Introduction
Rolfing study in Germany is planned across two stretches beginning in August 2014. Since a massage qualification is required for it, enrollment followed at Thai Massage School TOMARIGI, and the manual techniques are being learned intensively.
At TOMARIGI, under ideal conditions — two teachers to one student — the curriculum certified by ITM (Chiang Mai International Training Massage School) covers 63 techniques at Thai Massage Level 1 and 71 at Level 2, 134 in total, across sixty hours. An examination closes each level, and the result is determined with the assessment of all practical work taken into account.
Two things characterize Thai massage.
It produces effects like those of yoga
First, it produces effects like those of yoga.
The history of Thai massage runs some 2,500 years. The method was developed by Shivaga Komarapaj, physician to the Buddha, and rests on yoga and Ayurveda. One of its features lies in stretching. Techniques with a stretching effect loosen the muscles and joints throughout the body, producing what yoga produces. The breath organizes itself as a result, and a half-waking, half-sleeping quality brings on a pleasant relaxation.
Chongkol Setthakorn, the director of ITM, describes the relation between Thai massage and yoga this way: receiving it resembles being gently healed by a thousand waves; and it is yoga for the lazy — instead of doing yoga oneself, someone else does the yoga for you.
Thai massage is also called two-person yoga. That the effects of yoga can be given to another person through the work of one’s own hands makes it a remarkable practice.
It produces effects for the practitioner as well
Second, it produces effects for the practitioner as well.
Unlike other forms of massage, Thai massage involves a great deal of movement using the whole body. Each movement leads into the next technique, so nothing in the sequence is wasted. Where to place one’s weight is also studied in detail, so unnecessary effort drops away. And because the practitioner stretches alongside the person receiving, the work amounts to moderate exercise for the practitioner too, with health benefits said to follow.
As a beginner, of course, there are still places where effort enters during the work, and those benefits remain hard to feel firsthand. With familiarity, apparently, effort stops entering the body altogether, and no fatigue follows the session. If that proves true, the practice is remarkable indeed.
Learning Thai massage during an extended leave was not what had been anticipated. ITM Thai Massage Level 1 was completed at TOMARIGI on July 4, 2014, and Level 2 is scheduled for later in July.
The journey around the world departs September 1, 2014, and Chiang Mai is worth including — a week or two of study on the ground there. Refining the technique is one reason. Another point of interest: a fair number of people traveling around the world take up this skill. Bodywork, massage included, will figure heavily in what comes next, and the intention is to move forward while treating each new realization with care.
