The work

Pressure, breath, and slow opening.

Traditional Thai bodywork, also called Thai yoga massage, is close to having yoga performed on you. Rather than simply rubbing the muscles, the work compresses, stretches, and rocks the body to open blockages and relieve tension. The practitioner moves with thumbs, palms, forearms, elbows, knees, and feet. Over the course of a session the joints are gently opened, tendon and ligament are lengthened, the internal organs are toned, and the body's energy is balanced and restored. A full session is deeply relaxing and restorative, in body and in mind.

The form is old, with roots reaching back more than a thousand years in Thailand and carrying both Indian and Chinese influence. It follows the movement of vital energy through the major pathways the tradition calls sen lines. Pressure travels along these pathways, and the key points along them are stimulated to free the flow of energy and bring it back into balance. The whole session is held in a steady state of concentration, with attention on the breath, so the work stays present, attentive, and kind rather than mechanical.

Watch

The work, in motion.

Your practitioner

Andrew Eppler.

I have practiced bodywork for more than thirty five years, and I have studied the healing arts for much of my life. My work with Thai massage began in Chiang Mai, at the Old Medicine Hospital, and carried on with teachers in Austria, England, and Greece. In 2014 I completed level one and level two with Chock Petchprom at the TMC school of Thai Massage. Alongside the Thai work I have trained in deep tissue, myofascial release, osteopathy, Shiatsu, myoskeletal bodywork, Muscle Activation Technique, and chiropractic, and I draw on all of it. Of everything I have learned, traditional Thai work has stayed my favorite, and the best form to bring the rest of my skill into.

I work with everyone, from athletes and children to elderly people, and I specialize in helping yoga practitioners. Lower back pain, yoga injuries, sports injuries, and the slow wear of daily occupation are all familiar ground. A session often carries counsel drawn from yoga philosophy, along with practical guidance on diet and daily life, and I will send you home with a few exercises to practice on your own. Thai massage and bodywork have been a lifelong passion. I am always studying and learning new techniques, and I am ready to help anyone who wants to improve the quality of their life.

A session

What to expect.

A full session runs sixty or ninety minutes. You stay clothed in something loose and easy to move in, and the work happens on a mat on the floor. There is nothing to do but breathe and let the body be moved. The longer session leaves room for a fuller, head to foot sequence, with more time spent wherever the body is asking for it.

Sessions are in the studio in Norman, at Yoga on Main, 123 East Main Street. For bodywork at your own location, that can be arranged as well.

Rates

Simple, by the session.

First time here? Ask about the 15% discount.

In the studio in Norman, or at your location. Andrew also teaches private yoga, which lives on its own page.