Here is a copy of the Newsletter for February 2011.
New Year’s Resolution
Happy 2011 everyone! I hope that the year of the rabbit brings lots of luck to all of you. I am starting the new year by fulfilling a longtime dream of mine: To travel to India. I have been dreaming of going to India for over a decade now, but for some reason, the date kept being pushed back year after year. This year, only a week after having the inspiration to go, I have arranged a tourist visa and bought my plane ticket. It is finally going to happen. It was a fast and furious process and I must say that I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about a trip.
Office Hours
The clinic will be open until Monday, February 21.
It will re-open again on Wednesday, March 30.
I apologize for the short notice. To accommodate your schedules, I will extend my office hours to include Sundays and Mondays.
While I am away, I will be available by email to schedule, reschedule or cancel appointments for you.
I was just thinking about my trip to Thailand and Indonesia and all the amazing treatments I had there. I am so appreciative for the therapists that tried so hard to help me. In particular there was a wonderful therapist in Chiang Mai that offers therapeutic Thai massage that I would like to help promote. Therapeutic massage is actually quite difficult to find in Thailand. Massage is everywhere in Thailand, but it caters more toward relaxation or spa type treatments. These can be wonderful experiences, but if you have chronic issues, you are probably looking for someone that can actually ‘fix’ it and make it better.
The experience of getting a therapeutic massage can be quite different from receiving a traditional Thai massage. A traditional Thai massage should be a 2 hour visit where prescribed pressure points all over the entire body are stimulated in a set routine. The massage should leave you feeling relaxed all over. Therapeutic treatments on the other hand focus on specific conditions. It is not uncommon for a therapeutic practitioner to spend an entire hour focussing on treatment of just one body part such as a shoulder or neck. The treatments can be more aggressive or painful, but in the end, you may feel freedom of movement or a real decrease in pain.
One therapeutic massage therapist is Master Ajarn Sinchai Sukparset. He is a bit of a legend in Chiang Mai. While studying massage there this year and also two years ago, I asked around quite a bit looking for a good therapist. Whenever I asked for someone that really knew how to heal or fix specific chronic problems, Master Sinchai’s name came up. Unfortunately, even though everybody in the city knew of his reputation, nobody could tell me his exact address, and as such the legend and mystery around him grew.
On my last day in Chiang Mai, I finally tracked him down and got my first massage from him. The experience was one that I will never forget. Master Sinchai is blind and graduated from a massage academy for blind people. He has 40 years experience and intuitively knew how to treat my sprained shoulder. He treats by testing, trying one approach or technique and then re-testing. This he does again and again repeatedly changing his approach until the tests yield a significant reduction in pain. He has incredibly soft and supple hands and moves at a slow thoughtful pace in his treatments. Even when the massage feels very intense, he keeps with his slow, gentle rhythm. One look at the videos and you will understand what I mean. Some of his techniques are quite innovative. Other approaches look simple at first blush, but in the master’s hands are able to unlock restrictions.
He is definitely worth a visit if you are ever in Chiang Mai and need some real healing. Or better yet, try one of his massage courses.
Here is his information:
Ajarn Sinchai Sukparset
50/1 Chang Phuak Rd
T. Sriphom A Muang
Chiang Mai
50200
Nepal was absolutely wonderful. It is hard to explain how one of the poorest countries in the world holds so much beauty. Trekking in the Himalayas was beautiful beyond compare. Also, after sampling some of the healing arts, I am now thoroughly impressed by the quality of care available there. I admit there are way too many massage hacks working the tourist trade, but with careful interviewing and selecting I found 4 practitioners of particular skill.
One in particular, Jelly Rai from Pokhara, had some special abilities. On the day I saw her, I had come down with a fever that made everything painful and difficult. Every muscle on my body was sore. My head was cloudy. I had no energy at all. I saw her only hoping for a massage, but as soon as she started working on me I felt comforted. At about the half hour mark of the treatment I literally felt the fog of the fever lift from me like a veil. It was instantaneous. I had never felt anything so powerful and quick like that before. Instant healing? As a trained massage therapist, it is almost my duty to be skeptical. I followed a week long series of treatments and training sessions with her and found that her technical skills are nothing special. She does have a good intuition at treating, but for the most part, she uses very simple techniques and a lot of repetition. She used an Indian ayurvedic cream called MOOV which I purchased to try on my clients. I previously only used special homeopathic creams for clients that were in acute pain. And I only used the creams after a session to help them get through the rest of the day, but I am curious about how effective these creams can be during a session. The most important thing about Jelly was that she prayed. In what was once the only Hindu country in the world, Jelly is unique in that she converted to Christianity. She has a very strong faith and would pray during the session. She would pray for the client’s well being. She would pray for healing a particular ailment. I found it surprising, but I shouldn’t really. There are so many different kinds of Reiki, Traditional Chinese Medicine, energy channels, chakra healing, crystal healing and other types of energy healing out there. How are they any different than any of the world’s ancient religions? How is a therapist praying for your healing any different than a therapist trying to remove energy blockages? I will not say if any of this does or does not work, but I can tell you that myself and my travelling companion all had similar results and experiences under her care. I find myself inspired.
Another look at approaches that have profound effects takes us to the barber shop. The barber shop in Nepal is a real institution. It is surprising just how precise these people are with an electric or straight razor. Each superb haircut is followed up by a head, face, neck and shoulder massage. I found the experience nice but rather uncomfortable because of the unergonomic position I was in. (Yes, being a massage therapist can make you a very picky massage client) Nevertheless, all critiques ended the minute the barber started pummelling my head. I have had tapotement on my head before in China and Thailand, but at the barber shop it was relentless. Hands curled into a loose fist repeatedly knocking me on either parietal plate (top sides of the skull). Within seconds I had literally turned to butter. By the end of the session, I couldn’t talk anymore. I tried it on a friend later and it had the exact same effect. Instant stress and tension relief. And of course, I will be using it on my clients in the very near future.