When the fitness revolution started in the seventies, everything was all about getting out and moving. We had seen the results of too many sedentary jobs and easily available processed, fattening food. Obesity and heart attacks were on the rise. There was a movement towards lowfat food, and high energy workouts.
Most people started with jogging and then branched out into various forms of exercises and activities like martial arts yoga aerobics classes and so forth. In the 80’s our body work industry grew right along with this movement. A new breed of therapist was born. As massage therapists we wanted to establish a modern, professional reputation for increasing wellness while utilizing time honored ancient techniques. Tai massage is one of the modalities that has withstood the test of time. It helps people regain mobility in the joints and spine…yet the benefits extend beyond that.
What is Tai Massage: “ “Thai yoga massage” is an ancient healing system combining acupressure, Indian Ayurvedic principles, and assisted yoga postures. The founding father of Thai massage was an Ayurvedic doctor named Jivaka Kumar Bhacca, who is revered still in Thailand as the “father of medicine”. Born in India during the time of the Buddha, he is noted in ancient documents for his extraordinary medical skills, his knowledge of herbal medicine, and for having treated important people of his day, including the Buddha himself.[1]”
The body has an amazing design to distribute its fluids through the lymphatic system. Massage therapy helps to decongest the areas that are prohibiting flow .You see, when fluids stay trapped in an area they become toxic and concentrated, that burning, aching feeling sedentary people get use to feeling after awhile is a sign that they are congested.
Eventually this congestion of the lymphatic system can lead to congestive heart failure or the hardening of organs such as the heart kidney or liver. When a massage therapy like tai massage is performed it is a very active event. It’s not one where you lie face down on a table.Don’t expect a passive massage with this therapist. She is going to pull on you and stretch you and manually move fluids and release toxins that have hardened around the congestion. You may need a hot Epsom salt bath and a big bottle of water or soup and a nice nap to let your body digest what has just happened.
It’s the kind of work that keep working after a treatment. Now the body is free to do what it divinely designed to do..heal itself. You may actually feel a little worse right after treatment, but over the next few days you will notice a big difference.
