Introduction to Thai Healing Arts Clients wear loose clothing, treatment is on a comfortable floor mat, not a massage table. Thai massage or Nuad Boran incorporates elements of reflexology (pressure points on feet, hands, head and face), and compression on energy lines with palms, thumbs, elbows and other parts of the body). Thai massage utilizes assisted yoga postures to stretch and relax the body, tone muscles and internal organs.
Styles of Thai massage vary according to point pressure on energy lines, deep or gradual, the gentle rocking movements and stretching. Herbal compresses may be used during treatment sessions: lemongrass, eucalyptus, galangal, ginger, kaffir lime, turmeric and other medicinal herbs like camphor, peppermint, lavender. Compresses combine the herbs in a small bundle and then are steamed and applied to the body on the energy lines.
Introduction to Thai Healing Arts Clients wear loose clothing, treatment is on a comfortable floor mat, not a massage table. Thai massage or Nuad Boran incorporates elements of reflexology (pressure points on feet, hands, head and face), and compression on energy lines with palms, thumbs, elbows and other parts of the body). Thai massage utilizes assisted yoga postures to stretch and relax the body, tone muscles and internal organs.
Styles of Thai massage vary according to point pressure on energy lines, deep or gradual, the gentle rocking movements and stretching. Herbal compresses may be used during treatment sessions: lemongrass, eucalyptus, galangal, ginger, kaffir lime, turmeric and other medicinal herbs like camphor, peppermint, lavender. Compresses combine the herbs in a small bundle and then are steamed and applied to the body on the energy lines.
The Thai therapist utilizes their skills to help others but it also creates a healing space for the practitioner because the therapists use many different parts of their body and many different positions during the Thai session. To help grow as a practitioner, regular practice of meditation, Tai Chi or any martial art including yoga and breathwork will greatly improve the techniques taught in Nuad Boran. This will help the Thai therapist grow the connection between mind, body and spirit.
History: The roots of this healing system date to 2,500 years ago at the time of Buddha and is attributed to Dr. Jivaka Kumar Bhacca, the personal physician to Buddha and the Sangha. Epigraphs at Wat Po in Bangkok feature Nuad Boran and contain over 60 carvings that describe the Sen channels. Energy called Qi (chee in Chinese) or Prana in Sanskrit exists in many forms from the extremely gross to the infinitely subtle. Within the human body these energies flow along the meridians or a network of channel). Madison Thai Healing Arts views health as a state of balance between these energies, where all the systems of the body, including mind and spirit, function in harmony with each other. Disease is seen as imbalance or disharmony in this flow of energies. Thai massage stimulates the flow of healing energies within the body, opening the areas which are blocked and bringing the body, mind and spirit back into balance and harmony. In Thai healing, all life is sustained by a vital force (lom) that is carried in pathways in the body (sen). Disease comes when blockages occur on these pathways. Thai relies upon the free flow of energy and does not create energy flow in any specific direction. The techniques used in Thai massage help to release these blocks and return energy flow back to the whole body.