Thai Massage For Sensory Processing Disorder

Without Thai Massage, I wouldn't be able to take my daughter to the grocery store. That was a reality once. I had to wait to go to the grocery store until 10pm or wait until the weekend when the kids could stay home with Nino. The times that I would try to brave it, still haunt me. Especially one particular time; we had maybe two items in the cart and a whole grocery list left. We had nothing in the fridge so we needed this trip to happen.

Then I recognized the look in her face, her eyes starting to swell up with tears, her lip quivering, her body shaking, her hands starting to flap....I had seconds before she was going to start screaming. I tried comforting her and telling her, "Everything is okay, mommy is here baby." Then I heard the blood curdling scream. Bodhi wrapped up on my back, I lifted Amara out of the cart and as I looked up every pair of eyes were on us, particularly one women who gave me a nasty look and said, "Shut her up please" as she covered her ears and rolled her eyes.

I abandoned my cart there with the food that we needed inside and sat in my car crying. I called Nino to tell him we were going to have to wait for dinner until after he came home from work and drove home.

At this point we were just starting our journey to understand why Amara had to lay in the middle of the floor randomly through out the day, why she banged her head, why she stared blankly at us when we were trying to tell her something, why she flapped her hands, screamed in public places and birthday parties, and why she didn't like certain dresses, shirts, and pants. It took me a while to grasp that the way she experienced the world was very different from the way I experienced it.

Nothing was harder though then the fact that my child didn't like my touch.

As a massage therapist I understand touch is important. Touch goes way beyond holding someone's hand, giving them a hug, cuddling with them, or even giving them a professional massage, it regulates our entire system and in a child's case; it helps them developmentally as they grow. For children with sensory sensitivities, it is extremely important.

When I would practice Swedish massage on her, she hated it. The softness, the lotion, the laying still....everything about it.

Then I tried Thai Massage.

Daily Thai Massage changed Amara's life.

There is no lotion, no feathery touches, and movement is involved! The first few sessions were super short as I introduced her to Thai, but now she likes it so much she actually will start massaging us too! She gave her brother one just yesterday!

What is Thai Massage?

Thai massage is traditionally done on a floor mat, which I also love for my daughter because sometimes she will randomly decide she is done and there is no risk of her falling off a table. Loose clothing is worn and the massage is done on top of the clothing. Thai is composed of mostly kneading, compression, gentle yoga-like stretches, pressure points, and working the energy lines (sen).

It has all the benefits of swedish massage such as improved circulation, the release of muscle tension, improved range of motion, and stress relief.

So What Makes Thai Massage Better?

Thai Massage creates a balance between body, mind, and spirit.

It was created during the time of yoga and Ayurveda in India by a physician of Buddhist monks and nuns; Jivaka Kumar Baccha. It was also only done in Buddhist temples for thousands of years!

With this history, you can clearly see how Thai Massage is designed to take care of the physical, mental, and spiritual well being.

The energy work helps the breath or "life force" [prana (india), chi (chinese), Ki (japanese), loom (thai)] flow by breaking up blockages through out the body believed to be the link to physical manifestations of things like chronic pain, illness, diseases, etc.

Meditation is often involved as well since most Thai Practitioners also tend to meditate themselves and bring it to the receiver through intuition and tuning in to their body so they can better suit the needs of the receiver in that moment.

This combination on top of the practitioner using their body from thumbs, palms, hands, elbows, knees, and feet really create a dance between the receiver and the giver allowing even the giver to feel the deeper benefits of thai massage in comparison to other styles of massage.

Applying This to Thai Massage For Sensory Processing Disorder

Sensory Processing Disorder, as you saw in my story, is a different experience of the world around us. For the average person the information from the outside is processed in the brain as either safe or not safe. We even have the ability to tune out unnecessary information and only focus on things that matter. For children and adults with SPD, this isnt always possible.

Using the grocery store example; grocery stores have various temperatures as you go through the store, bright lights, lots of various noises, smells, and visual stimulation. It becomes very difficult to process all the information in the brain and the brain starts to determine the situation as unsafe and immediately begins to start feeling overloaded. Thus a meltdown.

A child with SPD is often introduced to various methods to help them regulate their system and learn to cope in these situations with various strategies they learn through therapy.

Thai Yoga Massage can help the system by introducing positive touch through compression which is often craved by people with sensory processing disorder. A lot of times they also have issues with motor skills since their brain jumbles information so the gentle movements involved in Thai Yoga also introduces them to how their body moves and helps them engage muscle groups. If you believe in the energy lines and meditation, it helps them clear blockages to better connect their body to their mind and learn proper breathing techniques to help them learn another coping strategy.

Personal Results with Thai Yoga

Since introducing my daughter to Thai Yoga, especially as she becomes more open to longer sessions, we have been able to do more in public places, she has enjoyed a more peaceful slumber, she has stopped a lot of the hand flapping, head banging, and laying in the middle of the floor, AND the most important changes have been in her development because she used to say maybe 5 words and was extremely behind in her gross and fine motor skills by TWO YEARS, but now she is only behind by 6 months in all categories! This is because she now experiences touch not only through thai yoga, but she has opened up to being hugged, holding your hand, and even cuddling while reading a book! Thai Yoga has been such a light! If you know someone with Sensory Processing Disorder, tell them about Thai Yoga!

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