Massage is the best way to relax the body, mind and soul and to immediately reduce stress.

There are different types of body massage but Thai massage is renowned all over the world. It is one of the most sought treatments , and people travel across Thailand to experience or learn this type of massage, as well as to have a great time there too!

Thai massage is the combination of acupressure, stretching, and yoga done on you, sometimes known as Thai-yoga massage, or ‘nuad phaen bo rarn’ in Thai, which means ‘ancient manner massage’.
It combines both the relaxation and rejuvenation benefits of massage with the therapeutic effects of yoga.
It is important to stay fit to avoid health problems and give one a positive attitude, and Thai massages fulfills both needs.

Thai massage took birth from ancient Indian ayurvedic culture. There are several styles of Thai massages and each has its own advantages. Some even use aromatherapy oil or lotion, although traditionally a Thai massage is performed in comfortable clothes.

Thai massages are being used to energize different parts of your body, and there are different styles from different parts of the country. The northern styles emphasizes stretching, (and sometimes cracking of the joints similar to that which a western chiropractor may do), while the southern style concentrates more on acupressure.

Thai-Yoga massage is unlike other types of massage. The average remedial massage generally aims to manipulate body parts with the attitude to ‘fix’ the body. Nuad Thai  on the other hand looks at the whole person and does not ‘diagnose’; a good practitioner ‘feels Thai’, which means she goes with the flow of energy and ‘listens’ carefully what the body of the receiver is telling her.

Performing a Thai Massage, your practitioner is working on your body as well as your energy lines, incorporating some Yoga Asanas (positions) for specific stretches, which are designed to stimulate the flow of energy through the body.

While most styles of massage use massage plinths or couches, Thai massage is usually performed on a woven mat, or yoga mat on the ground, face down and up, on the side and seated.

Thai Yoga massage involves gentle movements given by the masseur or therapist with hands, feet, knees and legs in order to release the energy and help to let it flow freely. This massage helps to reduce back ache, menstrual pain, headaches and stress.

Yoga Asanas (Sanskrit for positions) help to stretch the body in an energetic way. Similarly, Thai-yoga massage applies stretches to the recipient. This refreshes the body and it increases its flexibility. It encourages participants to meditate during their treatment and find out a deeper awareness about their body. Hence in many ways this is a more active, responsible and enlightening form of massage due to this participation on the part of the client.

Yoga is part of Ayurveda, an ancient Indian healing system that is gaining tremendous popularity all over the world. An aging population has revealed the calming therapies of yoga and massage.

Combining two powerful natural therapies into an effective treatment called Nuad Thai has become the reason for its popularity. Looking at the increasing interest in Thai yoga massage all over the world, many experienced therapists have taken the opportunity to be trained in this form in order to provide a holistic therapy that is so much more than just massage.

Or had a long break and don’t feel very confident with your performance any more?

It is very common that after an intense weekend or even a compact course you feel exhausted and want to take some time off to rest, let it sit and just want to recover from the huge amount of information that has been shared with you.

Unfortunately this is often the very main reason, why people loose the momentum and because Nuad Thai requires some practising of the sequences, it’s easy to postpone ‘until later’ or ‘not tonight’.

Quickly a few weeks are over and the notes you made do not make sense anymore, you forget how to do this or that movement and you feel even less like giving it a go.

If there was only someone you could ask without doing a whole course again!

Well, there is. The Nuad Thai Academy now offers a Thai Massage Refresher Course, where your questions about the ‘how to…’ will be thoroughly answered.

We go through the movements that are challenging you and answer your questions so that you feel confident to go out and ‘just do it’.

Duration: 3,5 – 4 hours

Investment: $150 per person
(Minimum 2 people)

Next course: June 2011 – exact date to be announced shortly

If you want a more individual training, you can book a Thai Massage Refresher One-on-One

If you had a great experience at the Nuad Thai Academy and tell your friends about us, it means a lot to us. To show you our appreciation we have created a Referral Rewards Program, where you choose how you want to be rewarded for your support.

Membership in the Referral Rewards Program is free and offers some great benefits. Register today and start earning rewards!

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Your practitioner will sense this resistance immediately and what is meant to be experienced like a dance, becomes more like a fight or a matter of power struggle, which is unpleasant for both sides.

So what you want to do instead is…

Relax

The problem with that is that some people find it very hard to relax their muscles.

This can have either mental or physical causes or a combination of both:

Mental:
Relaxation is a matter of trust. If you had reason to become a ‘control freak’, you will be facing a challenge here. Remember that what you put in is what you get out. Give yourself permission to be open for the experience.

If you can’t seem to allow yourself to let go, talk to your practitioner who will help you to find a way to become comfortable with her or him.

You can ask yourself beforehand what your intention is to have the treatment. If the outcome you are looking for is more appealing than your need for control or fear to trust, it will be much easier for your ‘ego’ to allow trust as a necessary presupposition.

Physical:
Have you ever really learned how to relax your muscles? Dualism is an interesting thing. We can only experience one thing through when the opposite is also present. Sometimes we get stuck in one side and as a result of that we forget what the other side feels like – we even forget that there is another side. Like when we are really sad, we forget what happiness and joyfulness feels like.

The Nuad Thai Academy has seen people who thought they were relaxed, while most of the muscles below the hips were tight as concrete.

In that case, there is almost only one way out: make it worse! Tauten every muscle you can feel, try to get stiff as a rafter, clench your fists, press your teeth together, tighten everything from head to toe, your eyes even, try to make yourself so tight as if you would condense yourself to the size of an atom. When you feel you can’t hold it no longer, let go. Feel the difference?

A combination:
If you are injured or have a weak spot, like your knees, hips, shoulders or your neck, you might be fighting a dual battle.

In order to spare yourself pain, you are trying to find ways to somehow protect that area. This could mean you put more weight on one leg than the other, you avoid bending your knees or carry your bag on one shoulder only.

When you are about to be massaged at or around that spot, you are almost expecting pain to come – and in a normal massage it probably would, because there is that ‘no pain-no gain’ mentality, which probably has its place too. It is normal that you feel like you have to protect that spot, which will usually result in more tenseness, hence more pain.

As your Thai treatment therapist will explain, there is no room for pain in a Nuad Thai, at least not as it is practised at the Nuad Thai Academy. A traditional Thai Yoga Massage treatment has your health as much as your well-being in mind.

Our approach is holistic, which means it considers the powers that are active when body, mind and spirit work in unity. We also believe that you have everything you need to heal from within and the treatment provides you the support and the space to re-connect with these resources.

In a space of trust, connectedness and revitalisation there is no room for pain, so you don’t need to expect it. If anything is out of your comfort zone or goes beyond a comfortable stretch, let your practitioner know. She or he will adjust the pressure, firmness or even the sequence to suit your preferences.

Through the combination of stretching, acupressure and Yoga being done on you, your body receives signals that trigger this process. If you are open for the experience, you may observe the following effects:

Body

You may start to feel longer or taller, less tense, more flexible and overall ‘lighter’.

When you sweat or go to the toilet, it may smell differently, stronger perhaps. This is part of the detoxification process, where your body gets rid of toxins from nutrition or the environment.

Symptoms like a running nose are indicators for a cleansing process as well; they show that your body is responding well to the triggers, so please embrace them.

If you don’t observe a detox effect, it could mean that you either don’t have many toxins in you or that your body is healing something else first.

Mind

Are you familiar with that merry-go-round that some people have in their head? All those thoughts, racing in a circle like seats of a carousel, too fast to catch one.
Nuad Thai helps to slow that merry-go-round down, so that you can focus on one thing more easily.

Sometimes this can be experienced like a scratch in a record: a specific issue, idea or concept keeps popping up. This often indicates that there is something that needs a bit more attention and focus, something that is unresolved or something that is important to reflect on.

Take it as a sign from your unconscious mind, a hint what you need to focus on to heal from within.

Spirit

Male or female, we have learned to suppress emotions that are publicly labelled as ‘negative emotions’: anger, sadness, fear, grief, anxiety…

Unfortunately emotions that are not accepted have the tendency to come back and bite us in the back. We burst in tears at the most unexpected and sometimes seemingly extremely inappropriate moments or the smallest incident is the last drop that makes us explode.

As long as there is no valve through which this energy can get out, it starts to build up blockages in our energy lines, which manifest in tension or even internal or external physical lumps or bulges.

The space at the Nuad Thai Academy is safe, confidential and non-judgemental. What happens here stays here. There is no right or wrong, there ‘only’ is. Your therapist is trained to deal with emotions that come up and you are invited to let them flow freely. Let go of whatever needs to go, leave it with us and we will take care of it.

In order to provide you that peaceful and meditative space, where you can meet yourself, your therapist will not be making conversation during the treatment. You are asked and invited to be silent as well, which can be challenging for some people.

It takes a lot of courage to face ourselves, even more if we are not used to it or have a successful record of avoiding to look inside or to dig deep. Again, this space is designed to provide all the support you need to start your journey of self-discovery, to re-connect with yourself and heal from within.

What about: “No Pain – No Gain!” ? – Read our thoughts on that here

Some people experience a deep sense of calmness, tranquillity or even peace at the end of the Thai massage, while others feel more alive, energised and ‘light’.

Whatever happens for you is a result of your openness, the intention you give the treatment and what your body needs most at that moment.

The listing below gives you an overview how you can best sustain the process of  cleansing, rejuvenating and healing from within.

Refresh

In order to support the detoxification process it is important to drink a lot, so that your body can easily flush any toxins from nutrition or the environment out of the system.

Purified, filtered and mineralised water is the first choice. High quality filters that preserve the water quality, help maintain a balanced range of minerals and regulate pH, which are easy to install, convenient and highly economical are available from NIKKEN PiMag Water Systems.

Feel free to ask for a representative referral at your next appointment.

Reflect

You may have experienced that the usual merry-go-round has slowed down during your Nuad Thai experience or that a specific thought has popped into your head, making you wonder where that came from.

Some clients have happened to remember certain events from early or late childhood, others feel wrapped or surrounded by certain colours, while those who have a strong link to the spiritual world find it even easier to connect to their Trusted Source during a Thai massage.

Maybe your observations are more subtle, like realising that you are much more flexible than you thought.

You might also be fortunate to have your mind going blank or in a state of deep relaxation or meditation.

Whatever happens is a great opportunity for reflection.

Could you maybe go to the Yoga class you avoided because you thought you were too stiff?
Have you got a history of suppressed emotions that haunt you at the most inconvenient times?
Do you recognise any patterns that you’d rather exchange for more resourceful rituals?
Was being silent a challenge? What would you have wanted to distract yourself from? What do you fear or hide from?
Where you able to relax your muscles and entrust your body to your practitioner’s hands?
Did you give yourself permission to enjoy the treatment free of guilt?

As one client so appositely said: Thai massage is magic.

What you put in is what you get out:
If you are open to embrace what’s coming up, you will get a hint what might be an important topic of life to face and deal with at the moment.
If you are willing to let go of suppressed emotions, they will (literally) leave you at peace.
If you allow the wisdom of nature to come through your practitioner’s hands and bring you health and well-being, your healing can begin or continue.

Resist

Avoid heavy meals for the rest of the day.

Your body is now working hard to repair itself, as in getting rid of toxins – physical, mental and emotional. Heavy meals would take a lot of that power away for digestion.

Instead enjoy a light meal, consisting of raw or lightly cooked vegetables, fresh fruit and maybe steamed fish.

Relax

This can be a big one, especially if you have to go back to work after your treatment or you have many appointments or a long to-do-list of task that need attention.

Still, allow yourself at least 30 minutes (or as long as you can) of mentally low or non-challenging work afterwards if you can’t afford to have a rest for as long as your body signals you.

As mentioned before, your body is going in detoxification mode and starts to repair itself. So even if you feel very energised and full of power after your Thai massage, which is just as normal as feeling totally calm and relaxed, not wanting to go back to ‘the world out there’, allow a bit of time to settle in your renewing body. This is a great time to re-connect with your resources and observe what is happening in your body, mind or spirit, so that you can fully and most effectively utilise your new energy.

Bonus Suggestion:

Resign

You have now entered the ‘Thai-Way Highway’, a road that will support you on your journey to relaxation and balance, an accelerator for empowerment, an elevator to new heights of peace and ‘lightness’.

I’d like to take the opportunity to invite you to break with conventions,  explore who you really are, face your fears and resign from un-resourceful patterns of behaviour, beliefs or emotions.

Learn how you can sustain or even increase your own level of Qi, your personal life force/energy in a Qi Moving or Chakra Balancing term workshop or condensed weekend and become part of a community of  ‘Qi Movers’!

Read more about Qi Moving, Chakra Balancing or call for more info.

This was my first Thai massage and it was just magic!

Jan

My intention was to find out why people from Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane, who had a Thai massage before rate the one they got from me “exceptional”, “..the best in the world…” or “..absolutely delightful!”.

I would love to see more and more people benefiting from this truly magical ancient art and the best way to do that is by setting a standard of excellence and as a result of that making the people who experience a great Thai massage spread the word about it.

As humans we live in a world of duality, which means that sometimes it is easier to appreciate the good when we experience the ugly. I certainly was reminded about that when I started my traditional Thai massage research project.

Within one week I had four treatments in four different places, two in each city. And before you even think how spoiled I must be, I can tell you that some of them were not funny! The experiences I took away from this experiment are on a range between very delighting and absolutely disappointing – one of either in each city.

First stop was Brisbane. More or less coincidentally (more or less, because I do not believe in coincidences any more – only ‘meant-to-be’s') I came across The Temple Thai Day Spa. Spontaneously I decided to try my luck and book in for a Thai massage, because the place looked quite inviting. I was indeed lucky and got one for the same day.

I could start raving about the friendliness, the skilfulness and the professional approach, but I will make a long story short and just share with you that although due to a slightly different emphasis not exactly comparable to the Chiang Mai style that I personally perform and prefer, this was the best Thai massage I ever had!

The Temple Day Spa is offering Thai massage in Wat Pho style, which is a bit different than what I have learned. The focus is more on the pressure points along the sen lines (energy lines), less on the Yoga Asanas (Positions from Yoga), while also incorporating great stretching.

If you are lucky enough to live in Brisbane, possibly in range of  327 Oxley Road, Graceville, I can only highly recommend to invest in a traditional Thai massage treatment at the Temple Thai Day Spa.

On the other hand if you think about getting a foot massage from the Thai Foot Spa, I would like to suggest to think again. I can still feel my blood starting to pump when I only think about my experience there! I went for the full dose of their signature treatment (1,5 hours) – just to get a thorough idea.

How much I still regret it! Maybe it was a communication problem, maybe my standard and expectations are too high (especially after that wonderful treatment the day before). But in the end I was challenged to control my emotions, which ranged (and still range) from utter disappointment and frustration over sadness and irritation to anger and annoyance.

As I said, part of my mission is to accelerate awareness about the many benefits of Thai massage, including the Thai foot massage. I can only imagine how irritated people must be if they come with the expectation the Foot Spa’s website is rousing, only to be treated with such a performance as I had the ‘fortune’ to expereience.

What I liked about it? Definitely the best part was when it was over. And I don’t say this to make you laugh or to be sarcastic. I was actually really sad, because this was the treatment I was so much looking forward to!

What started out nicely became an absolute disaster.

In the end I was released with an unprofessional ‘head massage’ for 1/2 an hour, which was a constant repetition of the same after a while annoying and even painful ‘techniques that went on and on and on. In between there was a little ‘variety’, when my head was turned to one side, continuing with acupressure, partly on points where there are no pressure points at all. At least none that I know of. The whole ‘sequence’ was repeated three times while the other side of the head for some reason only got the ‘pleasure’ of another order on other points for only one turn.

I thought to myself that this incompetence might have been due to the spa ‘specialising’ in the other end – the feet.  Still I would expect a treatment that is on offer to be at least enjoyable, wouldn’t you too?

So I was hoping for and expecting an outstanding Thai foot massage. Again, to make it short and to save me from getting emotional again, it was a great disappointment.

Actually, to be honest I can’t really judge the foot massage, because I did not even have one.

After distributing the oil for what felt like 15 minutes, finally the wooden stick – a typical requisite of the traditional Thai foot massage Nuad Tao – was used to scratch a bit around and over my foot and for some again questionable pressure points on the foot that for a good part  I still can’t see the relevance of them.

No stretching, no thumb pressing, no palm walking, no finger on my feet whatsoever. I really felt like crying.

And I was seriously considering to ask the therapist to stop right there. Had I known that in the end I would feel unbalanced anyway, I would have done so. But so I was hoping to be more even than I was after the head pinning and squeezing. However, it did not happen.

You may wonder whether people ever go back for another treatment and so am I. And maybe you also wonder why I spend so much time on the negative while I only gave a brief wrap about the most enjoyable Temple Thai Day Spa treatment.

The purpose of me doing that is because I want you to be curious to experience the good one for yourself and explain what was missing in the latter to deserve such a feedback.

When you make the decision to find out why so many people rave about Thai massage, which in my opinion is one of the most powerful treatments available, you should get a quality treatment. You will know when you get one when the main quality standards are met and by how you feel afterwards.

Some things you should look out for when choosing a Thai massage provider are listed here.

Research report to be continued for Sydney shortly.

1. Expectations

Your practitioner explains what happens during a Thai massage and advises you about the possible effects on body, mind & spirit during or after the treatment.

2. Safety

He or she makes sure to get an idea of any complaints you may suffer from that may be contra-indicators for a Thai massage or at least some of the movements.

3. Performance

To be effective, a Thai massage treatment does not need to be painful. If you prefer to enjoy and relax, your practitioner should be able to cater for that. In saying that, if you ‘like it hard’, your wish should be respected too.

4. Definition: Traditional

There are a few versions of a ‘traditional massage’ available. Some places will ask you to take of your shirt (which is advantageous if an oil or lotion is used – a feature of the Wat Pho style with an emphasis on the acupressure and for the aroma oil massage), while others (the Nuad Thai Academy included) perform the treatment fully, but comfortably clothed (applicable to Chiang Mai style with a focus on the Yoga aspect and the stretching).

5. Sequence

One of the main features of a traditional Thai massage is that you feel light, fresh and balanced afterwards. Some feel even a bit taller. In order to achieve that, a good practitioner has a sequence in mind that is performed equally on either side of the body. Generally the direction is from the feet upwards.

A great Thai massage provides a performance that resembles a dance, where the treatment feels like a flow of movements that blend from one to the other, where possible without a beginning or an end.

6. Respect

A good practitioner will make sure that he or she will cleanse herself before and after a treatment – physically and energetically. This ensures that no energy is transmitted from one client to another. This can be done through water (washing) or ‘prayer’.

In any case it is important that you have enough time to ‘come back’ and to adjust your senses, especially when you are actively participating in traffic (driving a car, bike or bicycle…). If you feel rushed to leave and make room for the next person, ask for a quite area where you can feel and sense what’s going on with you.

an experiential journey

a transforming experience

a shift in perceptions and consciousness

a path towards oneness & happiness

a life-changing event

Where do you get that?

In a Oneness Awakening Intensive and Initiation on the 27th and 28th of November 2010 at the premises of Transition Guidance!

If you would like immerse yourself in a weekend of profound and life-changing teachings for personal growth and want to experience the culminating energy of a  powerful Oneness Blessing (Deeksha) or even become a Oneness Blessing Giver yourself, this is a MUST-ATTEND workshop.

What is so special about a Oneness workshop?

Oneness Awakening is about facilitating a shift in perceptions and initiating consciousness – consciousness about our thoughts, emotions and who we really are.
As a result you will experience a positive change in your actions and re-actions, your decision-making process and the general quality of your perception of life, your relationships and yourself.

What you will learn:

- How to implement the formula for personal growth and happiness

- Ancient teachings to help you

• establish an intimate, personal relationship between yourself and your Divine entity of your choice
• improve your relationships with those around you
• release deep-seated emotional charges
• remove negative patterns caused by childhood experiences
• heal relationships with your parents, children, partner and yourself
• move into higher states of consciousness
• get more clarity about your purpose in life

- How to become a Blessing Giver for others

Join us in this powerful, life-changing event

Saturday 27th of November 2010 9am – 7pm &
Sunday 28th of November 2010 9am – 6pm

at Transition Guidanca, 12/203 Kings Road, Pimlico

Investment: $250, $120 for Blessing Givers

Please bring water, a light lunch to share, a mat to lie on.

This is a limited places event and already more than half full – bookings are essential! First in, best dressed

Your local contact is Dulcie Speed from Speedytan 0417 842 860 or directly with Isha Jaeger, our Oneness Trainer, on 0415 125 908 or openheart@aapt.net.au

Please feel free to ring if you are interested to find out more or have a quick look at the official Oneness website to see what this is about.