Thai Massage: Why the Ultimate Sports Massage rules Holistic Health

Thai Massage for shoulder tension relief

Thai Massage for hip and low back pain relief

Nina gives Thai Massage at the Ultimate championships to the winning team, Pitt

I had been practicing massage for a few years when my good friend (and massage therapist), Sonni, said "Let's go to Thailand and learn Thai Massage." Sounded like a great idea, but I wasn't ready to jump on a plane. Instead, "I should order a Thai Massage video and learn more about it, before I invest in a trip to Thailand", I thought.
That video changed my life...


The instructor in my Thai Massage video was Michael Buck, aka Mukti, of the Vedic Conservatory. Mukti is a gifted teacher and mentor. He teaches in Thailand, but he has taught all over the world (he had barely arrived home from Prague before heading to Colorado to train me!).
Mukti's teaching style is unlike other Thai Massage trainings. His Thai massage application requires a connection between therapist and client. The pair become one unified, flowing art form, working together to achieve a healing. He teaches therapists to follow their intuition when giving treatments.
I called him to praise him for his exceptional teaching. The call prompted him to come to Carbondale, Colorado and offer a hands-on Thai-on-the-Table workshop. Since that first training, he has returned to the Aspen valley to train more therapists, and I, again, attended his Thai-on-the-Table workshop.

What is Thai Massage?
Thai Massage is a truly holistic therapy that has been used by medical professionals for thousands of years! It is also known as Nuad Borarn, Thai-Yoga, Assisted Yoga, and Lazy Man's Yoga.
As you can see from the pictures above, the therapist offers a series of yogic stretching and compressions, in sync with the breath. Yoga stretches are called asanas. The breath is pranayama.
Thai Massage assists all of the body's systems, naturally, and promotes healing.
Thai Massage:

• Relaxes tight muscles
• Calms the mind
• Loosens stiff joints
• Improves sleep and energy levels
• Opens chakras & moves qi

Although I acquired certification in Sports Massage years before I knew about Thai Massage, I consider Thai to be "the ultimate sports massage". I use it with athletes, with great success.

Why is Thai Massage better than Sports Massage?
Unlike old-school sports massage which stretches muscles in isolation, one at a time, Thai is based in yoga. Yoga asanas better simulate real-life activities and sports because they are more dynamic. Like our real movements, each asana involves several muscles. Asanas are multi-planar; i.e., also like real movements, they involve movement in several planes of direction. See the rotation in the picture above.
Calling Thai the "Ultimate" sports massage took on new meaning for me in 2012 when I gave it to the Pitt athletes as they won the Ultimate National Championships!


Thai Massage is one of the few treatments I have ever experienced (giving or receiving) that is truly holistic. Each application assists the whole body to heal itself!

In my practice, "Balanced Boulder Massage and Cupping", an entire session can be devoted to Thai Massage. Or clients may receive a blended treatment of Thai, Deep Tissue, and Swedish Massage, plus Cupping. Each client's needs are different, and each session is crafted individually for best results.

Experience a Thai Massage, or a "Blended Thai" treatment, at Balanced Boulder Massage & Cupping! Your body deserves it! Don't Wait!



In addition to the 2012 Ultimate National Champions, University of Pittsburgh, other athletes who have benefited from my massage included 2010 women's snowboarders (see http://blog.k2snowboarding.com/2010/03/29/nvitational-with-grechen-bleiler-this-weekend/) and the 2003 World Champion Synchro Ski team from Beaver Creek, Colorado.