2500 years ago a dynamic bodywork therapy, based upon yoga and Ayurvedic practices, appeared in temples in India. This therapeutic art was directly rooted in the ancient Indian healing traditions of Ayurvedic medicine. The father founder of this healing art, Jivaka Kumarbhaccha was a renowned doctor and yogi. He treated the Buddha, among others. After the Buddha’s death, the earliest Buddhist monks travelled to Southeast Asia and were accompanied by Ayurvedic doctors. These doctors practiced a healing art that also included Massage techniques which we now know as Ayurvedic Massage.

Ayurvedic Massage became the root of a healing system developed in Buddhist temples in Thailand about 1000 years ago. In this system, called Nuad Phaen Boran (Traditional Thai Massage), the practitioner guides the client through a series of yoga postures, while palming and thumbing along the body’s energy (Thai: “Sen”) lines and pressure points. Together these actions result in a comprehensive full body treatment that relieves muscular tension, improves circulation, boosts the immune system and balances the body energetically. The system later evolved into various regional styles but the basic principles were retained. Nowadays most healthy people in Thailand, Singapore, South China and Taiwan are relying on regular massage to stay fit and to cope with illness, injury or too much stress.