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The history of Thai massage

Published on: 19 October, 2015 | Tags: thai massage

Thai massage is more than 2000 years-old, it’s an authentic healing art combining acupressure and certain Yoga postures. Thai massage was founded by an Indian born doctor called Jivaka Kumar Bhacca. He had exceptional medical skills and extensive knowledge of herbal medicine. Even though Thai medicine was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese and Southeast Asian cultures, he is the main founder of the technique as he inspired the art of Thai massage.

Thailand is an extremely popular destination for tourists making this massage type known world-wide. Thai massage is part of Traditional Thai medicine, this healing method was practised before doctors.

What is Thai massage?

Thai massage is considered to be one of the most revitalising massage types; it works on the entire body. It’s not only used as a powerful therapeutic method to heal different diseases but it’s also a great method to maintain health and well-being. Your Thai massage therapist will carefully manipulate your body, they will move your body into Yoga poses while lying on the floor. With this massage type the therapist uses their hands, arms, elbows, legs and even feet to put pressure on your muscles. Sometimes the therapist walks on your back which is a very interesting experience. Thai massage combines energetic and physical aspects which make this massage type so unique and extremely effective. It’s a full body treatment, the massage starts at your feet and your therapist goes all the way up to your head. They will use a series of soft, smooth exercise movements so your body becomes loosened and stretched. It increases the energy flow in your whole body by applying acupressure on the body’s energy lines.

Benefits of Thai Massage

Thai Massage has numerous benefits as it’s much more than just physical, the main aim is to have harmony between your mind, body and spirit.

Physical benefits

Your therapist applies gentle pressure on your body’s energy lines and stretches your body in a similar way to Yoga. This clears your energy blockages and makes your organs function in a better way. As a result of the massage the body detoxifies itself and the immune system is boosted. Thai massage increases the circulation in the whole body by dilating the blood vessels and lowering the blood pressure allowing the brain to get more oxygen. This has several positive effects; there are less migraines and headaches and there is smoother blood flow throughout the entire body. As you hold Yoga-like poses, blood will slow down in specific areas. When you release the certain pose, fresh blood will rush back to that targeted area which helps with lymphatic drainage and digestion. By revitalising the nervous system and detoxifying through better circulation, your immunity will also be increased to different illnesses and diseases. Through the different kinds of Yoga-like positions your flexibility will be enhanced and your will have a better range of motion, your joints are strengthened and you will be able to fight diseases more easily. If you have any postural alignments, Thai massage can help with that, too. Your muscles will relax and become more flexible and this way your mobility will be increased and your breathing will be improved. During the massage you achieve total relaxation which helps you get a much deeper sleep at night allowing your body to heal itself naturally and more effectively.

Mental Benefits

Thai massage is an efficient therapy in mental health care. The relaxation level you will achieve will be much deeper during a Thai massage and this deep level will help you create a positive mental attitude as your mind and spirit will learn how to slow down. You will have a more positive outlook towards your life; you will be more balanced emotionally. You will be able to concentrate more and become more creative. You will eventually learn how to clear and calm your mind and gain mental clarity. Yoga and Thai massage are particularly beneficial for mental and emotional stress relief. This happens when your muscles are manipulated during the massage. You will learn how to stay in the present, how to live in the moment and enjoy it. It helps you focus on yourself and allows you to connect with yourself again.

Psychological effects

By reaching total relaxation and releasing stress and anxiety, your inner energy level will be boosted. You will become healthier; you will also be able to keep a higher energy level and a better stamina. You will build your own natural confidence and maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. When your inner energy level is high, you will be able to control your life more easily; you won’t be affected by any negative thoughts, people or stressful situations. You will become more balanced by living in the moment and not worrying about the past and the future.

What are the energy lines inside the human body?

In Eastern medicine energy plays an extremely important role. This is a basic life force energy which flows in different lines or channels inside the human body. There are more than 70,000 energy lines but out of them, 10 are believed to be the main ones which are adequate enough to treat the entire body and its organs. According to Eastern healthcare, whenever the body’s energy flow is blocked or limited, the body becomes ill. Before any symptoms occur, there is pain or tension in certain areas of the body indicating the imbalance. Thai massage is specialised in clearing these blockages by applying pressure and stretching the muscles which result in overall health and well-being. It’s essential to work on these physical imbalances before more serious diseases develop in our bodies. By having a smooth energy flow, the body cannot get ill; it will always stay healthy and balanced. This energy flow in our body determines how we think, what feelings we have and how healthy we are. Without this energy we wouldn’t be able to breathe, move, think, digest food, we wouldn’t be alive. We can only maintain our health if there’s balance in our energy flow. If there is excess energy in certain parts of the body and less energy in others, that causes imbalance which has a bad effect on the body’s healing pathways.

Summary

Massage in general has numerous positive effects on the human body. It improves circulation, helps with stress relief, releases the tension in the muscles, improves flexibility and is a great way to unwind, relax and forget about your everyday problems. As you can see Thai massage goes beyond that, it focuses on the balance between the main systems, the body, the mind and the spirit. Without this balance, we can’t have a balanced, healthy, happy life. Thai massage is an excellent choice if you want more than a physical approach.