For self-care purposes, releasing muscle spasm, elevating mood, or just because you feel like doing it, massage therapy is always a good idea—it is also common for us to have reasons to have one!
Oftentimes people refer to Asia as the mecca of massage since it is the place where you can find and try plenty of types of massage treatment. Before you try to book each one of these treatments to have different experiences of rejuvenating your body, let’s get to know these common Asian massage treatments.
Who doesn’t know this type of massage anyway? Some of you may have heard about it before but have never tried it before.
But, before you decide to have Thai massage, take a moment to get a glimpse of what you would experience: you will be stretched, pulled, and in the middle of the treatment you will feel like in the midst between massage and yoga. It is safe to say that this might give you a little taste of massage.
It is not like you just simply lay down your body on the bed and close your eyes to feel every finger pressure your therapist apply on parts of your body, it is more than that! It seems like your body should follow the active yet calming movements during the massage time.
2. Ayurveda
Another whole new experience of massage that comes from India. Ayurveda will require your body to be doused in oil. But, worry not, the oil we mention here is the special one since it would be heated first and is herbal-infused.
To say it is just relaxing will be an understatement, not only because it is rooted in ancient Indian principles, but also because it can help boost your immune system, some people say Ayurvedic massage is one of the world’s oldest healing treatment. Ayurvedic massage even has many techniques to choose from, with the Sarvanga Abhyanga or the whole-body massage comes as the most common type.
3. Shiatsu
The therapeutic bodywork from Japan, shiatsu itself means “finger pressure”. Even though you acknowledge how the name rings like a Japanese word, the concept of Shiatsu massage is actually based on Chinese traditional medicine.
In Shiatsu massage, the therapist will give you pressure with their fingers or palm on some points in your body with the aim of stimulating and smoothing the flow of your vital energy—also referred to as “chi”. It believes that the blockage of our “chi” can lead to a broad range of illnesses.
Always notify your therapist to adjust the pressure to avoid any discomforts during the treatment. Women with menstrual pain or problem are recommended to try Shiatsu as it will not involve too much pressure and exposure to your body.
4. Reflexology
People will normally correlate reflexology with a foot massage. Surprise, surprise, it is more than that! Reflexology requires pressure to be applied on our “reflex areas” located in feet, hands, and ears. According to Chinese traditional healing, Reflexology is basically similar to Shiatsu that believes vital energy is responsible for our wellness, thus Reflexology also adopts the concept of “chi”.
What makes it more applicable is, the very basic practice of this type of massage can be used at home as long as we learn the chart to locate how certain parts of our body connected to the function of our organs.
For instance, the tip of the toes reflect our head, the liver is connected to the arch of the feet; so to treat the headache we can apply gentle pressure to our toes, and you can try to press other parts of the body according to the chart to overcome other illnesses.
5. Balinese Massage
Here comes one of the most calming massage treatments from Asia! Originated from the beautiful island of Bali, Indonesia, Balinese massage is a whole-body treatment that incorporates aromatherapy, reflexology, relaxing strokes, and gentle pressures.
If you dream of a body treatment where you can fall asleep during massages, Balinese massage is on top of your consideration. Because the main intention is to soothe both our body and mind, we are free to create our preferred atmosphere during the massage, from choosing our favourite scent, the aromatic oil massage, until the place we want the massage to take place.
In Bali, some massage parlours or hotels offer their customers to have a massage treatment by the beach or nearby the beautiful cliff.