Chow Kam Thye - Thai yoga therapy for your body type : an ayurvedic tradition

Love is everything. Freedom is nothing. Between the two my life flows.

NISARGADATTA

Acknowledgments

During my early days as a teacher in New Zealand, a student raised her hand and asked me a very simple but profound question. She asked: Now that I have learned the massage form, what else is there?

I contemplated her inquiry for some time. In fact, it was the force that finally urged me to go deep into the roots of Thai Yoga Massage and its well-recognized (although mostly unexplored) connection with Ayurveda, the worlds oldest science and healing tradition.

What Ayurveda has to offer Thai Yoga Massageand vice versais profound. Simply stated, Ayurveda provides the Thai Yoga Massage student all of the time-proven knowledge necessary to evolve into a master of the massage. Whats more, Ayurveda shows us the way to nurture ourselves and our recipients into a greater state of balance and harmony

What Thai Yoga Massage offers Ayurveda is equally sagacious. Thai Yoga Massage provides an accessible hands-on method for understanding and applying the fundamental principles of the art and science that is Ayurveda and for using those principles for the common good.

These healing methods are linked by a 2500-year-old history. By exploring the historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of this connection, we honor the many masters who have dedicated themselves to putting an end to suffering and to living a life based on the universal principles of truth and harmony. We also help ourselves and the people in our communities to reduce suffering and to realize our greatest aspirations.

I am honored to have the chance to take part in the evolution of Thai Yoga Massage and to contribute to what is clearly a worldwide love affair with and renaissance of this practice. At no other time in history have more people embraced the wisdom, the teachings, and the gifts that the healing traditions of both Thai Yoga Massage and Ayurveda have to offer. I believe we are at the cusp of what I hope is a healing revolution. It is a time when so many people are adopting healthier lifestyles and are gaining a more profound awareness, allowing humanity to identify the causes of illness and to use the tools at our disposal to prevent diseases from developing.

And let us recognize the importance of metta, the spirit of loving compassion that is at the heart of all Eastern medicine. It has been scientifically proven that when kindness is being bestowed, healing powers increase. The purpose here is to live and die with peace, not just to live a long life. Curing disease and unhappiness are not just about treating the body; healing is about embodying the true spirit of love that already exists in and around us.

Personally, I know that life is full of surprises, and unfortunately they are not always pleasant. In the spring of 2003 I received a gift from heaven that I could not refuse. During a Thai Yoga Massage workshop in Montreal, I was diagnosed with stomach cancer and had to have an immediate operation. Of course, this was devastating news for my wife, my family, my students, and my close friends. Facing the possibility of death was the most difficult challenge I had yet encountered in my life. I have two beautiful young children and a lovely wife, who is my angel on earth. During my sickness I was most touched by the outpouring of love from my family, friends, students, and colleagues. In many ways metta has contributed to my full recovery, and life has never been better. I truly believe in this power, and I believe that all the seeds of metta that were planted in my students over the past few years have blossomed into flowers of compassion and were returned to me many times over.

This gift of suffering has given me the opportunity to strengthen my own spiritual practice. I believe that if anyone has the tools to be well prepared for something like facing a devastating cancer, it should be mealthough who can prepare for something like this? However, I am thankful for my many years of spiritual cultivation through the practices of meditation, yoga, Thai Yoga Massage, and tai chi. I dont know how people can get through this kind of experience without such support.

I looked straight into the eye of my own mortality. As the Buddha teaches, we are all subject to sickness, old age, and death. In my case this reminder is constantly with me, which makes me thankful for every moment that I have left on this earth.

During my recovery I found great comfort in the wisdom of Ayurveda and used this knowledge to walk the path to full health and balance. Now, more than ever, I respect this healing art.

To my student who first asked what comes next? I hope this book helps answer your question.

I would sincerely like to thank Emily Moody, my sister on the path of dharma who had a strong interest in Ayurveda, yoga, and writing. We had an immediate ability to collaborate on writing, and with her help I was able to complete my first book. Shortly afterward Emilys own karma took her to Southeast Asia and India for two years to live in her husbands native land of South India. During that time she studied Ayurveda with the villages Ayurvedic doctor and then went on to study formally with Dr. David Frawley of the American Vedic Institute and with Dr. Vasant Lad of the Ayurvedic Institute.

Since then we have gone on to design the Ayurveda and Thai Yoga Therapy courses and we have taught this workshop both at my school and at Kripalu. Now here we are finally collaborating on this book.

I honor all Thai Massage teachers for their role in expanding the consciousness of this art. Most especially I honor my closest friends and master teachers, Shai Plonski, Paul Cramer, and Blake Martin, whose contributions to this book have been invaluable. I also want to thank my other senior teachers and staff for their inspiration and feedback: Blake, Jyothi, Rishi, Albert, Pierre, Mia, Wendy, Michelle, Devin, Gef, and Suleyka, Csaba, and Tracey. I would like to thank my sister, Poh Ling, for being Auntie Nanny to my children and taking care of us in the most challenging time of my life, while this book was also being formed.

Emily and I would like to thank our editor, Susan Davidson, and the staff at Healing Arts Press who over the years have grasped the understanding of our vision intimately and have transformed our words into true art. Emily would like to thank Kam Thye for many meaningful years of friendship and collaborationyou are a true warrior. Thank you also to Emilys brother-in-law, Ashok Charles, who is not only an exceptional photographer but also a joy to work with. Thank you to Catherine Lemercier, Nicole Engelmann, and Shai Plonski for modeling the three main body types.

Emily would also like to thank all the loving hands that took care of her daughter, Lila, while she was working on this book. She is especially grateful to her mother Susan, stepfather Alan, and sister-in-law Gita, who traveled miles and rearranged their schedules. Thank you also to Rami, Uncle Erik, Aunt Heather, and all the other aunties who pitched inMarianne, Jocelyne, Ilinca, and Ulka. Emily would like to thank her Grand-mother Stenger and Mor-Mor Kelly for first setting her on the path of balanced health and well-being. Finally, Emily would like to thank her loving husband, Mohandas, for inspiring her to write this book and for being a pillar of strength, support, and patience. Without you, this would not have been possible.