داستان انگلیسی ماساژ سنتی تایلندی

ACTIVE LISTENING MAIN STORY

TRADITIONAL THAI MASSAGE

There’s no question that people are stressed out these days. This is especially true of people who live in big cities, or who have a profession and are raising a family. And this constant stress can lead to illnesses, both physical and mental. People handle this stress in different ways. Some deal with it negatively, by eating or drinking too much, engaging in risky behaviors, or by taking strong drugs prescribed by their doctors. Others deal with it more positively by exercising more, and finding ways to relax and have fun.

But along with the stresses of modern life also comes a sense of isolation and disconnect for many people, especially in Northern cultures. Many lead individualistic lives, and never really connect with others in intimate ways. We’ve all heard about the healing power of human touch, but I wonder how closely we’ve considered its true importance in maintaining health and vitality? The evidence supporting the power of touch is overwhelming.

For starters, people who have more physical contact with others on a daily basis benefit from better sleep, lower blood pressure, and reduced irritability. More human touch also reduces anxiety, while promoting a general sense of well-being. It can ease pain and lift depression in an instant.

Stimulation of the skin through touch lowers stress hormones and releases the “cuddle hormone” oxytocin, which enhances a sense of trust and attachment toward others. In short, human touch stimulates the reward center of the central nervous system, making us feel happiness, joy, and wellbeing. The more you receive touch, the happier you’ll be.

But that’s not all. Increased human touch has also been shown to improve communication and performance. If touch were a language, then we would all be naturally fluent. There’s no need for a phrase book, as we can communicate complex emotions in just an instant – no need for words. And human touch has even been shown to increase performance amongst team members in sports. In fact, touch is so important to the health and well being of people, that babies who are not held and hugged enough will stop growing and, in some cases, die from lack of human touch. It truly is that powerful.

For tens of thousands of years, people have been communicating through touch.

It’s our first language. Hugging, stroking, and rubbing are the most common ways, but it’s massage that represents human touch in its most powerful form. And while there are many different massage styles and traditions in the world, one of the most unique and interesting is a form of massage that comes from Thailand: Traditional Thai Massage.

Traditional Thai Massage is a powerful healing practice with a long history. It surprises many people that the roots of Traditional Thai Massage lie not in Thailand, but rather in Northern India, dating back thousands of years. The ancient Indians believed that each person is made up of 5 different interconnected bodies. There’s a physical body, composed of muscle, skin, and bone. An energy body, comprised of ‘prana’ or life energy. And a mental body, made up of emotions and thoughts.

There’s also a wisdom body, where we find deep insight and intuition. And finally, we have a bliss body, which is the deepest level of our existence - an unbounded state of peace, love, and joy. Some believe that many of our physical and mental illnesses arise from an imbalance in the flow of life energy. Thai massage focuses primarily on working with the energy body. And by putting the life energy back into balance, it affects the other bodies in positive ways, particularly the physical and the mental.

Receiving a Traditional Thai Massage from a true master is an unforgettable experience. You start off by lying down on the floor, fully clothed. The masseur then begins with a prayer, which allows him to sharpen his concentration and deepen his awareness of life energy. He then begins to apply slow, deep pressure to the various energy channels running through your body. He coordinates his movements with his breath, maintaining awareness of your energy and how it is interacting with his own. At times he’ll lift your legs or arms into the air and hold your body in positions that resemble those in the practice of yoga. He uses his fingers, his palms, his elbows, his knees and forearms. At other times he stands, using his feet to apply pressure to your legs and back. He’ll even cut off the blood flow to your legs or arms, causing a tingling sensation to arise.

The slow, rhythmic movements resemble waves lapping at the shore of a solitary ocean. As the minutes pass, images from your subconscious mind will arise. And you’ll experience a range of emotions. One minute you’ll feel annoyed, and the next you’ll feel depressed, or you might even cry or burst out laughing. Sometimes you’ll feel as heavy as a stone, while other times you’ll feel as light as a feather.

He’s taking you and your mind and body on a healing journey, one that touches the depth of your being. You’ll both lose consciousness of self and other, becoming one with the endless flow of universal energy. And finally you’ll hear another prayer, signaling the end of the session.

And when he thanks you and asks you to sit up, you’ll be amazed that two-and-a-half hours have passed. For some it feels like an eternity; for others just a moment. And is there really a difference between the two?

Clearly there are great benefits in Traditional Thai Massage for the receiver, but what about the giver? This is what I love most about Thai massage: the giver can benefit just as much as the receiver, but in a slightly different way. In order for Thai massage to be effective, the giver must put himself in a meditative state. To do so requires concentration, for the giver must maintain a state of awareness of life energy. The masseur cannot allow his thoughts and emotions to interfere with the massage. He must continuously let go of them as they arise, and maintain focus on the massage.

Without a commitment to maintaining meditative awareness, the massage becomes mechanical, losing its healing power.

Furthermore, the giver uses Thai massage to practice loving kindness toward the receiver. No matter what feelings of disgust or attraction arise in the masseur, he must let go of them and continue to focus on the well being of the receiver. In this way, the masseur strengthens his ability to generate loving kindness for others, regardless of whether he likes them or not. Likewise, his ability to maintain a meditative state strengthens his powers of awareness. After years of practice, the masseur naturally carries over these states of mind into his interaction with other people in his daily life. The result is that he cultivates relationships with others that contain these qualities of awareness and kindness. In this way, not only does the masseur and all of his or her receivers benefit, but the entire community benefits. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

As we spoke about before, life in the 21st century can be fast-paced and stressful. We suffer from all sorts of stress-related illnesses, both physical and mental. Many of us also live a fairly individualistic existence, devoid of intimate contact with others. We all know that the power of human touch is wonderfully healing, but many of us just don’t get enough of it. Wouldn’t it be great if we could relieve our stress with frequent massage amongst family members and friends?

Well, all it takes to get started is to learn the basics of a practice like Traditional Thai Massage, which is possible to do in a 10-day period. Imagine if every man, woman, and child in your community were capable of giving simple massage to their loved ones, while improving their faculties of self awareness and loving kindness toward others. How would learning to give massage improve your quality of life? And what sort of effect would it have on your family, friends, and community? The results are just a touch and a breath away.