Thai Massage and Yoga are part of the same family. About 2500 years back Thai massage has been released in Thailand by an Indian physician, a contemporary of Buddha. He brought with him his knowledge of yoga and yoga therapy. Therefore the expression Thai Yoga Massage is extremely appropriate, although this term isn't used at all in Thailand but only by western professionals.

First, yoga did not make it in Thailand

There's even a form of Thai yoga in Thailand, but it is not widely known and hardly practiced by anyone. So the Thai Massage arrived along with the yoga, but the massage flourished and the yoga vanished into oblivion. Nowadays there are quite numerous yoga universities in Thailand's tourist areas, but virtually all these are conducted by foreigners for overseas students. Only in the past couple of years have the Thais started to take an interest at the Indian model of yoga, and now there are also yoga universities for Thais.

Why not the foreigners and Thais mix in the schools, you might ask? 1 reason is the language barrier, and another reason is that the Thais approach yoga as well as life in general in a more relaxed, easy going way, whereas westerners take their yoga practice very seriously. The Thais believe that western yoga classes are more competitive instead of relaxed, social occasions.

Who popularized Thai massage lately?

For thousands of years massage and herbal medicine were standard and effective treatments in Thailand until contemporary medication appeared on the scene. At the time Thai bodywork became popular. It was resurrected by foreigners who were fascinated by this exceptional healing art. They started to write books about it, they created videos, and started schools.

The decoupling of Thai Yoga Massage from yoga had contributed to a degeneration of the quality of this healing art. Initially it was practiced by monks in temples. Recently it frequently became a thinly disguised come-on for sexual services. However at precisely the exact same time western therapists began to take it very seriously as a massage treatment. They reintroduced yoga principles, and created a huge demand by westerners to get Thai massage schooling and treatments in Thailand. There are an infinite number of massage schools in Thailand, almost all catering exclusively to foreigners.

The Thai government has been making a serious attempt to boost the standard of massage education by setting up training facilities for Thais, licensing therapists and schools, issuing official certifications, and promoting higher standards.

Thai Massage and yoga - the ideal mix

In its basic form, Thai massage is just a sequence of stretches and pressure points, a mechanical bodywork system. However, by incorporating yoga basics into the massage, it may be elevated to a legitimate healing art. Mindfulness, consciousness of one's own body and also the customer's entire body, working from one's "hara", the lively centre right behind the navel, consciousness of a person's breath, conscious channeling of energy, and an increased sensitivity of touch greatly improve the quality and efficacy of the therapy.

Thai massage can be more than a technique. The mixture of yoga basics with Thai bodywork is not only an ideal combination, but it also attracts Thai massage back into the roots of yoga. After all, they're part of the same family.

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