May 30 2019 - Janine Ford Therapies

This is a reminder for all of us. We all need touch. We all need to allow ourselves the chance to feel where our bodies end, that we are safe and can move freely.

Thai Yoga Massage at its simplest is an expression of loving kindness & compassion - like any good bodywork. Comforting, mindful and grounding. It’s a full body massage to treat the whole person; to encourage the receiver to reconnect with themselves, to enjoy the gift of human touch and feel energetically balanced. It works well for every type of body and can be adapted to suit each individual.

I’ll share my progress on the course over coming months and have already started to use what I’ve learnt with clients in their treatments. I’m currently offering low cost taster treatments and have already had some lovely feedback. Get in touch to book an appointment.

On a final note, a big thanks to Kira & all the wonderful ‘Samos Anonymous’ bunch. It was a pleasure to share the week with every single one of you (and that even includes the 24hr delay in Athens!). Peace ✌🏽

👈🏾 Me after my first weekend of training, which involved giving and receiving about 3 hrs of massage for 2 days in a row. The wonky smile - a symbol of BLISS.

THAI YOGA MASSAGE

Reflections after a special trip to the Greek island Samos to study with Kira Balaskas.

The main reason I write this is not to gloat! It is to sum up and share my reflections which I hope offer a useful reminder about the importance of touch.

Bessel Van Der Kolk’s book ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ was a book club choice that travelled with me to Samos (good choice Kate B!). It describes the physical and emotional effect of trauma on the body and explores the best ways to treat different types of trauma. In a chapter titled ‘Getting in touch’, he asks one of his favourite bodywork practitioners, Lucia Sky, what impact bodywork has on people. Her answer expresses something I think many of us forget or at least don’t appreciate often enough:

“Just like you can thirst for water, you can thirst for touch. It is a comfort to be met confidently, deeply, firmly, gently, responsively. Mindful touch and movement grounds people and allows them to discover tensions that they may have held for so long that they are no longer even aware of them.”

June 2019

As we lay outside learning and practicing, we were fortunate to be surrounded by a back drop of stunning coast line, sea and mountains. A pod of dolphins swam by on a couple of days too. Throw in massage exchanges, lots of laughter and singing (led by the multi-talented voice coach & musician Guillermo Rozenthuler) plus delicious food... I’m still feeling a bit like it was a day dream.

This view made it quite hard to concentrate...