“When someone’s ill in Siam (Thailand) he has his body worked on by someone skilled in this art who tramples all over him.”

(Simon de la Loubere, 1690, French envoy to the Royal Court of Siam.)

Thai massage has been developed and practiced by buddhist monks in buddhist temples (Wats) for large part of it’s history, so there is a strong spiritual element in it. Buddhist monks used to practice Thai-Massage on lay people for medical purposes and also on other monks in order to facilitate deeper states of meditation and to compensate the body for the sometimes strict sitting of long meditational settings. The buddhist concept of Loving Kindness, Compassion, Vicarious Joy, and Equanimity are still important parts of Thai-Massage today.

Traditional Thai massage is the manual branch of 2500 years of traditional Thai medicine. It combines elements of yoga, shiatsu and acupressure, working with the energy pathways of the body and the therapy points thought to be located along these lines.

Conditions which generally benefit from Thai traditional massage:

• Poor postural alignment

• Stiff / painful muscles and joints 

• Neck, back and shoulder pain 

• Frozen shoulders and tennis elbow 

• Chronic lower back pain 

• Sciatic pain, knee pain, hip pain, wrist, elbow and upper arm pain.

Benefits

• Calmness and rest

• A refreshed spirit

• A general increase of energy

• An opening of the meridians and blocked areas of the body

• Relief for pain and muscle tension

• The body is strengthened and rejuvenated

• Blood and lymph circulation are improved

• An increase in flexibility

• The nervous system is balanced