Feel Good Fest 2018: Thai Yoga Bodywork

Last weekend I participated in the Seed of Life Alternative Health Collective's Feel Good Fest and had a blast. There were vendors set up doing everything from essential oils and cbd products to interactive booths and presentations doing pilates and barre. And of course, I set up a Thai Yoga Bodywork station and gave people mini massages for free or donation. It was great to be able to connect with a bunch of new people and have a chance to share this beautiful healing art with many who had never experienced it before.

I know for many, including myself, booking a session in a modality I haven't heard of or experienced can feel intimidating. So I wanted to take this time to explain a little more about what Thai Yoga Bodywork is. It is a clothes on form of bodywork that allows for deep stretching as well as massage and combines meridian lines, acupressure points, and Ayurvedic wisdom to release tension and blocks and increase mobility. It's roots are quite deep with the generally agreed upon story being that it was developed by the physician of the Buddha, Jivaka Kumar. And above all else, it is a practice of Metta; Loving-kindness and compassion for oneself and all beings.

For me it is truly a meditation and a gift to be able to give it and receive it. And although I do not always share this with my clients, I begin and end every session with a prayer, and then I see my job as being to surrender to the process and the wisdom of the body that knows what is needed. It is very much an intuitive process for me and that is part of why I love it so much.

I also love how, unlike traditional massage, it introduces a lot of movement into the body. My teacher, Ariela Grodner, speaks of this as the winds, and how in every movement there is an expansion and a contraction, an in and an out. And so with each move, I feel the elements of earth and air, wind and water, fire and ether. And with these different elements we are always looking to bring things back to balance.

Ariela Grodner is my teacher, a beautiful soul and spirit who lives, breathes, and practices Thai as a way of life. I hope that gives you a little bit more of a taste of what Thai Yoga Bodywork can be about! I do individual sessions, and also can come and do events, so let me know if you are interested!

Myself with a happy customer at the Feel Good Fest!

~Namaste

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