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METRO WORKOUT

Knead out stress

STRETCH THE BENEFIT Of yoga, combining it with a massage

It is a calm place in Jeevanahalli, where Cyriac Joseph and Roshni Davidson are practitioners of Thai yoga massage at the School of Thai Yoga Massage.

“It is a combination of Thai massage, acupressure, and yoga. When you do yoga yourself, you may not be able to stretch as much as you will when someone pushes your body. Combined with a good massage this is a great stress buster,” explains Cyriac, the trained instructor.

Before we start, Cyriac says it is important to give me a brief history about this massage. “Thai yoga massage movement art form started 2,500 years ago in India and migrated to Thailand with Buddhism. It is believed that this was administered to Gautam Buddha and also has spiritual aspects to it. As Buddhism travelled to the East, so did this therapy and now it is gradually coming back to India. Shivago Kompraj is the founder of this therapy,” explains Cyriac, who has been practicing for the last two years in Bangalore.

“We have sessions, mostly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We also customise sessions as per individual needs,” he adds and demonstrates a combination of Thai massage and yoga on one of his students.

She lies on her back and Cyriac sits at her feet and starts working on her heels and then progresses to her calf muscles and thighs. “All the while you have to rock yourself. There has to be a rhythm in your body movement, otherwise you will not feel the effect,” he says and makes the student bend her body in a yogic posture and then he gently stretches her in that position. “You see, there is a rhythm even in this.”

“In the first class we just introduce the student to the therapy and its effects. So what would you like to try?” He asks. I opt for a massage of my palms. “You see the best part is that you don’t have to disrobe and there is no oil. All you have to do is close your eyes and relax.”

So I lie on my back and my hands are placed on a soft pillow. And Roshni sits by my side and says a small prayer and there is a moment of stillness. “This is to create harmony between you and me,” she says and then starts with the acupressure on my palms. She works on one palm at a time. It’s beautiful. She bends, pats, massages, then cracks your knuckles and stretches your palms in so many ways that the palms and fingers, stressed due to RSI, suddenly feel light and seem to come alive.

Then she works on the right palm, which is a bit painful. “Your hands are very stressed. They need to be really eased off all their negative energy. If only you had time, I could work more on it,” she says and adds that this therapy is good to overcome injuries, stress, aches and pains. “It’s also a good workout for the one who practises the massage. You are constantly rocking, swaying and moving and your are so focussed that you will burn a lot of calories this way.”

“We also work on all the acupressure points, and some of the massage points will put you to sleep. More than a therapy, I’d like to think of it as a dance,” says Cyriac.

They conduct classes for various levels. Call 9740378883/9449837130.

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