In the West there are two main kinds of massage to stimulate or to relax the body and the mind.

Stimulating massage is done to prepare sport efforts. It is not useful before trekking.

Massage for relaxation is done to restore the body after exercising and trekking.

 Anybody can practice this kind of technique but it is easier and safer to learn with a professional masseur.

In France, it is compulsory to be a certified masseur to provide medical massage. It takes four years to be certified. Eric Lon was certified in 1976.

In Thailand, you may get a certificate of therapeutic massage within 60 hours.

When trekking with Eric, you will learn the safe basics of relaxing Massage.

 Foot Massage is the easiest and most important technique of massage to learn and to practice daily when trekking. It came from Egypt 5000 years ago. Few decades ago, Zone Therapy came from the USA to Europe and became popular as Reflexology.

 Face Massage. A Vietnamese technique called Dien Cham is like a mirror reflecting the state of the body on the face. Eric went to Ho-Chi-Minh Ville to study with his creator.

Ear massage is another kind of reflexology which has been created by a French doctor who inspired Chinese doctors. It is massaging the outside ear to release pains. Eric studied “auriculothérapie” with Dr Paul Nogier.

Tibetan Massage looks like a classic massage combined with acupressure techniques. Eric went several times to Tibet for studying and he is improving his skills with Tibetan masseurs living out of Tibet.

Thai Massage is designed to activate or to balance the energy flowing everywhere in invisible channels. It uses hand pressures at the same time as stretching postures coming from hatha Yoga. Thai massage is done with clothes on, and it is very useful when trekking in cool conditions. Eric studied at Wat Po School but also in other places of Thailand to compare the different styles.

A deep but soft Thai massage is more efficient than a painful massage based on the dangerous Asian concept: “no pain = no gain”.

Within a trek course it is possible to find which kind of massage is suitable for you. If you come trekking with a home friend, you will be able to practice at home. If you want to go further in learning massage, the basics proposed by Eric are a good introduction for future advanced training in a school of massage.

Relaxing massage with sand on the dunes of Rajasthan cleans the skin and provides a better connection with Nature to enjoy a desert safari.

 

Contact: eric@yogatrekking.com