At the present time Thai massage is considered a “recreational” practice. As a practitioner and teacher of this incredible form of bodywork, this saddens me. As a profession, we are rarely taken seriously as a method of therapy (except by those of us who have experienced it first hand). As a wider demonstration of this, the majority of insurance companies do not provide coverage for Thai massage. In fact, we’re not even allowed to use the terms “massage” and “therapy” together after the “Thai”.
Whilst this upsets me, I completely understand why it is the case. In relation to other bodywork modalities Thai massage is entirely unregulated (much the same as yoga), with almost no minimum standards of practice. This means that training, experience, expertise and quality vary considerably between practitioners. Many clients of my own have even reported having negative experiences with other practitioners.
One major purpose of Navina™ is to change this.
We’re here to raise the standard. The level and quality of training and practice must be improved if we are to see the recognition we deserve as a therapeutic healing modality.
In my own experience (as well as that of many other practitioners), I have seen first-hand the incredible benefits of a therapeutic Thai massage treatment. A number of posts-ago, I wrote about working long-term with a client who has Parkinsons Disease and the profound relief it provides him. After working with another client over the long-term, an annual physical has highlighted an increase of 0.5 inches in height thanks to a gradual lengthening of her kyphosis!
In many other cases I’ve seen resolution of chronic pains, elimination of trigger points, and improved posture and range of motion from working with clients over a series of treatments. It’s all well and good for me to report this, but how do we show evidence of precision? How do we use this understanding to enhance the reputation of Thai massage as a practice?
Two things need to be done:
- We need to get our science on, and
- We need to provide a comprehensive educational platform to support a more complete understanding of the human body, certain health conditions and treatment protocols.
A Human Biology degree under my own belt, along with a team of practitioners/teachers from many well studied backgrounds, are already fuelling this project. We need to begin collecting longitudinal data and mapping client progressions in a case study format. Not only that, we need to continue to expand our curriculum to encompass a wider skill set and knowledge base.
Our curriculum will continuously evolve to reflect advances in scientific knowledge and to incorporate skills and techniques from other bodywork modalities, creating a holistic system of training that will collectively help us to gain recognition as therapeutic Thai massage practitioners.
We aim to highlight, document, study and teach the therapeutic benefits of Thai massage, raising the profile of this hugely beneficial practice.
We’re totally up for the challenge.
Drew.
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