The International Thai Therapists Association, or ITTA, which Thai massage practitioners recognize as a governing body on certification, training standards and schools, explains that Thai yoga is more than massage therapy or yoga as they are commonly known. Blending Eastern philosophy and spirituality into a one-on-one teacher to student session, which often includes supported stretches and elements of massage, Thai yoga techniques work to create love, compassion, joy and equanimity in the receiver or client.
Function
In Thai yoga, the practitioner or giver holds the receiver in various positions and stretches, which may incorporate flowing movements. Practitioners guide the receiver through breathing and meditation techniques throughout a session. Traditional Thai yoga sessions include an opening prayer, mantra or acknowledgment of divine nature and enlightened beings. These offerings are supposed to set a sacred atmosphere for the session for the practitioner and the receiver.
Techniques
A large part of Thai yoga training involves learning how to take receivers or clients through assisted yoga poses. Assisted cobra pose variations are common. In one variation of cobra pose, the receiver lies on his stomach with his legs straight back on the floor behind them.
The practitioner squats down with their knees pushing into the client's buttocks. The receiver reaches his arms behind him so the practitioner can grab and pull his hands back and help him raise his chest off of the floor. Practitioners also assist clients with many other Thai yoga positions that include spinal twists, arm stretches and various beginner or advanced backbends.
Certification
Since 1992, the ITTA has provided standards for training and certification in Thai yoga practice. Numerous schools have their own certification standards. A typical training provides future practitioners with 200 to 500 hours of learning.
Various countries have regulations and standards for massage therapists. In the United States, for example, registering and passing examination with the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork is highly encouraged or required by individual states for legal practice of massage therapy disciplines.
You can find popular or reputable schools on the ITTA website. Thai yoga teacher practitioners in training often seek certification at the Wat Po Thai Traditional Medical and Massage School in Thailand.
Courses
Basic Thai yoga training is commonly broken up into levels, which cover structuring of Thai yoga massage or bodywork sessions; anatomy; Thai herbal medicine; history; theory of meridian lines; yoga poses; meditation; and breathing techniques. Advanced courses teach practitioners how to apply their training to suit a client's or receiver's particular needs. Obtaining a practitioner status indicates person has roughly accrued 200 hours of training, while certified Thai yoga instructor or massage therapist titles indicate advanced studies over 200 hours.
Considerations
Training and certification as a Thai yoga therapist may cost several thousand dollars depending on the level of training you desire. Programs may include required internship or apprenticeship hours, written examinations, special projects related to Thai yoga and logging of bodywork hours.
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