I’ve done deep tissue massage for 7 years but it doesn’t come close to Thai massage. Nothing I’ve seen does. It’s yoga, Rolfing® , acupressure, tapotment, Reiki, deep compression work, myofacial release, with herbs and the power of spirit, all rolled into one. At the same time, it’s none of those things. Because those aren’t Thai and the truth is, Thai massage really is Thai. It’s not a new brand of Ayurvedic medicine or a twist on Chinese meridians, it’s seriously Thai, and it’s serious medicine.
In 1970 and 1971 I spent 6 month in Thailand learning about the culture and the language. This is what got me really interested in Thai massage. Thai massageis traditionally performed fully clothed on a mat laying on the floor or even outside on the gound. Thai massage is sometimes called Thai Yoga Massage, and for good reason. Its origin can be traced back 2,500 years ago to India and the spread of Buddism. The founding father of Thai massage, Jivaka Kumarbhaccha, was a celebrated yogi and a doctor in the ancient Indian healing tradition of Ayurveda. His unusual skill as a physician and surgeon was so well known that he was called upon to treat kings and prince. He is also venerated as the source of Ayuvedic practices within Thailand.
Want to learn more about the fastest growing modality in massage?
At Wishing Wellness Massage in Austin TX, we are now offering an Introduction to Thai Massage class for licensed massage therapists. This is a 6 CE hours accredited class that covers the history of Thai massage, soft tissue techniques, the Thai massage stances, rocking techniques, how to massage the various Thai Sen lines on the body, and training on a one hour Thai massage routine. Also, how to use Thai massage for Therapeutic massage treatments - how to locate referred pain patterns and what Thai massage techniques can be used for these particular problem areas. Book and video references are provided for advanced study and therapeutic session planning.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
CE Classes Start at Wishing Wellness Massage
Having a reputation for the best massage in Austin, we've decided to develop massage classes for massage therapists who need to fulfill their continuing education credits as required in Texas. We've just received certification from the State of Texas for Robert to provide massage therapy instruction and to provide Continuing Education Classes (CEs) for Licensed Massage Therapists (LMTs.) The first class we're providing is: Hot Stone, Deep Tissue, and Trigger Point Massage Techniques (6 CE credit hours.) We're offering this as our first class because we've discovered there is a great demand for this combination of modalities, especially for the just licensed therapist who would like to get up to speed as soon as they graduate from massage school. Most massage therapists who have graduated from a massage school soon find out there is not much demand for the Swedish relaxation massage routine they learned in their massage school. The public is demanding actual therapeutic modalities to relieve problem areas. Very few people now come in for a relaxation massage, most often they have issues and need a therapeutic massage session.
Many massage therapists advertise that they do deep tissue massage, but reality is very few have had any real training in the deep tissue modality and they are spreading myths about deep tissue massage due to lack of knowledge. Most think deep tissue is just using much more pressure in a massage and they also worry about how their bodies can hold up using much more effort in their already taxing work. Reality could not be further from the truth. Deep tissue massge is not just going deeper in a Swedish massage routine the therapist learned in massage school. First, deep tissue should never be used for a whole massage. This is the first clue you are not dealing with a trained therapist. Deep tissue should be used when required, like you are out driving on a country road and you encounter a steep hill, you downshift to easily get up the hill. Same with deep tissue massage. In deep tissue you survey the condition of the muscles and when you find a very contracted area, you work with different levels of muscle tissue to get the desired results. Another myth is "no pain, no gain." Massage should not be painful, and if you are sore the next day and you don't have a condition that could cause this, the therapist was not doing their job. If your therapist is bruising you or causing you pain, you need to communicate this to your therapist and/or the establishment where this therapist works.
Most massage therapists know only how to treat referred pain rather than the cause. The cause is very often a trigger point in a muscle somewhere that refers pain to this currently painful location. So you get a massage, you feel a little better, but the cause of the discomfort causes the pain to comes right back because that trigger point is still there. A combination of hot stone and deep tissue massage is the very best therapy we've found here at Wishing Wellness Massage. This combination allows the muscles to easily lengthen and relax with a minimum of pressure from the therapist. Using too much pressure can actually cause a muscle contraction to worsen or it can damage your body's lymph system. The therapist can't force a muscle to relax, only your own body can do this. So it's not so much the pressure, it's where and how the pressure is applied, and what tricks your therapist's body can communicate directly to your body to make make your muscle release.
Another favorite myth you might hear from an uneducated massage therapist is you need some therapy to get those toxins out of your muscles because that's what is making your muscles so sore, usually following some type of vigorous activity. This is a flat out lie. What they will usually say is it's the lactic acid buildup in your muscles that's causing this discomfort and they need to work this out of your muscles. Again, another myth perpetuated by uneducated massage therpists. Unfortunately, Low quality massage instruction is the source of many of these types of myths about massage.
When I first started my massage career I'd heard about hot stone massage. I figgered this was just a gimmick to lay hot stones on someone and charge them for it. I didn't see any value to doing this and people that I spoke with, that had this kind of therapy, said they tried it but it made them sick. Pressing further, they said it was probably just getting overheated that made them sick. I got a session from a friend and discovered the best part was them actually using the stones in their massage therapy. The additional heat seemed to relax and lengthen the muscle and seemed to have the ability to decrease really bad muscle contractions. After much trial and error I developed a methodology that not only worked, all of a sudden I had many athletes coming to me because this was so effective for sports massage. Then I started getting referrals from doctors and insurance companies as these techniques really worked for repetative motion injuries, car accident victims, and many other types of problems. Soon I added hot stone to all my massages and had a new slant on various modalities such as Swedish, deep tissue, Shiatsu, chair massage, Thai massage, etc. I figured this was as important as doing deep tissue so I made the decision I would not charge extra for deep tissue or hot stone massage like other massage businesses were. This would be a value added service for my business.
Trigger point therapy is finding the referred pain and what's causing it, usually a trigger point. This is a bit of detective work to find the trigger points actually causing the referred pain. After extensive research, I found really good information on locating and treating trigger points. It now seems we all have trigger points to some varying degree, our whole lives. These can lay dormant for a long time and then all of a sudden an cause acute referred pain. These resulting contractions and pain can make your life a living hell. The common medical treatment can be muscle relaxers, pain pills, and even injections of steroid drugs. These can have a varying range of efficacy, usally not much and let's face it, just about all drugs have some toxicity to our bodies. A research doctor once told me when a new drug comes on the market, as many as 50% of the adverse reactions from that drug are not known yet. You get to be the laboratory rat and you and your medical insurance company gets to pay for this bit of research!
The other value added we've added for our customers at Wishing Wellness Massage is a highly therapeutic hot tub. We don't charge extra for this service and include it with the 90 minute or longer session. This is not like a hotel spa, it has specialized jets to relax your upper back, lower back, hamstrings, calves, neck muscles, ankles, and reflexology jets for the feet. Also small Shiatsu jets at different stations (7 stations total in the tub) give you a deep invigorating massage in those areas no other type of hot tub gets to. The water temperature is controlled by a microprocessor for accuracy. This can be set for any required temperature for different types of hot tub session. 103 degrees is considered minimum therapeutic temperature, but if someone is advised by their doctor to not exceed 100 degrees, we can accommodate this with an advanced request for a particular temperature or temperature range. There is no experience on earth like getting a 15 minute therapeutic hottub session followed immediately by a 90 minute hot stone deep tissue massage. Better bring someone to drive you home!
At Wishing Wellness we also offer couples (or friends) massage in a non-strip mall environment. This is two massage tables with two therapists in a single room. We don't charge any extra for this service, we only charge our regular per minutes / per person price. A one hour double massage is just $130 and the 90 minute double is just $180. The latter includes a dip in the outdoor hot tub at no extra cost! Compare these prices to other massage and spa service providers.
Many massage therapists advertise that they do deep tissue massage, but reality is very few have had any real training in the deep tissue modality and they are spreading myths about deep tissue massage due to lack of knowledge. Most think deep tissue is just using much more pressure in a massage and they also worry about how their bodies can hold up using much more effort in their already taxing work. Reality could not be further from the truth. Deep tissue massge is not just going deeper in a Swedish massage routine the therapist learned in massage school. First, deep tissue should never be used for a whole massage. This is the first clue you are not dealing with a trained therapist. Deep tissue should be used when required, like you are out driving on a country road and you encounter a steep hill, you downshift to easily get up the hill. Same with deep tissue massage. In deep tissue you survey the condition of the muscles and when you find a very contracted area, you work with different levels of muscle tissue to get the desired results. Another myth is "no pain, no gain." Massage should not be painful, and if you are sore the next day and you don't have a condition that could cause this, the therapist was not doing their job. If your therapist is bruising you or causing you pain, you need to communicate this to your therapist and/or the establishment where this therapist works.
Most massage therapists know only how to treat referred pain rather than the cause. The cause is very often a trigger point in a muscle somewhere that refers pain to this currently painful location. So you get a massage, you feel a little better, but the cause of the discomfort causes the pain to comes right back because that trigger point is still there. A combination of hot stone and deep tissue massage is the very best therapy we've found here at Wishing Wellness Massage. This combination allows the muscles to easily lengthen and relax with a minimum of pressure from the therapist. Using too much pressure can actually cause a muscle contraction to worsen or it can damage your body's lymph system. The therapist can't force a muscle to relax, only your own body can do this. So it's not so much the pressure, it's where and how the pressure is applied, and what tricks your therapist's body can communicate directly to your body to make make your muscle release.
Another favorite myth you might hear from an uneducated massage therapist is you need some therapy to get those toxins out of your muscles because that's what is making your muscles so sore, usually following some type of vigorous activity. This is a flat out lie. What they will usually say is it's the lactic acid buildup in your muscles that's causing this discomfort and they need to work this out of your muscles. Again, another myth perpetuated by uneducated massage therpists. Unfortunately, Low quality massage instruction is the source of many of these types of myths about massage.
When I first started my massage career I'd heard about hot stone massage. I figgered this was just a gimmick to lay hot stones on someone and charge them for it. I didn't see any value to doing this and people that I spoke with, that had this kind of therapy, said they tried it but it made them sick. Pressing further, they said it was probably just getting overheated that made them sick. I got a session from a friend and discovered the best part was them actually using the stones in their massage therapy. The additional heat seemed to relax and lengthen the muscle and seemed to have the ability to decrease really bad muscle contractions. After much trial and error I developed a methodology that not only worked, all of a sudden I had many athletes coming to me because this was so effective for sports massage. Then I started getting referrals from doctors and insurance companies as these techniques really worked for repetative motion injuries, car accident victims, and many other types of problems. Soon I added hot stone to all my massages and had a new slant on various modalities such as Swedish, deep tissue, Shiatsu, chair massage, Thai massage, etc. I figured this was as important as doing deep tissue so I made the decision I would not charge extra for deep tissue or hot stone massage like other massage businesses were. This would be a value added service for my business.
Trigger point therapy is finding the referred pain and what's causing it, usually a trigger point. This is a bit of detective work to find the trigger points actually causing the referred pain. After extensive research, I found really good information on locating and treating trigger points. It now seems we all have trigger points to some varying degree, our whole lives. These can lay dormant for a long time and then all of a sudden an cause acute referred pain. These resulting contractions and pain can make your life a living hell. The common medical treatment can be muscle relaxers, pain pills, and even injections of steroid drugs. These can have a varying range of efficacy, usally not much and let's face it, just about all drugs have some toxicity to our bodies. A research doctor once told me when a new drug comes on the market, as many as 50% of the adverse reactions from that drug are not known yet. You get to be the laboratory rat and you and your medical insurance company gets to pay for this bit of research!
The other value added we've added for our customers at Wishing Wellness Massage is a highly therapeutic hot tub. We don't charge extra for this service and include it with the 90 minute or longer session. This is not like a hotel spa, it has specialized jets to relax your upper back, lower back, hamstrings, calves, neck muscles, ankles, and reflexology jets for the feet. Also small Shiatsu jets at different stations (7 stations total in the tub) give you a deep invigorating massage in those areas no other type of hot tub gets to. The water temperature is controlled by a microprocessor for accuracy. This can be set for any required temperature for different types of hot tub session. 103 degrees is considered minimum therapeutic temperature, but if someone is advised by their doctor to not exceed 100 degrees, we can accommodate this with an advanced request for a particular temperature or temperature range. There is no experience on earth like getting a 15 minute therapeutic hottub session followed immediately by a 90 minute hot stone deep tissue massage. Better bring someone to drive you home!
At Wishing Wellness we also offer couples (or friends) massage in a non-strip mall environment. This is two massage tables with two therapists in a single room. We don't charge any extra for this service, we only charge our regular per minutes / per person price. A one hour double massage is just $130 and the 90 minute double is just $180. The latter includes a dip in the outdoor hot tub at no extra cost! Compare these prices to other massage and spa service providers.
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