Thai massage: a short guide to the ancient healing art
What is Thai massage?
Thai massage, or rather, bodywork is a physical therapy branch of traditional Thai medicine that Indian Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, and indigenous Thai healing practices have highly influenced.
Besides the most well-known traditional Thai massage itself, this bodywork system includes a number of other therapies such as hot herbal compress, aromatherapy, Tok Sen, barefoot trample, etc, massages. They are all done using deep stretches, pressure, and acupressure along energetic pathways in the body, which makes even the relaxing types of Thai massage really energy-boosting.
Thai therm “Nuad Thai” is commonly translated as “Thai Massage”, which often makes this practice erroneously equated to what is meant by “massage” in the Western world.
It is massage indeed, but so much more. Nuad Thai is an ancient healing art steeped in traditional Thai medical theory. As a key component of Thai traditional medicine, Thai massage has been used in Thailand for hundreds of years to treat and cure many health conditions.
Similarly to other oriental healing systems, Thai medicine is grounded on the idea that the human body, heart-mind, and spirit are not separate. This holistic approach assumes that each aspect affects others, so the most effective treatment must address the whole person.
That is why Thai Massage encompasses the use of spiritual practices or herbal therapy – it is aiming to release all physical, mental, and emotional blockages, tensions, and ailments at the same time.
Jivaka the ancient doctor and the origins of Thai Massage
The roots of Thai massage are traced back over 2,500 years to Jivaka Kumarabhaccha, a legendary physician in ancient India. He was a friend and contemporary of Buddha and developed an integral lifestyle system for the Buddha’s followers who desired to become enlightened sages (Rishi). This system consisting of self-stretching and breathing exercises, self-massage, acupressure, special diet, mantras, visualization, and meditation is still in use and called now Ascetic Yoga in English or Ruesi Dadton (“Hermit Exercise”) in Thai.
Statue of Jivaka Komarabhacca in Wat Yan Nasangwararam Woramahawihan, Pattaya. In Thailand, Jivaka is most often portrayed as a Caucasian man with a white beard, wearing a white robe and prayer beads, and holding a medicine bowl or herbs in his hands. He may also have a halo around his head or lotus flowers around him, symbolizing his holiness and wisdom.
Jivaka’s holistic teaching spread outside of India together with Buddhism. The temples were its home and the monks were its main practitioners who inherited the sacred medical texts orally and supplemented them with local wisdom. For millennia, Indian Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine have evolved out of this knowledge. In the 13th century, Buddhism established itself in the first Thai states, Sukhothai and Lanna, and original Thai medicine also began to take shape.
“Om namo Shivago silasa ahang karuniko” – “We invite the spirit of our founder, the Father Doctor Jivaka”
From those ancient times, we have had several stone inscriptions and bas-reliefs containing some details about temple healing practices, like herb massage accompanied by dietary advice and spiritual counseling. They show that massage techniques had similar counterparts in basic yoga poses invented by Jivaka, and the most skilled therapists could become royal servants and even be granted titles and properties. Unfortunately, most such artifacts were destroyed in 1767 by the Burmese invaders.
To reclaim ancient curative art, in 1832 King Rama III ordered to collect the surviving texts and inscribe them in stone epigraphs on the walls of Wat Pho temple complex in Bangkok. Eighty statues representing Hermit Exercises were also placed there. Wat Pho became a knowledge and educational center for those who wish to learn more about Thai Massage and traditional Thai medicine.
Ruesi Dadton (Hermit Exercise) statues at Wat Pho
In the late 19th century, these texts were translated from Pali and Sanskrit languages into Thai, organized and complemented by some knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, then the most influenced in East Asia. The resulting unique form of bodywork incorporating yoga-like stretches, acupressure, and reflexology was called nûuat boh-raan (“traditional massage”).
The monopoly of Wat Pho had persisted for many decades, but over time there have been other schools and modalities of Thai bodywork emerged – for example, the Northern style in Chiang Mai or Lanna folk massage (no, it’s not the same). They share the same principles and revere Jivaka as the Father Doctor of Thai medicine and thus Thai massage, but may differ in techniques and approaches.
The foundation of Indian, Chinese, Thai, and other traditional Asian medicines rooted in ancient yoga teaching is the concept of Vital Energy. Designated as Prana in Sanskrit, Qi in Chinese, and Lom (“Wind”) in Thai, this life force flows freely through the body along the invisible energy pathways called in these languages Nadi channels, Acupuncture meridians, and Sen lines, respectively.
In Thai massage theory, there are 72 000 Sen lines in the body, but only 10 main ones can be used in curative practice. They connect the center of the body located deep in the abdomen near the navel to the sensory and excretory orifices and the extremities.
10 energy lines that converge in the abdomen: why Thai massage therapist focuses on your navel
Health issues are the manifestations of disturbances and imbalances of the energy flow, which can be caused by both external (cold, heat, infection, etc) and internal factors. For example, a sharp Wind triggered by a traumatic event could result in a mental disorder, because at some point it starts mixing and resonating with blood and lymph circulation.
But the reverse is more frequent. Most often, the life energy is insufficient due to the blockage of energy pathways, and the purpose of Thai massage is “to open the Wind Gates”, i.e. to stimulate the flow of Lom through the Sen. It is done by using pressing, compression, and stretching techniques – similar as Chinese energy meridians are stimulated by pressure and acupuncture to realign the person’s Qi.
But not just that.
Spiritual aspect of Thai massage
Thai massage, at its essence, is a spiritual practice closely related to Buddhist meditation. Its overall effect depends largely on the state of mind of both the giver and the receiver.
The giver works in a meditative way, slowly and rhythmically. He or she keeps their mind empty of thought and concentrates on the deep breath and the subtle energies on their hands and on the other parts of the body that come into contact with the recipient.
Moreover, the therapist should develop through special meditations and prayers the four Buddhist states of mind which are loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. During the work, he or she conveys a sense of peace and love to the patient through the healing touch.
The Four Divine Abodes: сan a non-Buddhist ever be a true Thai massage therapist?
Initially affecting the physical body, a state of complete relaxation is gradually reaching the emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies of the receiver. It brings the patient to go into a sublime state of calmness, happiness, and wellness of being. This sensation of conscious deep sleep, yet you remain awake, is typically induced by a guided meditation.
During yogic sleep, the brain waves are damped, and thinking, time, and space disappear – while the parasympathetic nervous system is stimulated to release relaxation hormones, which reduce cortisol levels and lower blood pressure. On a deeper level, the process of self-healing takes place.
Key bodywork techniques
In Western medical science, the physiological explanation behind “Opening the Wind Gate” is that it is, to put it simply, the body’s relaxation response triggered by calming of the nervous system in conjunction with the simultaneous stimulation of the circulation system. Indeed, with regard to the physical body of a person, the main objective of Thai massage session is to boost the patient’s blood and lymph flow.
The activation of blood circulation is mainly achieved by massage techniques known as “blood stop” or “warming the body”, which works in a similar way to regular yoga poses. Staying in a certain pose, a yogi and yogini can delimit the blood flow to the targeted area. When the pose is released, the circulation flows back and hyper-oxygenated tissues experience a surge of energy. The plow, shoulder stand, and spinal twist yoga positions are particularly effective with blood circulation, while the inverted poses can help with lymphatic drainage.
Thai massage is often described as “passive yoga” as the practitioner places the patient into a similar yoga-like postures and stretches, applying pressure with their palms feet, knees, elbows, or forearms to specific acupressure points of the major arteries that feed the extremities. This pressing is usually maintained for 5-15 seconds, and then released.
The choice of certain points, strength, duration, rhythm, and sequence of the compression is the very art of healing that requires serious training and extensive experience from a therapist. Depending on the purpose of the procedure and clinical picture, Thai massage practitioner can just carefully overlay the bloodstream in the primary artery – or, alternatively, reroute it to the smaller arteries (arterioles), which have a very developed middle, muscular layer and therefore require using much force.
Either way, after the “Gate” is opened, a sharp inflow of fresh, oxygen-enriched blood is pumped into the deeper layers of cell tissues and extremities. Flushing through the arteries, capillaries, and veins, the “Wind” normalizes tissue respiration, removes waste and stagnant blood, strengthens the walls of the vessels, enhances mental responses, and generally has a regenerating and revitalizing effect.
A blood-stop procedure is accompanied by the dispersion of the lymph along the energy lines, which is carried out by pressing, compression, stretching, and tissue manipulations. It is clear from the above, why such smoothing, rubbing bodywork techniques as effleurage and petrissage, commonly applied in Swedish massage, are absent in Thai massage.
Types of Thai massages
That’s why there are many types of Thai massages out there. Each type has its own objectives and techniques. There are many types of Thai massage techniques. Each is designed to target a different part of the body. It’s a misconception that Thai massage is just for back and shoulders; it stimulates all the muscles in your body from head to toe.
Nuat Phaen Boran: the most common type of Thai massage
Nuat Naam Man: the most relaxing type of Thai massage
Nuat Luk Pra Kob: the most sophisticated type of Thai massage
Given the history of Thai massage, it may be unsurprising, perhaps, that there are now two styles of Thai massage: the royal style and the commoner’s style. The royal style was traditionally used to massage aristocrats and royalty. This type of massage is gentler and more elegant, using only hands, unlike the commoner’s style, which also employs the feet, knees, and elbows.
The royal style also requires the recipient of the massage to either sit up or to lay on their backs or side, but never uncomfortably on their stomach. The commoner’s style, which is more likely what one gets requesting a Thai massage, can be less gentle, and, as aforementioned, in this style, the massage therapist may also use parts of his or her body viewed as a little less refined: feet, knees, and elbows. This is the style of massage featured at Wat Pho.
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