Thai Yoga Massage Beginners Course
Camino Art House
24 January 2025 – 05 February 2025
Silent Retreat in Barranco de Santa Lucia: 05-09 February 2025
We are honored to host such an important and uplifting event at Camino Art House. Traditional Thai massage is one of the tools that can guide and support you to live a meaningful and healthy life while helping others to reach the same. Thai massage is energy and body work, and it functions as a therapy, or as an act of loving kindness (Metta). The course starts with lunch at 1pm on the 24th January, and finishes with lunch at 1pm on the 5th February.
Read more about the course
Thai yoga massage is an ancient healing art based on the principles of yoga philosophy. As in hatha yoga, the primary aim is to balance the sun and moon qualities of energy in the central energetic channel of Sushumna nadi and to provide our patient with an opportunity for spiritual growth.
Through the combination of acupressure and applied yoga, the practicioner uses the physical body as a tool to access the subtle bodies, in order to bring physical, mental and spiritual healing and balance.
Thai yoga massage could be seen as a moving meditation. When performed with awareness, equanimity and loving kindness, practicing Thai yoga massage trains the body, the mind and the heart. It becomes a mutual meditation and a powerful energetic exchange with many benefits for both giver and receiver.
I have been enthusiastic about external and internal forms of healing since I was a child, and I have been fortunate to practice traditional Thai massage as a profession since 1999. I completed my first courses in Chiang Mai at Chongkol. It was here that my mind was first captivated by this form: the limitless range of techniques, the free, spontaneous, intuitive variation of the repertoire, the therapeutic treatments…
I spent 5 years practicing regularly, and then followed an advanced course with Asokananda, the founder of the Sunshine Network, in which, in a way that is accessible to the Western mind, through his own life and behavior, he taught that in massage, in addition to the technique, the quality that is expressed through the therapist’s body, consciousness, and soul during the massage is equally important… and he indicated that there is still room for me in his Energy Lines course in Greece. Unfortunately, he passed away this year, in 2005, and I was not able to participate in more teaching with him, but soon after, I started regular retreats and teacher training with his successor, Laurino, a 6-year development process, as a result of which I have been an instructor of the Sunshine Network since 2011. In parallel, I went to Thailand in the winter to assist in Laurinó’s courses in the village of Lahu, as well as to learn foot massage and therapeutic massage from northern-style Thai massage instructors.
In 2007, I had the good fortune to spend a winter with one of the still living legendary masters of the style, Pichet, in the massage temple in Hang Dong, observing his impressive work, his therapeutic approach, his creativity, playfulness, Buddhist friendliness and humility poured into Thai massage. In my European and Thai courses, I represent the same teaching chain and tradition that goes back to the time of the historical Buddha. In Hungary, in this spirit, I teach in massage schools, hold lifestyle camps for participants in naturopath training, and run the SriOm massage school with my dear friends. My experience in teaching Thai massage can be found in my book entitled “Nuad Bo Rarn – Introduction to Thai massage” published by Medicina in 2011, which is the basic textbook for the 7-day courses taught in our country. In workshops from the beginning of the 2000s, I teach beginners courses, and share the forms that can be used as a logical continuation of the beginner’s course, such as “Thai massage hands-free”, “Herbal ball massage”, “Thai foot massage”, “Lower back pain therapies”, and “Thai massage in side position ” courses.
Our thai yoga massage training will focus on the systematic tuition of a full body massage. The aim of the course is for the participant to be able to give a full 2 hour treatment to an average healthy patient. During the course, a much wider variety of exercises are introduced, from which the eventual massage may be tailored to fit the needs of the practicioner and the patient (according to the dimensions of giver and receiver, state of health, flexibility etc.).
In accordance with the spiritual traditions in which our massage is rooted, the 72 hours of hands-on training will be complemented by morning yoga or tai chi sessions (1,5 hours every day), in which we may experience the stretches, pressures and energy lines worked on during the massage, and early morning meditation sessions (1 hour every morning except the first day), in which the state of mind recommended by the tradition for thai massage is explained, and can then be experienced and cultivated. The evenings will also include shorter periods available for questions, bhajans, dhamma talks and meditation practices (also cave meditation), camp fire and singing. The morning yoga and meditation sessions are optional but highly recommended parts of the course.
Requirements from the student: The course is open to all, with an openness and affinity to give and receive on a physical, mental and spiritual level. Since thai massage is done on massage tatamis on the ground, a basic physical ability to spend time on the ground is the only physical requirement for participation. No previous experience in massage is needed.
What is the material based on?
The backbone of the course is Asokananda’s „The Art of Traditional Thai Massage”, the first publication on the topic in any language other than thai. The founder of the Sunshine Network, Asokananda wrote this book in 1990, and it still forms the backbone of teaching today. However, as time passes, teachers have made slight changes and new approaches to the subject, which may be provided as handouts and manuals to complement the book.
We are inviting you to spend 4 days in silence with mediation, silent energy work and bodywork in Santa Lucia in a hidden reatreat pleace. This activity is very meaningful and useful after spending 12 days with Thai Massage. In these days you will have time and space to process eveyrthing that you have learnt and feel the benefit of your work. Vegan food will be serverd 2 times a day (very basic). Transport will be organized from Camino to Santa Lucia and back.
What is included in the course fees?
11,5 days of tuition (thai massage, meditation, joga or tai chi), and a printed manual. Vegan food (3 times a day) and accomodation in tents or shared room or shared cave room (no electricity in caves).
The course fee is 670€/person/course.
Special discount for hungarians: 475€/person/course.
Vipassana retreat (4 days): 120€/person/retreat
Half of the fee needs to be paid when applying (booking fee), the second half needs to be paid at arrival.
Cancellation: we can refund your payment until 10 days before the first day of the course. After this we cannot refund.
All those successfully participating in the beginners course will receive a signed and stamped Sunshine Network certificate of their studies. This allows students to go on to advanced studies with teachers from the network. What the certificate allows you to do in the business sphere depends on the local regulations of the area where you wish to practice. These rules tend to change from time to time, and from region to region. In some countries of the world, it allows you to write off the hours you gained for a naturapath, masseur or alternative therapist curriculum, while some countries only accept their own registered schools. Feel free to ask Sunshine Network teachers in the given country for more information.
How many hours of study are certified?
A course is usually a minimum of 72 hours of thai massage, 16,5 hours of movement, and 11 hours of meditation training. That makes 108 hours. The evening programme varies according to venue, and any training hours are added to this total.
Camino Art House opened its doors in 2015. Since than we have offered accommodation and have run different projects with artists. This includes exhibitions, workshops in art, health and lifestyle topics, and many more events. We welcome travellers who are always happy to be involved in our daily life and share their own experiences with us.
We have an old building, which is the central house, and a large land, where the course will take place. We have caves, meadows, and terraces to use. The house itself will not accommodate all of us, so we will open a special camp site for visitors if needed.
Contact
If you want to particiapte, or you need more information, you have questions, or you just want to talk to us about this event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
Bea (Camino Art): +34633339903 (whatsapp message please), caminoart@caminoart.org
