Greetings to all of you beautiful smiling friends, family, clients, those of you I see day in and day out but don’t know your names and people I haven’t met yet at all. I am writing you from Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I have been studying Thai Massage since September, 2017. I was invited here to be the intern at my Thai massage school for 3 fall courses for a total of 380 hours of training. I am currently attending a 3 week advanced course in Therapeutic Thai Massage.
We begin each day with Rasidaton, a gentle stretching warm up which prepares the mind and body for the practice of Nuad Boran (Thai Massage). Thai Massage is a form of bodywork designed around Sen lines and the Rasidaton wakes up our whole body from inside out to be warmed up before working on our clients. This is why we also chant in the morning, to warm up the vibration in our heart, pretty similar to singing in the shower. Part of the pali chant, asks the doctor of the Buddha, an Indian born Tibetan Yogic Doctor or Physician, named Father Shivago Komolaboat (Jivaka) “that we as practitioners will be protected from the negative forces in our patients’ illnesses while at the same time bring through our physical touch wholeness and health to their lives. That this sacred medicine may heal the world.”
There are an infinite number of sen lines (or energy pathways) in the body, and in our classes we have focussed on 10 Sen lines. Energy flows through our body and when there is a blockage, we are very familiar with its symptoms such as, headache, nausea, waking up with an ache or pain, numbness or really, any kind of disease, illness or chronic pain issue. For those of you familiar with Ayurevada medicine, Sen is ‘Prana Nadis” or energetic pathways of the life giving breath in the body and the lines form an energetic body, called Pranamaya Kosha.
There are 4 Sen lines (Kalathari, Itha, Pingkhala, Sahatsarangsi,Thawari) that begin near our navels and run through our legs. All of those lines also travel to other areas of the body and this is why in Thai Massage, we always treat the whole body, not just the part that is sore or injured, craving our attention. It may be because we wear clothes that we divide the body into parts and lack the understanding that a knot in the shoulder may be connected to pain and tightness in the hamstring. For example, knee pain might be coming from deep within the hip flexor and psoas.
One sen line runs throughout our whole body. Kalathari starts one inch above the navel and travels up to the shoulder, to the neck, and up to the base of the head. Kalathari also travels all the way down from the shoulder all of the way through the arms and into the hands. Kalathari also travels down from the same spot, one inch above the navel, through the legs and all of the way into the lines going through our feet to our toes. You can see why we must work the whole body, even if we are going to design a therapeutic treatment to focus on one ‘problem area’ for our clients.
As ski season begins, with the gift that keeps on giving, that magical water that falls from our sky for our enjoyment that has oh so many names, I am very excited to bring Therapeutic Thai Massage treatments into my massage practice of 12 years. Ski season will be the perfect time to experience a session that focuses on knee, leg and hip issues. We are also studying techniques that relieve symptoms of “office syndrome”, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, migraines, low back pain, shoulder and neck pain, to name a few. Anxiety and emotional blockages may also be addressed with Thai massage. You can wear loose fitting pants, as you will remain clothed during this session.
To schedule an appointment, please contact Ambrosia Brown at Telluride Wellness Center at 435-260-1122, ambrosiabrown@gmail.com or visit her website: www.ambrosiabrownmassage.com. We are located in the Cimarron Lodge at the bottom of Lift 7, next to Carhenge Parking Lot. Wellness is the full integration of mind, body and spirit. We look forward to helping you towards a healthier life. By Ambrosia Brown, “Be Kind, Unwind!”