Thai Massage
Lazette Harnish, LMT 11063
Who needs traditional Thai massage bodywork?
You do, if your body is crying out: "Touch me", "Stretch me", "Squeeze me", "Hold me", "Listen to me", "Comfort me", or, "Heal me". Such body cries often go unheard. Discover how Thai massage can be the answer to your body's pleas and it could be the first important step that leads you to seek its unique benefits.
Traditional Thai massage, Thai bodywork or Thai yoga massage as it is often called, is a unique and powerful massage therapy. It combines acupressure, energy balancing, stretching and applied yoga exercise. As well as improving flexibility, relaxation and energy levels, a Thai massage can relieve headaches, asthma, constipation, improve flexibility for those who enjoy sports, help recovery from an illness or injury and provide exercise for the disabled.
Thai massage was barely known outside of Thailand only a few short years ago. Thai massage therapists are in demand for working with everyone from performance athletes to stressed office workers and anyone seeking to find greater calm and improve their energy levels. In offering relief for such a wide range of current health issues, this art is as useful and valid to our age as it has been for thousands of years. I am convinced that the current increase in popularity of Thai yoga massage will continue in the years to come with more and more people experiencing the balancing benefits of a whole body Thai massage.
Thai massage is a powerful form of energy rebalancing and physical massage. A fusion of Ayurvedic bodywork from India and traditional Chinese medicine acupressure, it combines passive yoga techniques and spiritual commitment of working with "loving kindness". This approach of working intuitively and without judgement supports our body's natural inclination to heal itself.
According to the Eastern philosophy underlying Thai massage, the body is made up of an interconnecting web of energy lines through which prana, or life energy flows. This is the force that supports and maintains all the vital functions of the body. It permeates all life and sustains all living things. It is in the air that we breathe and the food that we eat. When this energy flows freely we enjoy mental, physical and spiritual health. If the energy lines become blocked and the flow of prana is interrupted, it causes disruption and imbalance throughout the system. So in Thai massage, your energy lines are stimulated by using pressure and passive stretches to maintain a free flow of energy through the whole body.
What is the secret of Thai bodywork?
The answer is that it enables you to press your muscles and to balance energy levels. This is what affects flexibility and equalizes the effects of muscles on both sides of the body. The amount of movement a muscle can produce at a joint is determined by the difference between its length when relaxed and when fully contracted. When muscles are tense, they become shorter, even when you are not consciously contracting them. This can happen through overworking them, by not using them enough or it could be due to emotional tension. Whatever the cause may be, the end result is progressively more restricted movement and the onset of stiffness, aches and pains which are all characteristic of the ageing process.
Muscles that shorten and become tense can create uneven forces on the spine, that all important container of the spinal cord. This in turn, creates the back pain, neck pain and headaches that can so easily become a regular feature of daily life. With it's unique ability to stretch all the most important muscles in the body systematically, Thai manipulations enable you to achieve effects which are unlike those of any other bodywork.
Touch is one of the greatest medicines.
It soothes, releases and comforts. Our wholeness is nourished by frequent and regular doses of this all-pervading medicine. In this context, wholeness includes spiritual and emotional aspects as well as the more easily observed physical ones. When looked at with a knowledge of Western medicine, it is easy to see how massage and manipulation can stimulate the flow of blood and lymph, warm the tissues, improve flexibility and ease pain, all of which are essentially physical.
Such is the power of touch that it also reaches far into the hidden recesses of our being. It has been shown that touch can result in the release of chemical substances within the nervous system called endorphins, which counteract pain and produce a powerful feeling of well-being.
Thai bodywork involves different forms of touch, pressing, stretching and twisting, which have been honed to perfection over the ages. Those who receive Thai bodywork regularly will experience feelings of relaxation, peace of mind, happiness, flexibility and youthfulness.
Pain is the biggest single obstacle to happiness and pain of any kind, at any level, is a reflection of imbalance. This results from too much of some things and not enough of others. The body will experience pain if, for example, it has too much rich food or too much violent exercise. But pains of no less magnitude will be experienced if insufficient food is eaten and no exercise is taken. Pain will also be experienced when the desires of the mind remain unfulfilled but equally intense pain will be felt when desire is so restricted that there is no driving force for any progress.
The quest for health should be regarded as the search for balance in every facet of our lives. Rest and relaxation are wonderful ways of calming the mind and body to help this balancing process which we commonly call "healing" and there are many things that we can do in our daily lives which can help to make it happen. Receiving Thai bodywork is one of them. Simultaneously, Thai bodywork can give a sublimely rhythmical workout that perfectly balances the body's need for movement and stretching, it also provides a relaxed state in which excessive worry and desire seem to evaporate away.
What to expect from a Thai massage session
A Thai Massage session is quite different from a traditional Western massage. It is practiced fully clothed on a comfortable mat and without any lotion or cream. Thai massage sessions also last a bit longer in order to fully treat the entire body — with 90 minutes to two hours being the average length (though 3 to 7 hours is not unheard of in Thailand!). During a Thai Massage, the therapist works with the client lying on their back, on their stomach, and on their side as well as in a seated position. The therapist uses her thumbs, hands, forearms, elbows, knees and feet to press points along the energetic pathways of the body. She also places the client in a number of gentle, passive stretches that further free up any energy blockages and release muscle tension. Thai Massage will leave you feeling balanced and relaxed yet also alert and energized. Long-term benefits include stress relief, increased flexibility, decreased muscle tension, and improved circulation.
Is Thai Massage for You?
Thai Massage truly is for everyone! My clients report loving the therapeutic and energizing aspects of Thai Massage. Many even say they prefer Thai Massage over any other style of massage they have tried!
Don't be intimidated by the stretching component of Thai Massage. Whether you find touching your toes a bit of a challenge or you are adept at the most challenging yoga poses, Thai massage is beneficial for all levels of flexibility and activity.
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5215 NE Elam Young Pkwy, Ste A
Hillsboro OR 97124
503-693-9101
9AM-6PM Mon-Fri
Evenings & Weekends by Appt
