Dec, 10
Introducing the deonThai METHOD BLOG
Deon de Wet
From South Africa to Thailand, the USA and beyond
What you are reading marks a new beginning for me: my entry into the blogosphere.
For the past decade I have been communicating the deonThai METHOD of Thai Yoga Therapy mainly through my hands and feet to my clients or sometimes verbally to my students. Now I am embracing the written word to expand the circle and deepen the understanding of this phenomenal healing art which I first encountered in northern Thailand in 2000.
Back then I was a businessman, the CEO of a company and a consultant, but something new was awakening in me. I was recently divorced and had started practicing Yoga. While on vacation, I noticed a little Thai woman massaging and moving around these great big European guys. I had her work on me and it felt different than anything I had ever experienced. That’s right, I totally stumbled upon Thai Yoga Massage and it changed my life.
Now, ten years later, my practitioner training school is a leader in California and I travel widely teaching the deonThai METHOD to yoga teachers, massage and other healing therapists, as well as continuing to work on individual clients and with couples.
I thought this might be the perfect moment for me to re-introduce myself to those of you with whom I have practiced already and to introduce myself to those I haven’t yet met.
Who Am I? Deon de Wet. I was born in South Africa and have lived in the United States for 25 years, currently residing with my wife and several dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, pigs, a donkey and an assortment of turtles and tortoises, in Ojai, just outside of Los Angeles, California.
What is Thai Yoga Massage Therapy? It is a passive, assisted, interactive style of yogic bodywork, in which the therapist uses hands, elbows, knees and feet to lengthen and soothe the muscles and align the client’s body. Eastern energy meridians, acupressure points, cranial-sacral manipulation and related healing arts are all incorporated into the session, which should last a minimum of two hours to deeply relax and integrate body and mind. Both therapist and client wear loose comfortable clothing and work on a mat on the floor.
As Buddhism spread through Asia from India to Thailand thousands of years ago, the medical arts came too, including the ancient way of ‘healing with the hands.’ Thai Yoga Massage, is heavily influenced by Ayurvedic medicine which later intermingled with the traditional shamanic methods of hillside tribes in northern Thailand.
Thai Yoga Massage became popular in the West in the 1980’s largely due to a German practitioner and teacher, the late Asokananda, who lived and taught in a hill tribe village 80 miles outside of Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand. I have studied with fellow Californian Saul David Raye, who spent a long time living and studying with Asokananda in Thailand. I have also studied in Thailand with Asokananda’s teacher, Pichest, one of the few remaining Thai masters.
I have specialized in Thai Yoga Massage and am an Approved Provider of Continuing Education through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. I have trained over 400 therapists in the past six years.
In this type of modality, the therapist is not merely the giver, and the client the receiver – there is a healing loop of energy that deeply benefits both participants in the session. Those who practice and receive Thai Yoga Therapy have discovered that it is the ultimate complementary therapy to anything else you might be doing in your life, physically, spiritually and intellectually. It aids balance and harmony in the whole body-mind organism. After just one treatment you feel like you have turned on all the lights in the house.
For more details, please visit my website at http://www.deonthaiyoga.com/ and look forward to weekly blogs that further develop the concepts I live by and work with. The fun part of a blog is that you are all invited into the discussion through feedback responses below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Much Love,
Deon
Tags: deon de wet, deon thai method, deonthai Method, thai massage, thai massage instructor, thai massage training, Thai Yoga Massage, thai yoga massage therapy, thai yoga practice
Hey Deon! lookin good
Great first post Deon!
Wishing you the best with your new blog! Peace and blessings, Jenn