Deep Breaths

Stretching into Thai massage

Asked to check out Thai yoga massage, I envisioned spreading into warrior pose while a therapist manipulated my already unnaturally elevated leg. Challenging, but not relaxing.

Yet, here I am face-up on a thick cotton mat in a salon’s basement below Princess Street, breathing deeply, flute and bells wafting through the room.

Eyes closed, I feel the therapist place her hands firmly but gently on my feet. At her instruction, I transport to the beach, imagining waves crashing, birds chatting. The meditation begins, and during the demonstration, I learn that the meditative aspect of yoga is central to Thai massage.

Called nuat boran in Thai, it translates loosely to ancient (boran) holistic bodywork (nuat).

Combining passive stretching and movement with touch techniques similar to shiatsu along energy meridians. Thai massage is gentle, almost graceful. Both fully clothed, the

therapist and client interact closely, physically and mentally, to manipulate the body. The benefits go beyond relaxation to increased circulation and respiration, and improved digestion.

My practitioner, Trish Patterson of Groove Jet Salon + Spa, has studied Thai massage as well as other techniques and yoga for several years. She explains that the benefits of Thai massage are similar to those of other methods, but the interaction between therapist and client is very different.

The therapist employs rhythmic compressions using her feet, knees, palms, elbows, and forearms.

In some positions, the body reflects yoga positions such as cobra and child’s pose. In others, the therapist uses her body as leverage.

“Sometimes, the client will hold the therapists’ wrist or roll over or sit up,” Patterson says.

Most often, the client’s primary job is to relax, breath, and passively receive the soothing touch.

“It is very relaxing. It affects the muscles, bones, joints, the entire body,” Patterson says. While it helps if the client is flexible, sessions can be modified to accommodate anyone, she says.

The two-hour time commitment, she says, “allows time to check out of your busy day and to have peace and quiet and to be with your own thoughts. It allows you to be able to meditate, to have an opportunity to have healing.”

The same is true for the therapist, Patterson says.“I feel relaxed and rejuvenated after I give a session. It is similar to a session of yoga. It is fun to be a facilitator in someone’s healing,” she says.

Preparation for a Thai massage includes increased consumption of water for two hours before and after and no food for an hour after. About two hours after, take a shower or bath as part of the detoxification process.

“The day you receive a Thai massage, it’s a full experience.” Patterson says. “Hopefully, the client notices benefits from it beyond that day. The physical effects last for several days or longer as well as the mind-body-spirit connection. Hopefully their emotions and mental relaxation carry through.”

Here are some Wilmington locations that offer Thai massage:

Groove Jet Salon, 112 Princess Street, 343-4247, $85-$155

Wilmington Yoga Center, 5329 Oleander Drive #200, 350-0234, $110

Harmony Yoga, 5201 Oleander Drive, 795-0603, $120-$140

To view more of photographer Susan Francy’s work, go to www.susanfrancyphotographs.com.