Oraya Thai Massage and Spa, The spa for your good health.

THAI MASSAGE

The massage recipient changes into loose, comfortable clothes and lies on a mat or firm mattress on the floor. It can be done solo or in a group of a dozen or so patients in the same large room. The receiver may be positioned in a variety of yoga-like positions during the course of the massage, but deep static and rhythmic pressures form the core of the massage.

The massage practitioner leans on the recipient's body using hands and usually straight forearms locked at the elbow to apply firm rhythmic pressure. The massage generally follows designated lines (Sen) in the body. Legs and feet of the giver can be used to fixate the body or limbs of the recipient. In other positions, hands fixate the body, while the feet do the massaging action. A full Thai massage session typically lasts two hours or more, and includes rhythmic pressing and stretching of the entire body; this may include pulling fingers, toes, ears, cracking the knuckles, walking on the recipient's back, and manipulating the recipients body into many different positions. There is a standard procedure and rhythm to the massage, which the practitioner will adjust to fit each individual client.

The founder of Thai massage and medicine is said to have been Shivago Komarpaj, who is said in the Pāli Buddhist Canon to have been the Buddha's physician over 2,500 years ago. In fact, the history of Thai massage is more complex than this legend of a single founder would suggest. Thai massage, like TTM more generally, is a combination of influences from Indian, Chinese, Southeast Asian cultural spheres and traditions of medicine, and the art as it is practiced today is likely to be the product of a 19th-century synthesis of various healing traditions from all over the kingdom.[3] Even today, there is considerable variation from region to region across Thailand, and no single routine or theoretical framework that is universally accepted among healers.

credit : wikipedia.org

 Benefits of Thai Massage

Community 

Thai massage improves bonding within the family. It has long been a traditional custom that children massage the elders, and the elders help each other when there is need to soothe and relieve of love and caring between giver and recipient. This is an alternate method for showing love to one another as Thais are neither used to, nor comfortable with direct expressions of love and affection by overt touching.

Health Care

Thai massage helps the recipient maintain health and wellness. It is an ancient tool employed to combat common ailments, increase the effectiveness of body movement and benefit the physiological system. Thai massage also helps in longevity due to a strengthening of the body's immune system and balanced life energy. 

 Prevention

The techniques used in Thai massage prepare the body to ward off bed sores (pressure wounds that occur when a patient lies in one position too long), muscle weakness, headaches, dysmenorrheal (menstrual cramps), constipation, indigestion, stress, and other conditions.

 Healing

Thai massage can also relieve pain, sprains and inflammation of the muscles, tendons and joints, as well as reduce stiffness of joints, increase muscle strength and improve mobility.

Rehabilitation

Thai massage is used to stimulate paralyzed muscles. It can help improve circulation and function and maintain muscle strength. It has also been effectively applied in the rehabilitation of handicapped children and is used at the Foundation for Children with Disabilities in Bangkok. The center trains parents of handicapped children to perform Thai massage on them. The children's ability to perform tasks by themselves improves more quickly with Thai massage. This may be due to the therapeutic effects of human touch combined with the effect of massage on life energy. It has been seen that after receiving on-going Thai massage therapy, some children are able to sit up and some are even able to feed themselves.

 Benefit to the Body, Mind and Spirit

Body

The application of Thai massage using direct pressure on muscles over most of the body, combined with stretching to further stimulate the musculoskeletal system including joints, bones, nerves, ligaments, and lymphatic system benefits all five physiological body systems.
          1. Circulation system : Improves blood circulation, lowers heart rate, increases the temperature in the area being massaged, increases lymphatic circulation, reduces edema (swelling). 
          2. Musculoskeletal system : Improves muscle strength and effectiveness, relieves muscle tension, removes toxins from muscle mass, relaxes the tendons and enhances elasticity, increases joint mobility and flexibility, and reduces stiffness.
          3. Nervous system : Stimulates and improves activity of the nerves and sensations with the effects of reducing pain, enhancing sensation to the skin, and improving the function of the internal organs such as stomach, intestines etc.
          4. Respiratory system : Improves depth of breathing and relaxation.
          5. Digestive system : Increases elasticity of digestive tract and stomach movement, prevents and relieves indigestion.

Mind

Thai massage induces a sense of total relaxation in the recipient, thus reducing the stress of daily chores or a hectic environment. In some recipients, this highly positive stress-relief effect may go beyond the present and penetrate into deep, past emotional scars and help release them.

Spirit

As to the spiritual benefits, Thai massage is based on the elements of life and Sen Sib (life energy). It has a tremendous positive impact on the spirit, particularly when the masseur also concentrates on the energy flow while performing the massage. When pressure is applied to each point to awaken the energy through Sen Sib, coupled with a gentle, smooth movement during the transition of each sequence, combined with the union of breath between giver and the open-minded recipient, such sacred harmonious union will bring the masseur and recipient close to a tranquil meditative state and become one.

from The book "Thai Massage the Thai Way"