Sarga Bodywork

Two traditions, one root

If you've ever had a Thai massage in Thailand or at a spa, chances are it followed the Southern style, codified at Bangkok's famous Wat Pho temple. This approach emphasises firm acupressure along the energy lines and it can be deeply enjoyable and genuinely effective. There's also formality built into the tradition — the Royal style originally required practitioners to stay at arm's length from the receiver, never crossing the body, out of respect for aristocracy. We see something similar in Western physiotherapy, where practitioners are taught to use the heel of the hand and keep fingers away from the body to maintain clinical distance. When propriety is the guiding principle, the work naturally becomes more prescriptive — a cut-and-paste approach may be effective, though often less responsive to the individual recipient.

 

The style I practise comes from a very different lineage. Northern Thai massage, rooted in the Lanna Kingdom around Chiang Mai. I've trained through the Sunshine Network in a retreat setting that helps cultivate presence and attunement as a practitioner and strongly emphasizes quality of touch. I use both static techniques (palming, thumbing, stretching) and dynamic movements (rocking, mobilization) typical of this Northern style.
 

 

 

It shouldn't hurt

There's a persistent myth that Thai massage has to be painful to be effective. It doesn't. The "no pain, no gain" idea has no place in this work. If your body is tensing up and bracing against the pressure, you're not getting a therapeutic benefit — you're just getting beaten up, and your nervous system is going into defence mode rather than releasing.

That said, this isn't a feather-light experience either. We may work in a therapeutic range where there's real intensity — you might feel the stretch, the depth, the engagement with tissue that's been holding tension. However, there's a crucial difference between productive intensity and unnecessary pain. I work with your body's responses, not against them. The goal is to reduce inflammation and tension in the body, not create more of it. If the pressure is too much, your muscles lock up, your breathing changes, and we lose everything we're trying to achieve.
 

 

Good Thai massage is a conversation between practitioner and receiver. I'm paying attention to how your tissue responds, how your breathing shifts, where your body opens and where it resists. We stay within a range that allows your nervous system to let go rather than fight back.