These are people with whom I know I will get on very well from the first contact. About Elena Nastaca, the founder of the School of Thai Therapy, I had heard from several therapists who had taken a course with her and had warmly recommended me to get in touch. It was on my to do list to contact her. But the list is long, other priorities kept coming up, and, after more than a year of hearing about her, I had done nothing.
At the beginning of the year, just a few days after I launched the Spa Romania awards, I wake up one morning at 5:00 a.m., check my email and see Thai Therapy's entry in two categories of awards. I felt like the saying "the mountain comes to Mohammed". I couldn't wait until 9 o'clock to call her.
The first conversation with Elena, like all the ones that followed, left me with a big smile on my lips and a feeling of excitement that we still have a wonderful man in the Romanian Spa market. It was clear to me that we were speaking the same language and I was looking forward to the months to get to know her. By that time I also made her portrait - and I admit that I lived revelation after revelation discovering Elena (you can read it too here.)
And when we finally saw each other, I felt like we had known each other for years. In addition, Elena's interventions at the Conference made me more curious to go to her to experience Thai therapy as she does it, but also to better understand her business: both the center and the Thai Therapy School.
in a very quiet area of Timisoara, we entered a building over 100 years old, with high ceilings, wide hallways, rooms with generous spaces and an interior garden.
As soon as I entered, on the left side I saw the three flags representing the Thai Therapy Center: Thailand, Romania and Japan, because the Center was opened out of the desire to bring to Romania the Asian tradition for a long and healthy life in harmony with body, mind and soul. Thai Therapy follows the curricula of TMC Chiang Mai and Ong's School in Thailand and Koyasan School of Shiatsu in Japan.
There are 3 directions from the hallway:
There are 2 huge halls, where Elena Nastaca from 2016 to date has educated over 675 therapists. In the way she teaches, she insists that the therapists respect the authenticity of the therapy brought from her mother's home.
It has 3 massage rooms which 3 can be adapted for couples therapy. I'll give you more details about them right away.
Although Elena also invited me to a course, it was impossible for me to fit it into the program now. But what I could do was to sleep one night as any trainee does.
There are 7 rooms, one of which is the children's playroom, and it has a generous enough space that if a child doesn't want to stay without his mother, then the mother can do therapy in that room.
The remaining 6 rooms are for sleeping. They have everything they need: a bed, a table, a cupboard and a crystal to protect and purify the room.
The bathrooms and showers are down the hall, like any hostel, but they are incredibly clean at all times.
He put me in the Japanese room, which gave me the opportunity to feel like I was living in another culture. It is the only room where you take your shoes off in the hallway before stepping on the Tatami (floor). I was really curious to see how to sleep on a Futon (specific Japanese coconut mattress) and I can tell you that the feeling of touching the floor with my hands while lying down was super cool.
The design, as I expected, is minimalist. As soon as I stepped into the Japanese room, I was reminded of the book "The Art of Simplicity" written by Domnique Loreau, a French woman married to a Japanese man who lived in Japan for over 20 years and embraced their culture. It's a fascinating book (as is the whole collection she wrote). If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend it and I am convinced that it will change your perspective on what is really important in life.
Right from the entrance I was greeted by 2 amethyst geodes and 2 large permanently burning candles that are meant to permanently purify the space. And each therapy room was designed to be in a grid of several types of crystals that help for energetic cleansing, peace of mind, prosperity and harmony with the soul and unconditional love.
In each room there is also a specific crystal to clean and support the therapists during therapies. There are grids of crystals and pieces of salt that when positioned are not visible to the eye at first glance. But even if the eye of the body does not see, the soul feels when it is in an environment of love and peace.
As they are always taking care of the energetic cleansing of the space after each therapy, the therapists told me that most of the people who enter the building say that they feel at peace in that building, even though they do not have complex knowledge of alternative therapies. Moreover, they also called in a Feng Shui specialist, precisely to complete the atmosphere and make the client's soul feel complete.
Besides crystals, there are always big, spectacular, colorful candles. And the candle colors are carefully selected for the therapy, as you can see in the video.
There is an aromatherapy diffuser at the entrance of the building and in every room. Elena uses various essential oils (bergamot, geranium, lemongrass, lavender, may chiang, basil, patchouli, lime, etc) which are intended to stimulate the state that the client needs at that moment: relaxation, energizing, purifying or others. Aromatherapy is also important to stimulate the senses during various therapies.
Everywhere you hear music specially chosen to bring the client into a meditative and healing state. From her travels through more than 40 countries, Elena has collected therapeutic melodies and formed several playlists dozens of hours long that aim to treat the client during therapies and through music therapy.
As the building is old, the flooring is made of solid wood and all the furniture is minimalistic in order not to visually burden the beneficiaries during the therapy, but rather to offer them a clearing of the mind and a state of peace.
But what gives color are the decor elements: big fans, Buddha painting and Thai massage outfits, which Elena chooses according to how she feels the client's mood and the changes she aims to achieve for him. Through the specific Thai therapy uniforms she wants to stimulate through chromotherapy the state of healing for the beneficiary (for me she chose the blue blouse for stimulating communication, and yellow pants for protection and friendship) - see the video at the beginning of the article.
I think I had tea in every room I talked to Elena and the therapists at the center. The first time she asked me, I was skeptical for two reasons. The first is that I will always choose coffee if someone asks me. But here, that wasn't the case, they don't recommend coffee during therapy.
The second one is that I don't like bitter tea, and as it was obvious that he was going to serve me with an herbal tea, I thought that it would definitely not be to my liking.
After a hesitation, I accepted the first tea. It was delicious! Not sweet, but by no means bitter. Then, for the 2 days that I stayed with them and their center in Amazonia Aquapark, I drank almost only teas. One better than the other.
In the courtyard of the Thai Therapy center, Elena grows medicinal plants. She follows the seasonality of the plants and tries to bring local plants straight from the heart of nature to help the person reconnect with nature. Moreover, each tea is also designed to participate in the therapy according to what the beneficiary needs: detoxifying, diuretic, for the silhouette, relaxing, energizing, for protection, etc.
In addition to the therapy itself, which I'll tell you about in a moment, all of these things work synergistically for a complete result for a healthy and complete body, mind and soul. Even though some clients who are more mental and only come to them for the physical treatment, on a subtle and indirect level, all the other elements contribute for a complete result: body, mind, soul. If all 3 are in harmony, the entire body will have the ability to heal itself.
The basic therapies they work with are: Thai Therapy, Tok Sen, Herbal Balls and Shiatsu Therapy, to bring specific and effective solutions for their clients who come, in over 95% for treatment, for healing a specific ailment, not for relaxation.
Thai Therapeutic Massage is a branch of traditional Thai medicine and is used in the primary health care system in Thailand. It is combined with Tok Sen, Herbal Balls and Shiatsu Therapy only where these can bring valuable additions for the client. I'll tell you in my case when I used them and for what during the therapy.
(water, wood, earth, earth, fire, air/metal) - and seek to restore their balance in the body both physically and emotionally to balance the body to restore health.
to stimulate healing to come from within and to find the true source of symptoms and restore the natural flow of energy in the body,
- Self-compassion and Self-Love: in order to have a healthy body we must first learn to love ourselves
- We respect and honor our body, which is the host of our soul on this earth. Therefore we seek to treat it with non-invasive, gentle, natural and as close to nature as possible.
After talking with Elena and the therapists, we started the treatment, specifically:
Thai therapy begins with a head, neck and shoulder massage from a seated position. The goal is to open the crown chakra to allow healing by connecting to the divine source. However, if you've read articles written by me before, you already know that I love treatments that start with head and scalp massage because it helps me to relax deeply and instantly, and therefore, to receive the rest of the therapy much better.
While massaging my shoulders, he also did a series of stretches aimed at stretching the lung, heart and triple warmer meridians - the purpose of which is to reconnect the person with themselves and eliminate stress.
Besides stretching, the rest of the movements in Thai massage are acupressure. From a physical point of view, the local pressure technique aims to stop the blood circulation in the tissue, then by releasing it, more blood will come in and rebuild the tissue. This helps a lot to relax the muscles. From an energetic point of view, acupressure is actually done on the path of energy lines (meridians) and aims to fluidize the natural flow of energy in the body which will then restore the natural state of health.
The underlying philosophy of traditional oriental medicine is that vital energy is assimilated by the body through the respiratory and then digestive tracts. It is distributed in the body through a network of energy lines - known as meridians.
The legend says Thousands of years ago, people were able to see the flow of energy through the body, precisely because they were more connected with nature. So they were able to draw the path of the 10 meridians on which Thai therapy works. These drawings are still found in Buddhist temples in Thailand. They say that when these channels become blocked, illness sets in.
In Thai massage we work only on ten meridians which are also called Sen Sib and they aim to centralize the energy flow of over 72,000 nadis (energy centers) throughout the body. They are sufficient to treat the entire sick body, because the blockages generated by an energy imbalance in the body, cause acute and chronic diseases.
In Thai massage the recipient feels first of all how the physical body is being worked on, but the aim is to heal on all levels, including the emotional.
According to another legend, Thai massage was originally applied only in Thai temples and to the Royal Family.
It was a sacred knowledge of Buddhist monks.
But then came King Rama V, to whom Thais still pray today.
He felt that this type of massage was so good that every ordinary mortal should enjoy it. Then, he opened the gates of knowledge to the temples, and every common man could enjoy the benefits of Thai massage.
Traditional Thai massage was mainly promoted in the family, where closer touch was the norm (mother to massage her child, or wife to massage her husband, etc).
In traditional Thai massage, it starts at the feet and ends at the head, and the pressure is applied with the hands, knees, soles, elbows, etc.
Royal Thai massage, the original Royal Thai massage, is still practiced in temples, as well as in Thai rehab centers and sanatoriums.
He has as protocol to start at the head and end at the feet, and the pressures and holds are predominantly done with the hands and there is some greater distance between the recipient and the therapist to ensure politeness.
What is applied at the Thai Therapy center in Timisoara and what is promoted through the courses that Elena holds, is precisely the Regal Thai massage. A polite and therapy-oriented massage. An original, ancient massage, brought from Buddhist temples.
which, by emanating heat and water vapors that carry in them the benefits of plants, aim to warm the tissues, open the pores and allow all the benefits of plants to enter the body to relax the massaged area.
through the vibrations transmitted, it aimed at a deeper release of the muscles in that area but also an energetic discharge of blocked areas.
in the shoulder area to activate the meridians for higher emotions (heart, lungs and pericardium)
I lay face down on my abdomen and continued Thai massage maneuvers, combined with Herbal Balls, Tok Sen and stretching.
The Tok Sen from my point of view was the most relaxing part. Even if initially I was a bit scared when I saw a hammer and other wooden objects, in reality, it doesn't hurt at all, instead the rhythm of the hammering is very relaxing. At one point, I got completely carried away by the musicality of the movement and entered a meditative state that I never thought I could have during such a therapy.
Then, He massaged my shoulder blade area to stimulate the small intestine meridian and gallbladder meridian. This was followed by the buttock area to release muscle contractures around the femoral head which can lead to symptoms of sciatic nerve damage.
He had told me at the beginning of the massage that they don't turn the client all the way around and then start all over again. When you are on your belly, they do everything on that part of the body to minimize the client's movements so that he can enjoy the state of relaxation as much as possible even though Thai therapy is quite exhilarating in its movements.
The last stage in this position was a complex series of stretches targeting the legs, the pelvis, the thoracic and cervical area, and stimulating a series of meridians such as the stomach, kidneys, lungs, gall bladder.
and again decontracted my shoulder blades area from another position of the muscles and with another variation of stretching, applied a series of acupressure and stretching techniques on my cervical area, then went down on the paravertebral with acupressure techniques and finally massaged my legs, especially in the fascia lata area to release tension caused by the sciatic nerve and release lower back and pelvic pain.
In the buttocks area, in addition to the acupressure techniques, he again made me Tok Sen with the hammer so that he could deeply release the muscles in this area. He ended the massage from this position with a series of stretches targeting the shoulder blades, thoracic and lumbar spine, pelvis and legs and massaged both sides.
where she worked on a series of energy points for migraines, as well as face lifting and relaxation techniques. Then I enjoyed a series of cervical stretches from this position (which are Shiatsu techniques), followed by subclavicular acupressure techniques for emotional release, activating the lung meridian and stimulating the nerves of the arms.
A continuat terapia prin masarea bratelor cu presopunctura si Tok Sen pe toate meridianele ce trec prin brat: plamani, inima, trei focare, intestin subtire, intestin gros , pericard – ceea ce a avut un efect profund de relaxare si detasare, si care are ca scop eliberarea emotionala. Eram la un pas de a adormi. Masajul bratelor s-a incheiat prin stimularea punctelor reflexogene din palma si masarea degetelor.
Scopul este sa stimuleze toate punctele energetice ale organelor, colonul, eliberarea si stimularea tuturor meridianelor. Cultura Thai , dar si cea ayurvedica spun ca centrul vietii este in abdomen. Prin urmare, masajul abdominal este un punct cheie de solutionare pentru multe afectiuni emotionale, fizice si chiar si musculo-scheletale.
Pentru inceput mi-a spus ca urmareste eliberarea meridianelor splina, ficat si rinichi, apoi meridianele stomac, vezica biliara si vezica urinara. A folosit si aici tehnici de presopunctura si Tok Sen. Aceste tehnici au ca scop atat detensionarea musculara cat si sa pregateasca piciorul pentru cele 36 de tehnici de stretching pe care le-a aplicat pe fiecare picior in parte. Stretching-urile au ca scop atat energetic cat si fizic.
Din punct de vedere energetic, stimuleaza toate cele 6 meridiane (splina, ficat si rinichi, stomac, vezica biliara si vezica urinara), iar din punct de vedere fizic detensioneaza si activeaza musculatura membrelor inferioare, a bazinului si a coloanei.
Cand s-a terminat, primul lucru care mi-a iesit pe gura a fost ca ma simt mult mai usoara. Nu ca m-as simti grea in general, dar acum era o senzatie pe care nu-mi aminteam sa o mai fi trait. Elena a ras si mi-a zis ca ii pare rau ca nu m-a cantarit la inceputul terapiei si la finalul ei. Ca in general face asta cu clientii ei si intotdeauna este o diferenta de 100 – 500 grame, si asta se datoreaza faptului ca prin aceasta terapie clientii se elibereaza de chi-ul greu, de energia stagnanta, si sunt multe studii care demonstreaza prin masuratori acest lucru.
Trebuie sa-ti spun ca pentru mine stretching-ul nu e ceva nou. In fiecare dimineata fac 10-15 minute de stretching. Nici masajul Thai nu era ceva cu totul nou, dar felul in care l-am primit de la Terapia Thai nu are nici o legatura cu ce incercasem in trecut.
Mi se pare extraordinar ca Elena a creat si scoala de terapie Thai pentru ca ar fi fost mare pacat sa ramana doar in Timisoara astfel de experiente vindecatoare. Poti sa citesti mai multe detalii despre scoala de terapie thai, precum si cursurile lor, aici: https://desprespa.ro/scoli-masaj/scoala-terapia-thai/
"Am incercat sa aducem in aceasta terapie tot ce a fost mai bun din cultura asiatica si sa o desavarsim prin intelegerea acestora atat din perspectiva fizica, cat si cea emotionala si energetica. In momentul in care terapia se aplica, incercam sa cautam cauza adevarata a problemei prin observarea corpului si tehnici corelate din cunoasterea recall healing (cauzele emotionale ale bolilor).
De multe ori o persoana vine cu o durere musculo-scheletala localizata intr-un anumit loc. Prin complexitatea terapiei aplicate, incercam sa indentificam ce meridian al carui organ trece prin acea zona si a fost afectat, apoi prin aplicarea masajului de-a lungul întregului meridian afectat, se realizeaza si reechilibrarea celorlalte meridiane (respectand principiile kyo si jitsu).
Integram terapia cu masajului abdominal specific pentru activarea energetica a organelor interne, pe care il corelam cu constientizarea cauzelor emotionale care solicita si afecteaza acel organ.
Acest tip de abordare inegrativa fac ca rezultatele sa fie eficace pentru beneficiar pe termen lung. Acest lucru este dovedit prin experienta noastra de peste 8 ani si zeci de mii de ore de practica, a fi extrem de eficace si pe termen lung."
Mai multe despre Elena Nastaca poti sa citesti in portretul ei, aici: https://desprespa.ro/portrete-spa/elena-nastaca-terapia-thai-timisoara/
Te poti programa la centrul Terapia Thai din Timisoara, aici: https://desprespa.ro/centrul-terapia-thai-timisoara/
Si nu uita ca poti folosi si eVoucherele despreSpa.ro la Terapia Thai. Le gasesti aici: https://desprespa.ro/voucher-spa/
Multumesc Costel Nicolaie pentru filmari si fotografiile din timpul tratamentului!
Founder despreSpa.ro
