Ancient Massage
I went to Hatyai last week. It was a spur of the moment decision to go there at night time, spent the whole day walking and that evening geared back to KL. Anyway, I wanted to keep my promise to my sister, a treat for her birthday and her first passport..(haha). So she was so excited and .. we decided to try on the ancient massage. Bloody hell.. it was a really squeezing, bending, tweaking you like nobody business. Lucky i took a yoga so it wont hurt that much compared to my sister. She was screaming!
Well, when it comes to the term ‘massage’, a lot of us have our own outlook on this. But most of the time when we associate Thai and Massage , it came out as if sexual activity. Thai massage is an ancient therapeutic procedure which provides relaxation, balance in the body’s various centers, healthy blood circulation, and an overall manipulation of the physical form and structure of the body. Although in English the word massage is used, the essence of Thai Massage is very different from what we generally associate with the word. Whereas most traditional western and eastern massage practices focus on tissue manipulation and the working of the muscles and joints, Thai Massage barely touches on either of these. The original precepts of Ancient Thai Massage were recorded in the Pali language of early Buddhist texts. The original practitioners were Buddhist monks in northern India in the 2nd and Ist centuries B.C. Prior to modern times in Thailand, the Wats (Buddhist temples) served as Thailand’s predominant centers of education, healing and social life. While today some of the Buddhist temples in Thailand and in Laos still maintain the practice of monks and nuns administering Ancient Thai Massage, it is now generally practiced at Thai Massage centers or institutes which also teach the art.
It is performed on a mat, on the floor, rather than on a raised table. This allows for many movements and procedures that are not practical or effective in table work, and sometimes impossible. The purpose of ancient massage is to provide relaxation, balance to the body’s various centers, healthy blood circulation, and activation of the body’s energy lines or "Sen" as they are called, the practitioner’s attitude and physical approach to administering Thai Massage are of utmost importance. However, on that day itself, I could not relax as of my little sister keep groaning painfully and she just cant stop yappy and yappy and yappy.*TSk..tskk.tsk..
