It’s amazing how much different paths of my life are intertwined. For example, both Vipassana (meditation technique which I practice since 2011) and Thai Yoga Massage (my new vocation) are closely linked to Buddhism and so one enhances the other.
Thai Yoga Massage isn’t just a bodywork technique, a mechanical skill. The genuine Thai Yoga Massage should take a form of meditation in motion. Serious TYM practitioners use Vipassana both during the treatments and in their regular meditation. It’s a useful tool for the therapist since it makes him more present and receptive. While normal, seated meditation centers on your own sensations, Vipassana in Thai Massage focuses on the connection between the giver and the receiver.
Vipassana is never practiced on its own. It is complemented with metta, a Buddhist term translatable as loving kindness. Each Vipassana meditation course finishes with a session of Metta Bhava: a few moments devoted to forgiveness, well-wishing and love send mentally to all beings. Metta is about feeling grateful for what you have and wishing others to experience similar appreciation.
Metta is an essential element of Thai Yoga Massage. The giver doesn’t just stay present and receptive to the needs of the receiver. He infuses the massaged person with loving kindness. That mental attitude of the practitioner makes all the difference between Thai Yoga Massage and, let’s say, a Swedish Massage. It’s certainly something you can FEEL as a receiver.
sending metta at the end of Thai Yoga Massage session
When I started practicing Vipassana, I thought it’d be difficult for me to evoke genuine metta towards EVERYBODY. Yet, now I believe that the source of metta is within each one of us, it just needs to be encouraged to resurface. Metta appears naturally whenever I finish Thai Yoga Massage treatment, when I feel the energy of the massaged person and wish him/her a full recovery from whatever aches and ailments (s)he might suffer from. It takes a bit of effort to feel metta in a normal life, though. In any stressful, unpleasant situation, my first reaction more often than not is a negative one. Therefore, I need to consciously nourish and rekindle metta within me. And knowing how easy it is for me to spiral into negativity, I value all the more Vipassana meditation and Thai Yoga Massage; those two activities which steer me into the most amazing and uplifting emotion of metta.
Padmakshi's Diary 