Thai Massage and Yoga are Members Belonging to the Same Family

Thai Massage and Yoga are closely connected since they share the same origin. Over 2000 years ago an Indian physician came to Thailand and brought Thai massage with him. He brought with him his knowledge of yoga and yoga therapy. In the West the term Thai Yoga Massage is often used which is actually very appropriate.

The practice of yoga asanas did not make it in Thailand. Thailand does have a version of yoga, but it never became popular and hardly anyone practices it. The Indian doctor taught the Thais yoga and yoga therapy, but only the yoga therapy developed into Thai massage, whereas the self practice yoga never caught on. In the last decade Westerners have set up many flourishing yoga schools in Thailand, but the students are all from outside of Thailand. It is only in the last few years that some Thais have taken an interest in the Indian version of yoga, and nowadays there are also yoga schools for Thais in the big cities.

Generally Thais and foreigners don't mix in the yoga schools. Why? The language barrier is one reason, and another reason is that the Thai's approach to yoga and life typically is more easy going in comparison to westerners who often take their yoga very seriously. Thais find western-taught yoga classes too intense and competitive.

Who popularized Thai massage recently? Before the advent of modern medicine, Thais addressed their illnesses for centuries with massage and herbal cures. Over time Thai massage became less popular. It was only revived by foreigners who took an interest in this unique therapy. They wrote books about it, published videos about Thai massage therapy and established Thai massage schools.

When Thai massage became decoupled from yoga, it resulted in a degeneration of the potential of this healing art. Originally it had been practiced by monks in temples. In recent decades it often became a thinly disguised come-on for sexual services. But this was counteracted to some degree by western therapists who began to take a lot of interest in this new and exotic healing art. They began to re-establish the connection with yoga and generated a tremendous amount of interest for Thai massage treatments and training in Thailand. Nowadays there are hundreds of Thai massage schools in Thailand, and the students are almost exclusively foreigners.

The newfound popularity of Thai massage benefited the Thai tourism industry, and as a result the government took steps to raise standards, license therapists and schools, and establish training requirements for Thai massage therapists.

Thai massage can be used as a purely physical system of stretches, manipulations and pressure points. But the addition of yoga principles to the mechanical aspects of the massage can raise it to a true healing art. There are several ways to increase the quality and effectiveness of Thai massage treatments: Mindful awareness of the therapist's own body and the client's body, focus on the "hara", the main energy reservoir behind the naval, awareness of one's breathing patterns, conscious directing of healing energy, and the development of a more sensitive touch. All these can significantly improve both the quality and the effectiveness of Thai massage therapy.

Thai massage is far more than a system of massage techniques. When yoga principles are combined with Thai massage, it connects this ancient healing art with its roots. It is a perfect combination. After all, they are part of the same family.