Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1451559
38 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k m a rc h /a p r i l 2 0 2 2 Discovering Living Metta In Thailand KEY POINTS • Thai massage is steeped in the rich history and tradition of Thailand, offering modalities that can color your massage practice in positive ways. • Three techniques that can grow your metta ("loving kindness") are back walking, triceps stretch and squeeze, and Thai wooden stick reflexology. The guiding principle of our massage practice By Heath and Nicole Reed A fter traversing the Pacific in over 35 hours of flight time and layovers, we finally arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. We had just been married two days earlier and were eager for our six-week honeymoon, to be punctuated with a two-week course of traditional Thai massage. Jetlagged and disoriented, we made our way out of our hotel and onto the bustling streets of Bangkok on our first day in Thailand. We walked miles in balmy weather, amazed by the smiling nature of the locals, and were intoxicated by mixtures of some of the most beautiful (think never-ending expanses of flower markets) and unusual (sun-dried squid and durian, anyone?) scents we had never smelled. Our taste buds were bombarded by a magical synergy of herbs and spices we had no idea how to describe. We toured grounds of kings and queens, climbed temples, and floated down a river. And finally, after passing a multitude of storefronts with handwritten signs inviting "Thai Foot Massage," our feet could no longer be denied. Heath is a foot massage junkie, and this was an experience unlike any other. We were seated next to one another in pedicure-style fashion, and our therapists began whispering in what sounded like their native language. We later learned that this is how most Thai