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Learning Thai Massage : Primary Considerations

What makes for a good Thai massage, or any massage for that matter? Yes, the techniques are highly important and the genius of systems such as Shiatzu and Thai massage is that they have been refined by highly intuitive masters over the centuries so as to give us the most suitable ways to connect with the other person, to read their energy and to influence the flow of this energy in a balancing and positive way.

First and foremost though, on the part of every practitioner that is just starting out, is the ability to listen, to tune into what the person in front of you is experiencing. What are they feeling as they are lying there? What are they feeling as you establish contact with them via your hands or other parts of your body? Are they tensing up, are they relaxing, is there no reaction at all?

With very few exceptions, if there is no reaction at all, you are not listening enough! As time goes by and you gain experience, your ability to listen, to open yourself up, to let go of your own inner dialog, to be right here, right now and be totally aware of what is coming in through your antennae, your fingertips, will increase dramatically.

Don’t ever let your massage become commonplace. Don’t ever see this specific massage that you are starting on, right now, as being merely number three on day four of your workweek as a Thai massage practitioner!

There is only one massage in your life and that is the one you are about to give at this moment, right now. It’s the most important massage of your life! A meteor may hit you in an hour and this might be your last opportunity to give, to share, to listen and help another human being by means of this special gift you have, this tactile awareness that allows you to connect with another in a way and at a depth that most other people cannot.

As beautiful as lovemaking can be, massage can be just as beautiful and in many ways even deeper, since if you do it right, your “self’ vanishes for a time. As much as we may be “in love” with the person we are “making love” to, how often are we doing so selflessly, without expectations, preferences, fantasies or other assorted mind-clutter?

Why the comparison with lovemaking? Both activities involve two people interacting and communicating with each other and both should come from a position of loving and giving. Done properly, in both experiences there is a merging, a becoming one. At the core of many religions lies the realization that we are one with all of creation and that, if we hurt someone, we are hurting ourselves, if we give to someone, we are giving to ourselves. As much as this might seem to make sense when seen as words on a page, how can you put this into practice in your daily life? Theory is often a beautiful but barren thing.

You can get there right now, right here, by means of touching, by relaxing your own body, aside from the structural support you need to hold yourself up and by directing some of your weight gently into the receiver of the massage. By letting all your awareness go to the tips of your fingers. What could be more important than love? A good massage is an expression of love. A great massage is an intimate dance with the universe.

Keeping Thai Massage Pure

Looks like I may be heading for controversy yet again. How necessary is it to keep your system pure? In Thailand for instance, social norms dictate that the massage is given fully dressed. Right, now assume you are also somewhat skilled at Swedish massage. Let’s say that the person coming to you complains of having a very sore back.

If you think that you will be able to help this person to a greater degree by working on the back with both Thai massage techniques AND Swedish massage techniques, then should you not be doing so, time permitting?
Should you stick to the Thai techniques only, since it would otherwise not be a “real Thai massage”? Depends on what your desired outcome is, I suppose. If you want to demonstrate your mastery of the traditional Thai sequence and curriculum, then there is no place in your massage for any techniques that are not part of the Thai tradition. If your priority is to help your client, you will use whatever you think might be useful in achieving this goal.

There are situations where the fully clothed nature of Thai massage is of definite advantage, for instance when doing on-site massages at a business. It makes it so much easier if clients in such a situation do not need to get undressed and you do not need to use any oils, so in this context it is thus best to stick with the traditional Thai format. Note, however, that this is because of the situational context and not because of some kind of impulse towards conformity.

Coming from a western, scientific and rational point of view, there is no conflict here. When you initially learn a massage system, it should be taught as a coherent whole. There is nothing however that need prevent you from learning other techniques that are compatible with Thai massage. As long as the techniques or their effects do not clash, as long as the total is greater than the sum of its parts (i.e. a “Gestalt”), then performance is the only valid criterion.

From an Eastern, Confucian worldview, tradition, form and “face” are the glue that holds society together and prevents anarchy from breaking out. The creative spirit of the individual is secondary to centuries of tradition. A better mousetrap may catch more mice, but it is often unacceptable because it breaks with this tradition. Nonetheless, having said this, with all of our scientific achievements, the Western world did not come up with subtle energy-based bodywork or movement systems such as Thai massage, Tai Chi, Shiatzu or Yoga.

So credit needs to be given where credit is due. We need to be thankful for the knowledge that was so willingly given to us. We need to ensure that what we are doing is not in conflict with the techniques, concepts or spirit of the art. At the end of the day, however, as 21st century world citizens we owe it to our clients and to ourselves to ensure that we are giving the best massage treatments possible and we need to keep learning and exploring, testing and integrating so as to make this a reality.

Thai massage techniques versus other methods: My system is better than your system

An open and aware massage giver will always give a better massage than a “Paint-by-numbers” technician giving a competent massage using a massage system which is hypothetically the “world’s best”.

There’s no such animal. There are only systems that have been refined over time by a great number of people who expanded on the original concept by coming from a place of awareness whilst using the techniques they learnt from their teachers. The depth of the original concept is dependent on the vision of the creator. If the creator of the massage system saw the body as a mechanical system of levers and pulleys that function optimally when in a hypothetical perfect alignment, then that will in all likelihood be as deep as it will ever get.

Awareness is limitless and infinite. The self-help motto to the effect that the mind is like a parachute, working best when open applies as much and more with regards to awareness. You can work with structure or you can work with energy, but when you think about it, it makes sense that you should work with both. We are physical beings. Yes, it is possible to work with energy only, but you are leaving aside half of the equation. Similarly it is possible to work with muscle tissue and bone only, but a body that has no life energy is technically known as a corpse.

Therefore, a system that focuses on only one of these two factors is buying into the preferences of its Founder or of the society within which the system originated. This does not mean that you need to forcefully override your personal or social beliefs. In many Eastern countries for instance, nudity is not seen as something that you would want outside your private quarters, therefore a deep tissue massage with oils would be difficult simply because both the giver and receiver might be too uncomfortable and tense to make it work. Breaking the social taboo would simply create too much tension.

Similarly, if you have a rabidly scientific worldview, you might deny the existence of an energy body, all recent evidence to the contrary. You might therefore not be able to conceive of anything happening beyond a purely physical level. You would thus be feeling and listening for physical reactions only.

It also makes sense to adjust your massage to the situation or to the relationship you have with the client. If you are giving an on-site massage at a commercial business, the clients remaining dressed is simply more appropriate. Similarly, a client that has just started with you or that prefers a dressed massage would best be treated with one. The level of trust and openness between giver and receiver should probably determine the boundaries of the massage, that plus the needs of the client.

So, to get back to this occasional question as to which system is best, the answer is clearly that, as long as the system is a good one, the ability of it’s practitioner makes for whether a massage is superb, adequate or mediocre.