Thai Massage Part 1

Hey y'all!
I have something really interesting to tell you about now that i've had a little time to digest the whole experience. Back in May I had the great opportunity to take a class on Thai Massage with Martin Misenheimer of Zen Thai Massage, shown in the picture at right. Martin is a fascinating guy (read more about him & his wife Beth here) who just OOZES the loving-kindness and compassion Buddhism talks about . If you get any chance to take one of his classes, book a massage with him in Asheville, NC, or take one of their learning vacations to Thailand, Bali, or India, I would not pass it up.

If you aren't familiar w/Thai Massage, it's a combination acupressure, stretching and assisted yoga. It focuses on working joints and connective tissue more than just muscles. From my personal observation, it is incredibly relaxing and therapeutic. The results are like deep tissue and chiropractic work, but longer-lasting & without the pain. Martin said he sees somes interesting side effects to the work during the workshops: vivid dreaming, deeply restful sleep, and heightened physical senses are pretty common.

For me the most interesting effect has been my FEET. There is a lot of emphasis in Thai massage on working the feet & legs in order to awake the chi and circulate it upwards through the body. For the practitioner performing the work, feet are used like hands in quite a few poses. Well, after just the first day of class my feet, which I never really paid much attention to before, suddenly woke UP. It was like they started talking to me, & they haven't stopped since! I notice now when they are stiff, when they want to stretch, move, or rest etc. Honestly, it's like instead of feet I've suddenly got two more hands with a mind of their own. It's bizarre!

There's more to say about this, continued in Part II!