Thai Massage

An Introduction to Thailand Massage Techniques and Practices,

The history of Thai body massage and Thai massage in general is thousands of years old and is believed to be a mixture of Indian Yoga, Chinese and Southeast Asian traditions of medicine.

Traditional Thai massage did not involve aroma oils but you are now seeing the benefits of Western techniques included in many Thai massages. However, herbal massages have been used for hundreds of years in Thailand. If you get this type of massage you will be rewarded with the aroma of a herbal compress medicine ball.

The cloth ball containing various herbs is heated up (usually mildly steamed) and applied to various parts of the body. These herbal compress balls where first given to battle wary soldiers during the Ayutthaya period of 14th to 18th centuries.

Thai massage or Nuat Phaen Boran in Thai means the following:

• nuat means massage
• phaen means manner
• boran means ancient

Thai massage is even recognized by the Thai government as medicine and is widely regulated and licensed.

The most famous and influential Thai schools is Wat Po. Watch a sample of this Thai massage video (unfortunately most of it is in Thai) to see the school,

Wat Po (Wat Po is actually a temple as well)

Did you know that massage is a form of meditation for the patient? Meditation that centers the soul and spirit. If you get into the practice of getting a massage on a regular basis you'll be reward with many benefits.

There are an array of different massage methods and Thai body massage is just one of many. The following are proven benefits of all massage therapy,

• Pain Relief.
• Anxiety Reduction.
• Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Reduction.
• Alertness.

As an avid participate in various massages, I can truly attest to the above being correct.

During a Thai body massage the receiver usually slips into to some loose fitting clothes and lays on either a comfortable mat or a low raised bed.

Some people, like my mom, have sensitive feet and body, if you do have sensitive feet or body please let the therapist know and they will adjust their technique.

Thai body massage is largely connected to breathing. Many of the exercises that the therapist does pushes air in and out of the lungs of the patient. Thai body massage will involve movement of the legs, pushing on the back, and being pulled into various positions to induce a breathing action during certain portions of the massage.

Thai massage is a little more interactive than say a Swedish massage where the patient just mostly lays on the table. At times you will be an active participant in the massage. You and the therapist will be using various parts of the body to stretch, move, and massage various areas of the body.

The Thai body massage will help attain flexibility, inner organ massage and oxygenation of the blood through the movements described above.

For an excellent example of Thai body massage click the Thai massage video below,

YouTube Thai body massage video

A Thai massage is a perfect way to unwind after being on your feet all day and with most places in Bangkok only charging 250 baht for foot and 400 for a Thai body massage, you'll be hard pressed to find an excuse not to enjoy one.

Getting a massage in Bangkok is easy, you'll see the massage signs on almost every road and corner. However, be careful you’re not stepping into the wrong kind of massage, lol! You can pretty easilytell which places are traditional and which are the other kind though.

A couple of traditional massage spots are,

Health Land Spa & Massage. Located at, 142/6 Caransanitwong Rd. Arunamarin, Bangkoknoi, Bangkok, Thailand.

and

Dahra Beauty & Spa. Located at, Silom Soi 18 Triple Two Hotel Bangkok 10500 Thailand.

If your looking for something more "upclass" and have money to spend, then you'll find a few of those scattered around Thailand and at many of the big resort hotels. Now, you can spend more but may not get more.

I'm mostly a feet guy and love foot massages over anything else. Some of the things I love about a foot massage in Thailand is that it's cheap, the therapist is not in a rush, has all their time spent focusing on you, and just letting the worries of the world just melting away while I sit back and relax.

The Thai foot massage is also called reflexology or zone pressure therapy. The belief is that most of your body's nerves run from your head to your feet and all major organs run along this nerve highway. So applying pressure to various points on your feet can relieve various symptoms. I'm not sure about all of that but what I do know is that I feel like a new person every time after I get a foot massage!

Of course you don't have to go to Thailand to enjoy a good massage but being there is a nice perk. If you’re interested in learning more about Thai massages so you can treat someone special, learn as a career, or just interested then check out the following,

Good YouTube foot massage video,

YouTube Foot Massage Video

The following link has great info on learning techniques, school info, and a good Thai massage video or two,

thaimassageschool.net

My wife is a professional massage therapist and I'm her best subject to practice on :-)

She has certifications from several Bangkok massage schools. She holds certifications from the elite Japanese school, Hanako, in face and body massage. I have learned a great deal about relaxing and Thailand massage in general from her.

She is also a licensed beautician who owned her own beauty shop named, Pretty4You.

She specializes in facial massages. What's a facial massage? A Facial massage is the act of applying various skin rejuvenation and tightening lotions to the skin through massage. It also involves detoxifying the facial skin from cosmetics and daily exposure to various elements through masks and high quality pore cleansers. It did not originate from Thailand but is becoming quickly adopted.

Facial massages can be somewhat relaxing and usually puts people to sleep. However, depending on the type of facial you're getting you could be awaken by some of the more intense moments of getting your skin to look beautiful.

Facial massages are mostly done for women but it's becoming more popular with metro-sexual men as well. My wife tries to do facial massages to me as much as possible but I'm a little resistant as I don't like cold cucumbers and other things on my face.

If you miss a massage in Thailand, either Thai body massage or foot, you have missed a lot.

Click here to continue on to medical tourism and plastic surgery in Thailand.

Return from Thai Massage to Thailand Tourism and Living in Thailand