Sponsored by
ANCIENT THAI TREATMENT A MASSAGE WITH ATTITUDE!
Any ideas I harboured that a Thai massage would be a relaxing time smothered in oils and struggling to stay awake, were quickly shattered.
Any ideas I harboured that a Thai massage would be a relaxing time smothered in oils and struggling to stay awake, were quickly shattered.This is a massage with attitude!
Your body is pulled and stretched into positions you never thought were actually possible and there's definitely no chance of 40 winks.
Thai massage makes you work as I quickly found out when Lisa Whitehead of Calma – an holistic therapy and natural healing centre in Blue Court, Grantham – put me through the massage mill.
Commonly known as passive yoga, Thai massage combines asana (yoga positions), acupressure, refloxology and techniques of gentle rocking, deep stretching and compression.
It works on just 10 of the body's 72,000 energy lines or Sen which are similar to the Chinese meridians or acupressure points.
A normal session lasts for two hours after a health questionnaire to check for contra-indications.
She said: "This massage is used by Thai monks and they see it as a treatment for general well-being but it can also be used to maximise the body's performance."
The massage is carried out on the floor rather than a table and is accompanied by traditional Thai music.
Lisa began by approaching me from the left as is always done with women because it symbolises their nurturing and caring energy.
She started work on my feet and legs applying pressure to certain points along the Sen lines using her hands, feet and elbows.
This was relaxing and the same was done on the arms and hands working up each side of the body in turn.
Lisa found the femoral artery in each of my thighs and the 'sore point' in my shoulders and applied deep pressure to cut off the blood supply. Quite alarming at first, but it is done to flush out veins and once the pressure was released a warm feeling rushed through my limbs.
My stomach was rumbling but Lisa assured me it indicated energy had begun to flow around my body.
She gently massaged it creating huge warmth over the area. While working on my tum and back Lisa used her body weight to manoeuvre me into different yoga positions.
I also got used as a seat. Lying on my front I had to point my lower legs towards the ceiling so Lisa could sit on my feet and reach the Sen lines in my upper back.
Having practised yoga for a number of years, I found it quite easy to be put into the different positions but wondered if less flexible people would be as comfortable with it.
Lisa said: "With Thai massage it doesn't matter how flexible you are because I can feel the resistance when putting people into the positions. I know how far they can go and would never stretch them further than is safe."
The massage ended by concentrating on my head, neck and face which was the most relaxing and peaceful part.
At the end, Lisa chants in Thai 'We pray for the one whom we touch, that he will be happy and any illness will be released from him'.
Afterwards I felt energised and my posture really did seem to have improved.
Lisa said it is possible to grow up to an inch after a Thai massage but unfortunately for me I did not experience this side effect and remained just 5ft 3in.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Grantham
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: East
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.