Thai Massage is different from muscle-based bodywork techniques. It works on both the physical and energetic bodies, with the focus on restoring proper energy flow throughout. According to Thai philosophy and the Buddhism in which it is rooted, energy is what holds the mind and body together. After a Thai massage session, you feel rejuvenated and alive, rather than ready to go to sleep.

The practitioner uses a combination of acupressure, pressure points, stroking of tendons, joints, and muscles, and manual stretching of the client’s limbs in yoga-like positions to restore energy flow in the system of energy channels called sen, which are similar to the meridians of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture. The Thai body has ten main sen (conduits).

Thousands of years old, Thai Massage has its roots in Buddhist monasteries, where the monks practiced this ancient healing art and passed it down through the generations both orally and in sacred text. According to surviving fragments of the sacred Pali texts, the founder of Thai Massage was Shivago Komarpaj, a physician who lived in the time of Buddha. At the start of each Thai session, the practitioner says a prayer invoking the spirit of the founder, closing with these words: “In the name of the Founder, may the heavens be reflected in the earth below so that this healing medicine may encircle the world.”