What's New

Okay, so I have a lot of things I want to write about, but first I need to get everyone up to speed on things going on around The Naga Center.

The Move

First, in case you missed my last blog post, I'm in a teacher transition.  I've moved to the outskirts of Portland to a lovely little piece of property with trees and a creek.  This is my new home, and new headquarters of my Thai healing arts work.  I've put up a sweet yurt that is almost done, and gotten all of my jars of herbs out of boxes and onto shelves where I can gaze upon their loveliness.  I have a handful of already scheduled workshops to complete, and then a lot of contemplating to do as I move toward a more traditional model of teaching, with smaller classes and/or individual home stay apprenticeship.  More on that as it clarifies. 

Extending Out

Even as I pull my tentacles in closer here in Oregon, with an intentional softening and downsizing of my teaching practice, I am simultaneously extending myself outward toward a larger audience of students on a global level.  My online Thai Medical Theory for Bodyworkers course is forming an ever more international community that transitions into my ongoing online study group, consisting of those who have completed the theory course.  And so I find myself daily in conversation with students around the world.  Along these lines, I'll be teaching in London this coming June, where I hope to meet more of my international students who have not yet been able to make the journey to the U.S.

Naga Center Teacher's Guild

The last bit of news I want to share is really exciting.  I have recently invited a handful of students of mine to begin teaching certain classes from my curriculum.  Last September they came from all over the country and as far away as the UK, to gather as a group for the first time.  Collectively they are The Naga Center Teacher's Guild, and they are the kindest, most supportive and lovely group of teachers you can imagine.  In the years that I have been teaching Thai massage I have often been stunned at the competitive nature of the teaching world.  Seeing these sweet souls actively cheering one another on in their quest to share knowledge, leaning on one another for inspiration, and teaching each other, is pure loveliness. 
Students who take foundational classes with any of these teachers are eligible for my more advanced classes and have the opportunity to repeat the classes as interns with other Naga Center Guild teachers (myself included) so long as there is space.
Some of the Guild teachers have already been teaching their own classes for many years and some are brand new to instruction.  All of them are dedicated to studying and sharing Thai bodywork Thai medical theory and authentic practices.

Changes Beautiful Changes

As soon as I have time, I'm going to write an expanded blog post about this, but for now I just want to make sure that everyone knows that The Naga Center has moved!  I'm going through a deep transition as a teacher, simultaneously connecting with students on a global level (through online teaching and now, starting with a soon to be announced workshop in London, occasional international travels) and bringing the teaching experience closer to home. Literally. I have bought a beautiful little piece of property a stone's throw outside of Portland, where I will be teaching in a more intimate and traditional fashion to individuals and smaller classes through homestay apprenticeship and local workshops.  Right now I'm in the thick of the move in process, still unpacking boxes, building a lovely yurt, and making space.  Look for more information when the dust settles.  Peace.

 

Ganesha and me, in brief

When I was about 20 I had a powerful dream in which I was on a hillside in India, a place I had never been, watching beautifully painted elephants being washed in a river.  Suddenly someone pulled the skin off of one of the elephants in one smooth pull and the painted elephant skin sailed up into the air like heavy silk, and landed at my feet.  Somehow this was not gory; it was beautiful and potent.  A couple of days later I heard of the Indian elephant headed god Ganesha for the first time and I knew deep inside that he was the elephant of my dream.

The first time I met the well known Thai massage instructor Pichest Boonthame, about 17 years ago, he told me to close my eyes and see who was helping me.  I didn't understand what he meant.  He kept prodding me to figure out who my helper was, until in a fit of frustration and tears I cried out "I don't know, all I see is elephants!"

When I got married my father and stepmother gave me a lovely large statue of Ganesha as a wedding present.  They told me that it was that or a washing machine. 

I buy little tiny statuettes of Ganesha by the handful in the Indian district of Bangkok, before or after finding the street samosa seller.  Once, the statue shop owner accidentally dropped one of the statuettes on the ground, swiftly picked it up, and kissed it tenderly in apology. 

I give little tiny statuettes of Ganesha to friends embarking on journeys, or struggling with challenge.

I lose little tiny statuettes of Ganesha frequently, and trust that it is because someone else needed that one.  And that one.  And that one.

A few weeks ago I buried one along a forest path in Powell Butte park.

Piercing the upper edge of my ear in Chiang Mai, years ago, I tell the piercer that I am vegan, and he tells me that he is vegetarian one day a week, in honor of Ganesha.

In Thailand Ganesha is called Prá Pí-ká-nâyt (พระพิฆเนศ) and there is a marvelous museum just south of Chiang Mai that is dedicated to images of him.

The Thai medicine teaching lineage that I am some small part of, is linked to Buddha, Jivaka, the reusis, Prá Mâe Tor-rá-nee (พระแม่ธรณี ~ Mother Earth), and Prá Pí-ká-nâyt , our friend Ganesha.  My teacher's teacher has a 3 dimensional image made of painted medicinal herbs of Ganesha covering a section of his office. 

Every evening I chant pages of Pali and Thai and Lanna verses.  Even when I am grumpy and wishing I hadn't made this commitment to daily chanting, verse after verse of religiousness, when I do not consider myself to be a very religious being, when I get to the part where I pay homage to Mother Earth and Ganesha, I become something soft and grateful.

On the airplane, when I am frightened by turbulence, I turn my mala beads hidden beneath one of those thin and questionable airplane blankets, chanting silently in my head with each bead, "Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha", homage to Ganesha. 

Do I believe in an elephant headed god? I'm not sure.  I was raised sans religion, and have never considered myself a seeker, yet Mother Earth and Ganesha each fell into my heart the moment I heard their names, the moment I learned that they were considered deities.  It does not matter to me if there is such a thing as a deity, or if they are energies created by our collective imaginings, or if they are archetypal metaphors that provide understanding and anchorage in humanity.  What matters is that they provide solace in a complicated world.  When I am worried there are three things I find myself turning to: Mother Earth, The Bene Gesserit fear mantra from the book Dune, and Prá Pí-ká-nâyt (because apparently I am a pagan, a geek, and one of those Thai Buddhists who incorporate many deities).

Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha
Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha
Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha

Going to Massage School

I get asked several times a month, about how one becomes a licensed massage therapist.  My students come from all over the place, especially my online students, who I love as dearly as the ones who show up in person.  So it's not really possible for me to address all of your possible licensure situations.  But for those of you wishing to practice massage in Oregon, until I reach my someday goal of turning The Naga Center into a licensure school (currently it's a continuing education school, although anyone can take classes here) here is some information.

In the United States massage laws vary by state (and sometimes even by county).  In Oregon, in order to practice any form of bodywork professionally, you must have 625 hours of training at an accredited Department of Education approved school.  In some states people will circumvent state massage training requirements by calling Thai massage "yoga massage", or "Thai yoga therapy", or "energy work", or any number of other misnomers.  Know that in the state of Oregon changing what you call it will not exempt you from state laws.  The Oregon Board of Massage Therapists is quite clear that if you are touching the body, your work will most likely fall under massage laws regardless of what you call it. 
From the Oregon Board of Massage Therapist's website:

“massage” or “massage therapy” means the use of pressure, friction, stroking, tapping or kneading on the human body, or the use of vibration or stretching on the human body by manual or mechanical means or gymnastics, with or without appliances such as vibrators, infrared heat, sun lamps and external baths and with or without lubricants such as salts, powders, liquids or creams for the purpose of but not limited to, maintaining good health and establishing and maintaining good physical condition.

So, if you live in Oregon and you have fallen in love with Thai massage and you want to practice it professionally (professionally, in the eyes of the state, means in exchange for anything, including money, cookies, and trades), by law you must hold a massage license unless you are licensed in another medical field that allows you to touch people.  These are generally professions that require more training than massage such as physical therapy, chiropractics, registered nurse, medical doctor etc.  For the record, the last time I checked, being a minister with The Universal Life Church or any other religious institution does not give you license to touch in Oregon.

So, where to go to school.  We have many options in Oregon, but I will just discuss the schools that I primarily find myself recommending.  Each of these schools is recommended for different reasons, so I suggest reading through to see what best fits your needs and disposition.

Massage schools for Oregon residents
 

Lane Community College
I’m putting Lane Community College first here because as the only non-profit massage program in Oregon, they are the most affordable place to get your pre-licensure training. Their program can be done part time over the course of two years, and they have partnered with The Naga Center such that you can take some or all of your classes with me if Thai massage is your preference. During the covid pandemic they are offering many classes online.

Western States Chiropractic College massage program. 
The reason I recommend Western States is because it is my understanding that they have the most advanced and comprehensive science classes.  Wherever you go to school you must study anatomy, physiology and pathology.  Most massage therapists never study these subjects again once they have graduated from massage school, so I think it is worthwhile to get the best training you can while you are in massage school.  Unlike other massage schools, the science classes that you will take at Western States are college level courses that can be applied should you decide to go into higher level medical training at a later date.  What I mean by this is that if you decide to say, become a nurse or a chiropractor some day, the time that you spent studying anatomy at Western States will count - whereas you could spend the same amount of time studying anatomy at another massage school and have it not apply toward further training. 
Edit: I'm sad to say that as of fall 2017, Western States is discontinuing its massage program.  I'm leaving the recommendation here as a I believe that it speaks to a need to look at the sciences offered in any school you attend.

Oregon School of Massage
For those who want a more warm and fuzzy massage school experience, I recommend Oregon School of Massage.  Last time I checked, they still had the delightful tradition of a school field trip to Brietenbush hot springs each year.  It's a solid local school with fair prices and kind teachers that seems to have a lot of heart.

Ashland Institute of Massage
I have heard nothing but lovely things about the Ashland Institute of Massage down in the southern edge of our state.  The main reason I recommend them is because they are unique in that they offer an accelerated training that allows you to complete massage school in just six months.  To do this you have to be able to live in Ashland and engage in school full time.  Along with the Oregon School of Massage above, this is also one of the least expensive options outside of community college courses.

Soma Institute
The Soma Institute is actually located in Washington, but is an important one for me to mention.  Classes are held in weekend intensive modules in which students lives on site in a bunkhouse.  So Portland students can make the 3 hour drive, stay for the intensive, and return home.  The Soma Institute is on a rural piece of property that serves as the owner's home and farm.  I'm told that it is a beautiful place to study, but the reason I recommend it is because of the quality of the work I see coming out of there.  Students are learning a form of structural integration, which, a deeply physically intensive body restructuring method.  This is not your average massage school.  It's the most expensive school I have on here, but for those who can afford it and want a unique learning experience, it's worth looking into.

Some thoughts about massage school
 

• Massage school is not where we become experts, specialists, or masters of our craft.  Massage school, no matter how fancy the brochures, is a place to get foundational training, jump through state mandated hoops, and learn your sciences.  I have rarely encountered anyone fresh out of massage school who I would call an excellent therapist, and those I have encountered inevitably had healing arts training prior to going to massage school.  Do not think of massage school as an end goal, think of it as a jumping off point.  It is after massage school, when you seek out individual teachers who are highly skilled, for continuing education; this is where you will truly advance your training and bloom as a therapist.  And it is through years of practice that you become an expert.  

• Beware the temptation to learn every modality.  Many massage modalities require years of training and practice to become highly skilled.  Some, like Thai massage, can be studied for a lifetime.  Find a modality to love, and go deep with it rather than taking multiple superficial courses in multiple modalities.  For the latter will make of you a jack of all trades and a master of none.  When I see someone's website or business card that has a laundry list of modalities I think "yes, but what are they really good at?".  I would rather get a massage from someone who has studied one modality for many years, even if it's not my favorite modality, than someone who once took a course in my favorite modality and tacked it onto a list.

• I call most massage schools "schools of how not to touch", because they have a habit of making massage seem very dangerous.  They fill our heads with contraindications and areas of endangerment to the point where massage practitioners can walk away thinking that they are in a profession filled with accidental murders.  In truth most massage modalities are extraordinarily safe.  It's mostly a money game.  The more dangerous massage schools can make massage seem, the higher the number of training hours states will require, which means more money for the schools.  But if you look at money from another angle you can see that massage is a relatively safe profession.  For about $150 you can get over 2 million dollars of liability massage insurance coverage.  Insurance is a statistically driven business, which means that if people were reporting injuries from massage therapists left and right, our insurance coverage would be significantly more expensive.  To give a little perspective, physical therapists can expect insurance to begin at $5000 a year and go up from there, and according to The Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, your average midwife must spend over $11,000 a year for liability coverage.  Where I'm going with all of this is, don't be afraid to touch people.  Learn the contraindications and areas of endangerment so that you can do well on your exams, but don't start thinking that you are going to kill someone with effluerage.  Be wise and knowledgeable, but be not afraid.  And keep in mind that Thai massage is probably the most dangerous massage modality there is, so if this is your passion, get really good training and be careful.  Ironically, in most states as long as you got your Swedish massage based state mandated training, you can practice Thai massage legally without ever having taken a class in it.

• You might notice that I'm not mentioning every school in Oregon.  You might notice that some schools with the most prominent marketing and the most students are not on here.  That's because this is my recommendation list, not a comprehensive accounting of all the schools in Oregon.  It's based on the quality of knowledge that I see students emerging from school with, and also the satisfaction they report to me about their training experience. 

Do I really have to go to massage school?

Well, in Oregon, if you want to practice massage professionally and be legal, then yes, yes you do.  But I know some of you are thinking "yeah, but can't I just stay under the radar and practice without a license?".  Well, yes, you could do that.  And honestly I have a lot of ranting I can do about massage schools (did a bit up there talking about the danger and money thing) and how wanting I think most of the training is, and how sad it is when people have to go to school to learn Swedish massage when all they really want to study is Thai or Hawaiian massage.  But when it comes right down to it, I recommend going to school.  Even with all of the flaws, the truth is that I think that it's best to know anatomy and physiology if you are going to work on bodies.  These courses are like instruction manuals for our bodies! And I know that it takes time and money, but really, how many professions out there can one get licensed in in less than a year and under $20,000?  The requirements to become a licensed massage therapist may seem hard, but in comparison to other careers, it's very little.  And most likely, you are going to enjoy massage school.  You'll get tons of massage while you are there, make new friends, you will love some of your teachers, and you will learn a lot about these amazing bodies we live in. 

To Stretch or not to Stretch ~ a simple post

Tight Muscles - tight muscles are existing in a shortened, contracted state. They cannot fully elongate. A person with muscles like this may not be able to, say, bend over and touch their toes. They need stretching

Tense Muscles - tense muscles can exist in a body that is very flexible and does not need stretching. In this case, the person might be able to say, bend over and touch their toes, but if you feel the muscles, they are holding a lot of tension. In this case they need to be "massaged" - compression, compresses, beating, this kind of thing. These muscles do not need stretching.

We have this fallacy that if someone is flexible, then all is good - but in truth, even yoga instructors who can bend l like Gumby can still have very tense bodies. So we have to learn to feel the tension in the muscles, and not base all diagnosis on flexibility and range of motion. Feel the tissue.

Thoughts About Learning

My teacher says you need three things to learn:

1. A teacher
You know, a teacher whose knowledge you have faith in.  A teacher you stay in contact with. Someone you really consider to be your teacher.  It's possible to have more than one of these, but at least one is needed for in-depth learning. 

2. Texts
The written preservation of knowledge.  When my teacher says texts, he is talking about old texts.  When we talk about old texts in relation to Thai medicine, I should note that traditionally one way that knowledge was passed on and maintained, was that students would copy, by hand, their teacher's texts.  This served a dual purpose; students would deepen their learning, and in a tropical climate that eats books (parchment, palm leaves etc.), it was a way of always renewing the text.  Because of this, the words in Thai medical texts are often much older than the paper by which historians may date their age.  I've done my best with my books to present information as taught in the old texts, because I know that most of my western Thai massage community does not have the ability to read the old Thai medical texts.

3. Personal experience and the revelation it leads to.
In other words, practice practice practice.  There is a level of understanding when our teacher shows us something.  Then there is a level of understanding as we mimic it.  At this point, we often think we know the thing.  But then with practice comes the new understanding, the subtle knowing, the shifting revelation.

we are all a work in progress

My teacher says there is a prescribed way of being a good student:

First, you must listen to what your teacher is teaching.  At this point, you do not ask questions.
Next, you think about what your teacher taught you, perhaps you practice too; you try it out.
After thinking and trying, if you still have questions, then you go to your teacher and ask your questions.
Then you listen again.  Think and ponder and practice again.  Return with questions again. 

Things I say to my students about learning Thai medicine:

• When you enter a classroom, leave your prior training at the door with your shoes.  Not just your Thai massage training, but your Chinese medicine training, your Ayurvedic medicine training, your culturally infused western biomedical understanding; leave it all there by the door with your shoes.  It will be there for you to pick up again on the way out.  For now, clear your mind and come listen. 

bare feet and spacious minds

• When you are with one teacher, be with that teacher.  Don't sit around with other students having conversations in front of your teacher about studying with other teachers.  Especially if the teacher you are with is a Thai teacher in Thailand; recommending other teachers inside of another teacher's classroom is considered extremely rude.  It is also taking everyone away from being present with the learning at hand.

• Do not challenge, undermine, or try to one up your teacher.  This isn't only for the sake of politeness, although of course that is a factor.  It is because when you do this, you injure the other student's experience.  Faith in a teacher is important for learning, so if you deliberately weaken a teacher, you do not only undermine that teacher, but you undermine the other student's ability to learn and benefit from the class.  I am not saying that you shouldn't have a critical mind, and I am not saying that we should have blind faith in every teacher we encounter.  Not by a long shot.  But ask your questions mindfully.  Test the information mindfully.  Wear your student hat, even if you yourself, are sometimes a teacher. 

• Books, in Thailand, are considered sacred objects.  This is because they contain words, and words are sacred.  If you are in a Thai classroom in Thailand, or studying in the west with a teacher who has spent enough time in Thailand to develop some Thai sensitivities, do not step over books.  Try to keep them off the floor, but if they are there, treat them as sacred.  On a side note, your mouth is also a sacred place, because words come out of there.  Knowing this gives me pause about what words I choose to speak. 

• In the beginning, when you are new to Thai bodywork, you will learn dozens of new techniques in each class you take.  Then, as you become more experienced, there will be less new "moves" to learn in each class, and you will move on to a different level of learning, in which you seek quality more than quantity.  When I take a class now, if I walk away with ONE new piece of information that will become a part of my healing arts repertoire, that will help to alleviate suffering in those I encounter - even if it alleviates the suffering of only one person, then I consider that class a success.  Keep this in mind as you move through the world of Thai healing arts training - ultimately it's not about dozens of fancy acrobatics and tricky body dances.  It's about anything that alleviates suffering; for that is what our practice is about. 

• If you are a teacher, as many of my students are, then every class you take becomes a double class.  Every class is both a class on the curriculum subject, but also a class on teaching.  As teachers we learn from one another.  Even the worst class is a fantastic learning ground for a teacher.  I have avoided at least some teacher pit falls because I watched other teachers fall into them in front of me, and I took notes thinking "be careful of this".  I am equally indebted to those teachers as I am to the ones who inspired and taught me great things about teaching.  Perhaps I am even more indebted to the ones who fell in front of me, as theirs were the harder lessons to teach.  I can only hope that if I have fallen in front of you, it was an excellent learning moment. 

• Also for the teachers, when you are in a class, wear your student hat. It’s hard to take the teacher hat off, I know, but this is your opportunity to learn and learning is harder when we are in teaching mode. When I am with my teacher I ask all the stupid questions, I let myself be the fool, and in so doing I learn more and help the others in the class to learn more than I could if I was spending my time showing them what a good teacher I am. If you feel that your teacher is leaving something important out, go to them on the side and mention it; it’s likely they have their reasons, and if not, if they simply didn’t think of it, by letting the teacher bring it to the group you keep the learning experience cleaner for the group. Once I was attending a dharma talk by the Venerable Robina Courtin and she said at one point to the class “does anyone have any questions?” A man raised his hand and said “I don’t have a question, I have a comment” to which the Venerable Robina Courtin responded “have some humility; these people didn’t come here to hear your comments, raise your hand when you have a question”. It was a strong and perhaps harsh learning moment for all of us, but it has staying in me ever since, and I remember it whenever I am not the person the group came to learn from.

• Do not cling to knowledge.  We are always learning.  And the subject that we study in particular is one that is still brand new to the western world.  We have so much more to learn, and much to unlearn.  It can be particularly difficult to let go of understanding once we have written about it or taught others, but fluidity is necessary in this field because so much has been unknown, so much guessed at, and so much lies before us in the evolution of revelation. 

• Be kind to one another.  This one goes especially to the Thai massage teachers.  There is so much meanness in the Thai massage teaching community, fueled by competition.  So much undermining and one upping of one another in public spaces like Facebook.  It's often disguised as "friendly debate" or sharing of information, but if you look closely, it's usually teachers hurting one another.  Remember the Buddhist precept of using your words harmoniously.  Remember that people are keeping roofs over their heads, food in their children's bellies, and caring for their aging parents; do nothing to hurt someone else's businesses, for in doing so we are not being in the healing arts; instead we are creating suffering.  Remember that ultimately we are a family - somewhere along the line, your teacher's teacher's teacher's teacher, is the same person.  Somewhere along the lineage connect the dots, we become lineage siblings. 

• And, to everyone new to learning something, as we all are from time to time, I tell this story:
When I was in my late teens, I was struggling to learn something and feeling frustrated.  A man who was known in my town as being slightly crazy, but friendly and harmless, saw me and said to me "relish your novicehood; you only have it once".  I think this every time I am struggling to learn something (which is most of the time really).  Relish your novicehood. 
 

learning, we see through the tangle

Getting Ready for Herbal Medicine Making

I have an herbal medicine workshop coming up at the end of next week.  So now I get to think about what we will make this time around.  It's a lovely time of year for herb lore, as we can leave the classroom and go pick plantain and mint for making a cooling liniment just in time for summer. 

My herbal workshop is always my most labor intensive and expensive workshop to prep for.  I run around town going from Asian market to Asian market, to the Chinese herb supply store (to buy herbs found in both Thai and Chinese medicine), to the company I buy oil from and a liquor store for alcohol for tincturing.  If I'm low on jars I'll find myself at the wholesale packaging supply warehouse over in the industrial side of town, watching the warehouse guys drive through the stacks putting together my order.  No other class requires so much driving, so much schlepping stuff around, so many trips between my herb room and my classroom, so much equipment dug out of closets and cupboards (bowls, hot plates, knives, cutting boards, jars, towels, strainers, mortles and pestles...), so much clean up.

So. Much. Fun.

I love my herbal medicine workshops.  I love the smells.  I love the moment a student discovers that there is something magically satisfying about crushing a whole nutmeg seed with a pestle (they crush easily, with this perfect popping crunch, releasing one of the loveliest scents on earth).  I love the inherent space these workshops give for friendly conversation as we patiently heat oils and herbs, or sit rolling herbal pills with our hands, stained yellow from turmeric.  I love going from casual conversation to chanting magical healing incantations in Pali over our accomplishments. 

Exploring Thai herbal medicine is exploring the Thai taste system, and so we get to eat things, from sweet to oh my god is that what astringent is?  We make medicinal teas and discover who has the "I can taste bitter" gene as some sip happily and others make interesting faces while setting their cups aside.  We eat durian.  Oh yes.  Which takes us to food as medicine, and discussions of how to incorporate what we are learning into how we approach basic eating. 

Everyone leaves with treasures.  Little jars of Thai herbal massage balms and liniments, bags of hand rolled pills bound with lime juice or honey, tiny vials of aromatic inhalers whose vapors will ward off a profusion of problems.  There is no promise in this paragraph for those coming to class.  What we make changes from workshop to workshop, so I do not know exactly what you will walk away with; only that it will be something delightful and beneficial. 

At the end, when the supplies are back in their cupboards, the jars of dried herbs back in their alphabetically correct position on the shelves in my herb room, and all of the twigs and dust is vacuumed from the floor, I will be exhausted.  And I probably won't have made much money, as my herbal classes tend to be a low student draw, and high supply cost.  But I will have gotten to share my passion with a little group of wonderful people (for my students tend to be wonderful people), my stock of balms and teas will be replenished, and I will have had so.  much.  fun. 

The Library

The library at The Naga Center might not look so big.  But in that sweet room sits what I believe is the largest traditional Thai medicine library in the world outside of Thailand.  It's no small thing.  When I lived in Thailand, my teacher entrusted me with most of his library, and I mailed home a quarter of a ton of books; this collection occupies one wall of the library.  Many of these books are extremely hard to find medical texts.  Most of them are in Thai, and quite a few are in archaic medical Thai, such that only a small handful of people in the world will be able to read them.  Sadly I am not one of those people; but my teacher is, and when he comes to teach he frequently spends time going through and translating bits of these old texts. 

Along the other walls of the library is an assortment of English language medical texts ranging from the common Thai massage sequence books (yes, I have supported each of you out there who has written a book on Thai bodywork), to books on the medicinal herbs of Thailand.  There is one shelf devoted to books on Buddhism, another to Thai language studies, and even a little corner of the room occupied by western medical books including anatomy and physiology books, and western herbal therapies.  Oh, and there is also a spot for children's books including many Jātaka tales.

It's a medicine library.  Sometimes I go in there and find myself overwhelmed by how much I still have to read.  Other times, most of the time, I'm comforted by the presence of these papery tombs of knowledge.  I look at the wall of Thai language books and I hope that someday a gifted translator with Thai medical know how, will hunker down in there and turn them into texts available in English.  I thumb through books that I cannot read, looking at diagrams and drawings of strange plants, stumbling along with my kindergarten Thai reading abilities, knowing it is not enough for real comprehension. I fear fire.  Most of these volumes are irreplaceable, and I feel the weight of being their caretaker.

Unlike Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, Thai medicine has not really been studied in the west.  Other than a handful of books on massage techniques, and the few more theory based books put out by myself and Pierce Salguero, there is very little written in English or other western languages.  Westerners are fond of saying that Thai medical knowledge doesn't really exist; that it is all borrowed from other countries, or that all knowledge was lost with the destruction of Ayutthaya.  I've heard people say there is almost nothing written even in Thai.  Yet here I have a wall containing a quarter ton of texts, all of them on the subject of Thai medicine; ranging from herbal therapies to deep visceral manipulations, and from magical spirit medicine to basic food nutrition.  The fact that they have not yet been translated into English does not mean that the knowledge isn't there.  It sits waiting like a secret in plain sight.

When you come to take a class at The Naga Center, I encourage you to sit in the library.  I encourage you to peek inside some of these mysterious old books.  And if you happen to be able to read archaic medical Thai, with the comprehension of one who practices medicine, I invite you to take up residence in the library.  I'll make you muffins and tea. 

Scraping Addendum

Adding to the scraping post of the other day, I want to make clear that while scraping marks are sometimes very dramatic and potentially alarming visually (as in the picture in the last post), when done correctly, scraping is not painful.  It can feel excellent (like an itch being scratched) and it can feel uncomfortable; something that you have to breathe through a little bit; but if it is painful then the practitioner needs to lighten their touch.  The sensation of being scraped should never come close to what the marks make it look like it would feel like. 

Also, scraping should never be done on extremely depleted weak people as it is inherently a depleting therapy (as are all detoxifying therapies.  They are removing things from the body as opposed to nourishing therapies such as heat, application of oils, and nurturing touch).  Everything has its place.

Scraping

Awhile back I came across this article that is mostly about what western type scientific studies have learned about scraping (Khoodt in Thai).  I wrote most of the following for my ongoing online apprentices, and thought I'd copy it over here to share more widely.  It was all phrased as gua sha since western medicine mostly knows about scraping through Chinese medicine, but I'm just gonna use the word scraping because they are just talking about the mechanical effects really, of the main motion of it that is found in all systems of medicine that use it.

Here is the article

And here is my condensation, simplified bullet points of what I got out of the article

•  Scraping produces temporary therapeutic petachiae (pronounced peh-ti-ki-ee, I know!). Petachiae is a western term for the red dotty/bumpy markings. It generally refers to mild vascular hemorrage, but in this case it is considered beneficial

•  Studies showed that scraping produced a 400% increase in superficial blood circulation (that’s a lot!) that stayed that way for about 7 minutes, and took 2 days to fully return to normal.  Think about this - in an area that has had blockage or is in any way dead/numb/depleted, scraping is going to bring an immediate huge flush of circulation, thereby removing toxins, and delivering nutrients to an area.

•  Every subject in the study experienced decreased or resolved pain and reported a greater sense of well being.

•  Scraping has provable anti-inflammatory and immune boosting effects - Yes, traditional medicine has known this forever and day.  Read on to see the western perspective of why.

• It can reduce a fever and alter the course of an acute infectious illness, as well as reduce inflammatory symptoms in chronic illness.  Again, traditional medicine already knew this.

• Okay, here is where we get to the oh so interesting why.  Cruel studies on a mouse showed that scraping upregulates (meaning increases) gene expression for an enzyme that is an anti-oxidant and cytoprotectant (meaning a thing that protects the cells from harm), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), was present at multiple internal organ sites immediately after treatment and over a period of days following gua sha treatment.
(what that just said up there is that it causes an increase in an enzyme that protects cells, and this was found around many organs.)

•  Also, this enzyme is anti-inflammatory and antioxidive - it can reduce allergic inflammation, AND it boosts immune response AND it relieves symptoms of Hepatitis B and C, AND it might heal internal organs AND it helps with all kinds of other nasty things like asthma, organ transplant rejection, inflammatory bowel disease and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.  No, I'm not saying that scraping is the new/ancient cure all.  But it has been used for a lot more than muscle aches over the centuries.

• This is all in addition to all the stuff we already knew that scraping can do - Here is a nice list I made that combines things this article said, with stuff I already had on it from Thai medicine.

Releasing excess heat
Treating colds, flus and fevers
Treating many forms of headache including tension affected migraines
Dispersing stagnation
Releasing fascial restriction
Breaking down scar tissue
Reducing inflammation
Treating heatstroke
Relaxing bound muscles
Releasing adhesions
Releasing accumulated waste
Increasing circulation (400% increase in surface circulation of blood)
Releasing stuck wind
Reducing inflammatory symptoms in chronic illness

Scraping is done throughout southeast Asia and in northern Thailand you can find traditional doctors who specialize in it, complete with ceremony and incantations to boost the effect and protect the recipient.  But scraping is also kitchen medicine.  It's done by mothers to the children, and friends to friends.

Knowing Thai medical theory takes it from the realm of folk healing into more advanced therapy, and it is an amazing addition to any Thai bodywork practice.  Personally it's a technique that I have a particular affinity for.  Mostly I use porcelain soup spoons to do scraping, but you can see part of my collection of traditional tools in the photo below.  
 

What my teacher said

I'm organizing my notes from when my teacher was here earlier this month and thought I would share some direct quotes.

"listening to the body means we work on a place, listen to what is happening in the body, and adjust our treatment to meet the needs of the body"

"if you don’t go layer by layer, it’s like an assault on the body"

“Many techniques are not necessary - do the same technique over rather than switching it up a bunch.  It's better for sensing if you stick with one technique as you can get feedback from the body easier.  If you keep switching, the body is trying to settle and adjust, and then you switch it up, and the body has to settle and adjust again.  Sometimes it’s good, but not always."

"Medicine and bodywork is no different from any other art form.  Anyone who is really good at music, dance etc., has practiced for a long time.  In medicine the body of knowledge is the same, the techniques are the same, but how it’s expressed is individual to the doctors - but just like piano, they have to first study deeply the proper way."