Thai Retreats Information, Thai Massage

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Traditional Thai Medicine

Thai Massage

Another ancient Thai Healing Therapy is the prakop, or hot herbal compresses made of medicinal herbs.

Perhaps the most well-known and popular body treat for visitors to Thailand is the traditional Thai massage, which is in fact a holistic therapy with ancient roots in traditional medicine. It has been practiced as a form of healing for centuries. Like many aspects of Thai culture, traditional Thai massage derivers its origins from the culture of ancient India, and arrived in Thailand through Buddhist missionary monks who were trained as healers.

The traditional massage techniques spread into the country with the spread of Buddhist faith and gained popularity for its ability to relieve ailments like backaches, headaches, tension, and fevers. Thai massage technique is linked to the ancient Indian yoga philosophy that our life energy is supplied to us along 72,000 lines that run along our bodies. That explains why some of the stretching posses of Thai massage resemble the stretching poses of yoga. Thai massage focuses on ten key energy lines along the body and uses pressure to release the blocked energy along these.

Unlike western massages, Thai massage doesn’t use oils and the client remains fully clothed. The client is supplied with a loose fitting cotton pajamas and the massage is done on a mattress on the floor. The masseuse uses his or her thumbs, arms, elbows, knees and feet, and may climb all over the body and even walk on the back. The masseuse uses pressure and stretching techniques, done in a rhythmic, rocking motion.

A Thai massage session usually lasts two hours, during which most people fall into a relaxing sleep, but towards the end of the massage they awaken to be twisted, stretched, and flipped backwards while the body is stretched into yoga poses by the masseuse.

Selection of Thai Massage

Thai Herbal Steam
Aside from Thai massage, a number of the treatments offered in Thai spas come from the same ancient healing tradition. The use of heat therapies combined with herbal ingredients is a distinguishing trait of traditional Thai healing practices.

Thai Herbal Compress (Lukprakop)
Another ancient Thai healing therapy is the prakop, or hot herbal compresses made of medicinal herbs wrapped in a bundle of cloth, heated with steam and then pounded on the aching areas of the body, like tense shoulders or stiff joints.

Uniquely Thai Ingredients
Generations of Thais have long know that certain herbs, roots and flowers have specific abilities to rejuvenate the body and nourish the skin and hair.