| Like most of the best things in my life, Thailand | | | | migration persists. Thanks to an initial handful of |
| and Thai Yoga Bodywork arrived as surprises. | | | | pioneers, Thai massage has landed here in the |
| On a May afternoon six years ago, I sat with a | | | | United States where it adapts without |
| friend and a couple of cappuccinos at The | | | | compromising tradition. Here, such adaptations |
| Hungarian Pastry Shop in New York City's Upper | | | | assume the names of "Thai Yoga Massage," "Thai |
| West Side. I was a senior at Barnard College at | | | | Yoga Therapy," "Traditional Thai Massage," and |
| the time, catching up with a former high school | | | | "Thai Yoga Bodywork." One of these initial |
| teacher who was in the neighborhood. That fall he | | | | pioneers, Jonas Westring, serves as the director |
| would be heading over to Chiang Mai, Thailand to | | | | of Thai Yoga Healing Arts/Shantaya and leads |
| serve as the headmaster of an international | | | | workshops and certification trainings around the |
| boarding school. He told me that one of the | | | | world. As a yoga practitioner and teacher, as well |
| teachers lined up to join him there had | | | | as a physical therapist, Westring has spent much |
| unexpectedly backed out. Knowing both my thirst | | | | of his life traveling and studying in Asia. It comes |
| for travel and that my graduation was imminent, | | | | as no surprise, then, that Westring finds Thai |
| by the last sip of our coffees he had offered me | | | | massage to be the perfect container for melding |
| the newly vacant teaching position. "I don't mean | | | | Eastern and Western perspectives. Within his take |
| to rush you," he concluded, "but I need to know | | | | on the theme, "Thai Yoga Bodywork," Westring |
| your decision within forty-eight hours." | | | | reveals, "I marry biomechanics and yoga into the |
| As an African Studies major, the only things I | | | | Thai tradition." While his clinical background compels |
| associated with Thailand at the time were rice | | | | him to keep safety a high priority, Westring |
| fields and elephants. Clearly I had some research | | | | laughs that it's really about "yoga, yoga, yoga." |
| to do. A walk down to 86th Street and | | | | "By bringing in the yogic perspective for both |
| Broadway's Barnes and Noble's travel section led | | | | recipient and giver," he adds, "It's a great place to |
| me to The Lonely Planet. Turning to the chapter | | | | introduce people to yoga and to maintain my own |
| on Chiang Mai, I learned that it was a city in the | | | | practice." |
| country's mountainous north, it had a yoga | | | | Using Thai Yoga as a self-help modality for the |
| studio-and, best of all-I could get a two hour | | | | giver makes Westring's approach unique. After |
| massage for a measly $6. With that, I closed the | | | | waking up at 4:30 or 5 in the morning and then |
| book, needing to know no more. That evening I | | | | working eight to nine hours a day as a physical |
| accepted the job. This was no mistake; for from | | | | therapy assistant in Mattawan, MI, Colleen |
| this decision evolved an unexpected love affair | | | | Potter-Burton, a student of Westring's, still |
| with Thailand and its healing art, traditional Thai | | | | motivates to find time for her Thai Bodywork |
| massage. | | | | practice in the evenings. What makes this possible, |
| Upon arriving in Chiang Mai for the first time, I | | | | she urges, is, "When you're going back to |
| caught onto a few things very quickly: Thailand's | | | | diaphragmatic breathing and connecting your |
| cuisine is mind-boggling delicious; everyone seemed | | | | breath to the receiver's, by the end of giving a |
| to be smiling; and Thai massage is ubiquitous! | | | | two hour session I feel really wonderful!" |
| Within my first 72 hours as an expatriate, I | | | | And helping oneself does not negate helping |
| experienced my first Thai massage. Having only | | | | another. Maggie Hopson, also one of Westring's |
| received Swedish and deep tissue massages, I | | | | students, is a physical therapist, yoga instructor, |
| didn't quite know what to expect: but as I am | | | | and co-owner of High Desert Physical Therapy |
| never one to decline an adventure, I succumbed | | | | and Sports Rehabilitation in Winslow, Arizona. Thai |
| willingly. Ensuing were two decadent hours of lying | | | | Yoga Bodywork, she says, has "added a new |
| on a floor mat in a borrowed cotton tank top and | | | | dimension to how I approach rehabbing patients. |
| pants and being pressed, rocked, twisted and | | | | In the past I would work on single joints, but this |
| stretched into the most ingenious of shapes and | | | | helped me to look at people more holistically." |
| possibilities. I left feeling much like I do after | | | | Patients with injuries such as a torn ACL-- and |
| practicing yoga: grounded and bright. Amazing! I | | | | even those with more severe movement |
| was hooked-and puzzled, left wondering, "What | | | | disorders like as Parkinson's, Rheumatoid arthritis, |
| was that?!" | | | | and Lupus-- benefit from Hopson's integrated |
| I soon learned that Traditional Thai Massage | | | | approach. "These people feel great afterwards," |
| (known as nuad boran in northern Thailand) | | | | she gushes, "Other patients in the clinic see this |
| arrived in Thailand approximately 2,500 years ago | | | | and are saying, 'Why aren't you doing that to |
| after its birth in India through Dr. Jivaka Kumar | | | | me?!' " |
| Bhacca, personal physician to the Buddha. Today, | | | | But Hopson knows that applying advanced body |
| Thais continue to honor Dr. Jivaka as the "Father | | | | manipulation techniques to injured individuals can |
| of Healing" in Thai medicine. Once landing in | | | | be dicey. While her studies with other Thai |
| Thailand, this healing art thrived in Buddhist | | | | massage teachers have concerned Hopson due to |
| temples, where lay people would come for healing. | | | | their lack of emphasis on anatomy, Hopson |
| From there, it spread out into villages where | | | | appreciates Westring's mindful and scientific |
| children treated their elders at the end of long | | | | approach. "Jonas teaches safety first," she says, |
| days working in rice fields. | | | | "and that you need to keep a clear mind so you |
| Due to its migration, Traditional Thai massage | | | | can sense resistance in the tissues and joints." |
| consists of a fusion of multi-cultural healing | | | | On a larger scale, safety is a real issue as Thai |
| disciplines such as yoga, Ayurveda, Buddhist | | | | massage's popularity soars higher today than ever |
| meditation, traditional Thai medicine, and Traditional | | | | before. Some practitioners are more skilled than |
| Chinese Medicine. From this fusion arises | | | | others, and the reality is that people are getting |
| interactive bodywork that combines deep tissue | | | | injured. In addition, with so many people practicing, |
| compression, acupressure and reflexology, energy | | | | there is concern about the integrity of the |
| line work, toning of internal organs, energy | | | | traditional form fading into extinction. Bob Haddad, |
| balancing, range-of-motion exercises, and assisted | | | | a practitioner in Chapel Hill, N.C., has responded to |
| Hatha yoga postures. These techniques address | | | | these concerns by creating the non-profit |
| muscles, connective tissue, joints, and the more | | | | organization, Thai Healing Alliance International |
| ephemeral 10 major energy lines (or "Sen," similar | | | | (THAI). THAI aims to build more cohesiveness |
| to the nadis in the yogic system). A typical | | | | amongst practitioners and standardize certification. |
| session runs around 2 hours. During this time, a | | | | Basic membership requires a minimum of 30 |
| Thai therapist uses her palms, thumbs, feet, | | | | training hours and evidence of an ongoing practice. |
| elbows, forearms, and knees on a lucky recipient | | | | Yet beneath the techniques, certification |
| who is configured in some or all of five positions: | | | | requirements, and rapid growth, the irresistible |
| supine, prone, side-lying, inverted, and seated. | | | | magic of Thai massage lives on. What keeps an |
| Relaxation, rejuvenation, and well-being follow. | | | | old pro like Westring still going back for more? He |
| Today, to the delight of many, Thai massage's | | | | concurs with the masses: "It feels good. |