One of the aspects I love most about Thai bodywork is the integration of herbal therapies into treatments. While my herbal tool kit includes balms and liniments for heating, for cooling, for injury, for calming, for stagnation, for nourishing, and the list goes on… Thai herbal compresses remain a go to tool in almost every … Continue reading Make the Most of Your Herbal Compress
Sitting cross-legged on a hardwood floor, I listened to my teacher’s voice as he instructed me and the other students surrounding me in a specific method of breathing in and breathing out. The method took great concentration, especially for a beginner, which I was. When he said we would practice some breathing exercises, my first … Continue reading Now, do it again
In order for stretching to be an effective tool for easing aches and pains, it should first be used only in cases where it is indicated. As I wrote a few months ago in an article for massage therapists, according to Traditional Thai Medicine, stretching is indicated when the tissue layer of the body is tight. … Continue reading When stretching helps, and when it hurts
As an advocate for spending more time on the floor, I was thrilled to be recently introduced to the original yoga prop: the strap. Unlike the modern version of a yoga strap, which is frequently used as a prop in Indian hatha yoga classes for a variety of purposes, the original yoga strap was usually … Continue reading Old Ways for Modern Times
Of course, it was the stretching part of Thai Massage that wowed me first. Like any dynamic, innovative and visually stunning rock star, the stretches in Thai Massage are certainly worth falling for. And many do, practitioners and clients alike. Thai Massage in general, but especially the stretching, is so different and feels so great that it seems to be exactly … Continue reading When Stretching is Indicated in Thai Massage
Whatever you touch touches you back. This is Newton’s third law of motion and reflective of the very nature of our touch sense organ: the skin. Covering every inch of our bodies, the skin is our outer barrier; it lets things in and it lets things out. It is both a sender and a receiver of information (among other things). When … Continue reading Touch goes both ways
I dream of giving all of my living room furniture to Goodwill and replacing it with a few low tables, a couple of floor mats and an assortment of cushions. I want to spend more time on the floor. On the floor, I can put my legs up the wall while I read. Or, I … Continue reading More on the floor
One of the (so many) things I love most about Thai Massage is that it’s practical. You don’t need a special massage surface or sheets or oils or any fancy equipment to help someone feel better. All they need is you and all you need is them. Sometimes, you don’t even need them! You just need … Continue reading Keep it freshly squeezed
Staring into my plate of half-eaten breakfast, I wondered if I had the strength for what came next. Last time, I sweated, whined and writhed in discomfort as my Thai Massage Therapist sank his forearms into my anterior lower leg, which rested securely in his lap. “Can I go deeper?” he asked. “A little,” I … Continue reading Massaging the person who shows up
Often, what my clients see when I give a Thai Massage are the efforts of my physical body as I move around the mat, maneuvering their own bodies into various shapes, shifting my weight forward to apply pressure or leaning back to traction a joint. “Wow!” they say, “You are basically working out all day … Continue reading The true definition of holistic health
The Iron Bird Way 