Thai Massage Dissected

Written by the UK’s leading teacher and practitioner Natasha de Grunwald, a pioneer of Thai massage and bodywork for 30 years.

Thai Massage Dissected is a book aimed at massage therapists, yoga teachers, physiotherapists, osteopaths and all manual therapists who want to expand their therapeutic approach and are curious to learn about the body from a Thai anatomy and dissection perspective.

Therapeutic Thai massage and bodywork is a rich and diverse modality, so much more than the stretching and deep tissue work for which it is known. The book provides a richly curated combination of tools, techniques and protocols that will enhance all practitioners’ skill sets. Natasha discusses the roots of this modality as Buddhist medicine, the five element system, the use of therapeutic herbs and Thai anatomy, whilst also writing about concepts such as proprioception and interoception. There is an additional chapter looking at traditional healthcare practices for women, informed by her time spent with village midwives on the Thai/Burmese border.

Natasha de Grunwald uses imagery from many hours spent in a cadaver lab to describe anatomical, textural layers and structures, bringing human form to life.

She consolidates this with a therapeutic perspective on Thai medical theory and how Thai massage and bodywork can be carried out in a clinical setting. This comes from her extensive research, studies and knowledge spanning over three decades.

Natasha de Grunwald first studied Thai Massage in 1990 in Thailand and has returned there to continue her studies more than 16 times since.

She has travelled extensively, learning from teachers across the globe from New Zealand to New York to Serbia. Her pursuit for knowledge has led her to the Burmese borders to research with village midwives, to training with a Reusi (the Thai equivalent of a Shaman) and into a cadaver lab many times.

Having had a busy private practice since 1990, and having worked at Great Ormond Street hospital at the very beginning of her career, throwing herself in at the deep end through massaging women whose young children were dying from AIDS, Natasha has always been a practitioner with great insight and a passion to transform lives through touch.

In 2005 she opened London Institute of Thai Yoga Massage with a commitment to raising the standards and putting Thai bodywork on the map as a reputable physical therapy. She has since trained thousands of people from around the world and continues to do so offering the UK’s only 300-hour programme and as the only UK teacher of therapeutic Thai massage and bodywork.