Sting and Kevin Bacon are the most recent converts to Thai massage. It's also a popular craze among American fitness cognoscenti who, instead of suffering the indignity of getting sweaty in the gym, are heading for the Institute of Thai Massage near West Palm Beach, Florida. London's Life Centre in Notting Hill, where Mariella Frostrup goes to limber up, also reports a surge of enthusiasm for the new effort-free yoga, and the Kailash Centre of Oriental Medicine in St John's Wood is taking more bookings than ever. Many yoga classes are dynamic, so are designed to give you a workout. But one of the main ideas of yoga, is that you should relax into it.
Thai massage allows just that.
The technique evolved as part of an ancient medicinal tradition that emerged in India more than 2,000 years ago, where it grew up alongside yoga and Ayurvedic medicine. It spread to Thailand with Buddhism and is used with herbs and spiritual practice to enhance wellbeing and heal illness. Rather than kneading muscles as in Swedish massage, you manipulate the limbs and joints, stretching them gently. You also press on key pressure points on the feet, spine,Uarms and hands. Then you work up the legs, to the stomach, back and arms.