustains our daily lives is clear. This system is known as Yoga.
Today, we are all familiar and take for granted certain ideas that can not be seen with the naked eye or felt with the external skin. One such idea is the orbit of the sun. Where is the orbit? Why don’t we see it? How do we know there really is an orbit?
Centuries ago, conventional wisdom taught that the world was flat. However, there was still recognition that the sun was important and played a role in our lives here on Earth. Our modern understanding of the planets may have changed the idea of how the world was formed - whether you believe in the Big Bang Theory or creation - however, the consciousness of a natural force, something larger than ourselves, has always dominated human thought.
This natural force has been referred to by many synonyms, including Ishwara in ancient Yogic texts, Yahweh in the Judaic writings, Prana in Ayurvedic teachings, Chi in Chinese descriptions and Energy in modern scientific theory. As yogis and monks traveled into modern day Tibet and China, they shared what they had learned in India. In these parts, mediators placed more focus on the physical form than on spiritual awareness. Their work is the basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which includes a map of 20 major energy lines that run along the body, known as meridians.
According to meridian theory, if a blockage exists along any of these energy lines, it will manifest itself in the external physical body. Acupuncture, herbs, and acupressure are only a few of the ways to clear the blockage and enhance the flow of energy, which releases the body’s stress and tension.
The ancient borders of Thailand lie on the trading and traveling routes between India and China. While many aspects of Thai healing have incorporated theoretical principles and applications from both Indian and Chinese traditions over time, the foundation behind Thai Yoga Massage is Yoga, the conscious manipulation of the life energy in and around us.
Dr. Shivago, who was the personal physician to Siddhartha Guatama (the prince commonly known as Buddha), is credited with designing the theory and movements of Thai Yoga Massage or Nuad Ba’an, as it is known in its original language of Pali.
So how do we define the body’s energy in practical terms and applications? Energy in the body is very similar to a home’s electric energy. It constantly runs along the blood vessels, the nervous system, the lymphatic channels, the connective tissue and even through the bone marrow. Electricity also constantly runs along the wires inside the walls, under the earth and all the way back to its main source at the power plant. At times, we might feel that electricity if we touch the wall plug with wet fingers. Or, if the demand is too high, we will cause the control panel to shut down all electric signals.
In the physical body, the signals of energy can be felt in the heart beat, spasms in the muscles, tension or looseness in the joints or even the texture of the skin (warm or cold). The most immediate and powerful indication of energy is breath. When we are excited, our breath tends to speed up, when we sleep our breath slows down, and the day we no longer breathe is the day our physical and emotional systems shut down.
According to yogic philosophy, we have three different bodies as part of our overall awareness. There’s the physical awareness of the body, referred to as “gross body.” An emotional and mental awareness - our thoughts, our feelings, our moods - is referred to as “subtle body.” And an awareness that there is something more than this body, more than our mind and emotions, is referred to as “causal body.”
While it may take years or lifetimes to be able to express ourselves through the “causal body,” we all have an understanding of it. If you consider for a moment who you were when you were 5 years old, you will recognize that despite all the obvious changes you have undergone since then, physically, emotionally and intellectually, there is a part of you that has never changed. A part of you that recognizes itself regardless of the picture and name on your current driver’s license. That awareness, that deep connection to yourself, is your “causal body.” This “causal body” is the same body that exists in every human being, and some would suggest, in every aspect of life, from animate to inanimate. We simply tend to operate from the “gross and subtle bodies” most of the time.
What would happen if we engaged the world with all of our energy? Interacting with all three bodies? While Yoga is the union of all three bodies, Thai Yoga Massage explores that union in ourselves through connecting with another. Thai Yoga Massage offers a deeper exploration and interaction than traditional Yoga practice. With that, the practitioner of Thai Yoga Massage learns how to be connected to all three bodies in themselves, while learning how to sense them in another physical form.
Even though our “causal body” is the same, we each have a distinctively different “gross body” and “subtle body.” Through paying attention to subtleties such as the skin temperature of the receiver (if the feet are warm there is good blood circulation to the feet, if they are cold, the circulation of blood, of energy, is hindered somewhere along the body), whether the muscles are tense and heavy, or relaxed and light, whether the joint capsule is dense and tight or free to move in all directions, the practitioner is given signals to the energy flow in the body.
While babies have not developed the capacity to control their own movements, we can twist and bend their bodies in the full range and interaction. When children get hurt or break their bones, their physical bodies can heal very quickly. The fact is, regardless of how old we get, there is ample, documented evidence that if mind and body work together, miracles of healing can occur.
Thai Yoga Massage practitioners pay constant attention to their own bodies as a guide to how their own energy moves, while moving and manipulating the receiver to unblock and free the energy flow. If we want to release heat into our home, we turn on the heater. In the same way, if we want to increase the blood circulation to the feet, we press and stretch the leg muscles to increase the blood circulation to the ankles and feet.
We can begin to notice the main differences between Western and Eastern approaches to the body. In the West, we study anatomy in parts: the leg, the arm, the torso, the muscles of the shoulders, the muscles of the leg and so forth. In the East, the “gross body” is looked at as a whole and not in parts. In fact, there are no specific words in Pali or Thai language that correspond to the multiple Latin words that describe the human body.
The “subtle body,” which affects the “gross body,” is treated with herbs, meditations, relaxation, visualization, cultural support, smudging, prayer and many more modalities, depending on the specific modality you follow. Yoga and Thai Yoga Massage use the “gross body” to affect the “subtle body.” You can go to your mat with emotional tension because you just found out that you lost your job. Breathing and moving with intention will release much of the strain you might be carrying internally, even though it will not help you get your job back (though it might inspire new ideas on how to regain it, or discover a different purpose which is likely to enhance your life even more).
In conclusion, any activity that we do with our body, from running, to hiking, swimming to sailing, from raising our children, to plowing the field, can have similar effects on the “subtle body.” The ultimate difference between Yoga and Thai Yoga Massage, rests in the fact that these two approaches recognize that certain movements enhance the flow of physical (and thus emotional) energy, while certain activities close them.
Throughout Asia and India, it is very common to see a practicing Yogi live to be healthy and vibrant well into his 90s and older, while professional athletes all over the world tend to suffer from physical strain past the age of 40 and often leave this world before their 65th birthday. While no one can tell you how healthy or how long you will live your life, why not take an active role in maintaining the best shape of your physical and emotional existence now?
Hundreds of years ago, people would have laughed at a toothbrush. Yet, today, I am sure you brush and floss your teeth at least once a day. While our teeth might fall out one day, the act of maintaining them creates an energetic intention for them to stay healthy. Modern tooth decay is statistically different than it was 300 years ago. Why not enhance every aspect of your life in a similar way? It’s more than just practice, it’s a lifestyle.
