Thai Massage Helps with Chronic Conditions

Today’s typical American is constantly on the go. All too often, rejuvenation is synonymous with powering up with venti lattes. And relaxation is relegated to those few precious hours between midnight and dawn. But we’re becoming more health conscious, which is why a growing number of Americans, with overall well-being on their minds, are now flocking to an ancient form of bodywork most Westerners have never heard about: Thai massage. 

Visualize This

You enter a sparse, dimly-lit room outfitted with a single mat. The space is serene with only soft music emanating from a sound system. You are lying on the mat, dressed in loose clothing, while the practitioner kneels in front of you and begins to carefully stretch your body. Over the course of the session, your body is strategically stretched, lengthened, and molded into several positions. All you have to do is breathe. Sound relaxing? It is, but relaxation is just one of the many benefits clients reap. 

What It Is

Thai massage is a centuries-old practice that is only now beginning to gain popularity in the United States. In fact, Thai massage therapists only began practicing here in 1984. The typical session runs anywhere from 90-120 minutes and is priced comparably to—or sometimes less than—a Western massage. 

Where the typical Western massage focuses mostly on the external physical body, the goal of Thai massage is to treat the whole person in his entirety and restore the client to a state of balance. Through acupressure, Hatha yoga and Ayurvedic medicine, Thai massage combines gentle, yoga-like stretching with massage of the muscles, tendons, pressure points and energy lines—also known as sen. 

The method is based on the philosophy that each human has an infinite number of energy channels running through the body. If these lines become blocked or broken, you are more susceptible to disease or injury and will experience various other symptoms because your body is not functioning properly.