The profound effects of Thai yoga massage: a thematic analysis
After completing several case studies in the latter stage of my training in Thai yoga massage (TYM) in 2022, I began to notice similarities in my volunteers’ descriptions of how they felt after a TYM session. Being a data geek as well as a somatic explorer, I decided to go back to my notes after completing the course, to undertake a thematic analysis of volunteers’ post-session feedback. The findings from the 30 case studies were fascinating: after an iterative categorising process, I eventually grouped the comments* into three key themes.
Post-TYM theme 1: Lightness and softness
Nearly 50% of comments included the same or similar words to describe embodied experience: lightness and softness. Below are direct quotes from volunteers:
"Feeling lighter."
"Looser and lighter."
"Lightness around my limbs and body."
"Glow-y warm lightness of mind and body.”
"Mentally freer and physically lighter."
“Transcendental, feeling a little altered.”
“Relaxed in my body, so un-tensed, light, my mind is like waking up from a trance.”
"Cloud-like feeling."
“Feeling mellow and squishy.”
"Feeling softer and marshmellowy."
“There is a softness to my body now – soft and warm when it was tight and sore before…”
"Spaciousness."
This very particular - and independently similar - somatic experience of lightness and softness may be a result of the deep stretching, or the systematic acupressure, or the experience of surrendering to the assisted yoga techniques. Or perhaps it’s a combination, or some other causation entirely. Whatever the source, its consistency across many volunteers suggests a unifying factor about this style of bodywork that has a valuable impact on wellbeing.
Post-TYM theme 2: Presence, embodiment and peacefulness
The second theme was multi-faceted. I grouped responses that pointed to experiences of being present, being embodied and feeling peaceful:
"More mentally present and also more relaxed, less stressed."
“Heart rate is slow, I feel sleepy…peaceful and with a sense of wellbeing – like everything is alright.”
"Feeling a sense of wellbeing and peace."
"My body feels opened to ease and joy."
"I feel connected. Grounded and present here in this moment, in this space, and also on this Earth - quite empowering!"
“I feel ‘in my body’, a feeling of happiness and joy, feeling well in the world and ready to go out and meet it. It’s both physical and emotional. It’s like feeling competent, confident and capable in my body.”
"Confident in my body's ability to heal the injury."
I particularly noticed this theme’s thread of resilience, evident in comments such as “feeling well in the world and ready to go out and meet it…competent, confident and capable in my body”, “with a sense of wellbeing - like everything is alright”, and “confident in my body’s ability to heal the injury.”
Post-TYM theme 3: In flow and in balance
The third largest cluster of similar descriptions related to experiences of flow and balance:
"More fluidity, more in flow."
"In flow."
"I feel integrated."
"In balance."
Though distinct in the words used, this theme also appears to be linked to the first two themes in its more general expressions of ‘flowing with’, which can be contrasted with the experience of armouring, brittleness, or discordance that most of us will recognise as a part of being human, and some experience chronically.
Conclusion
I chose to categorise these similarities of language used to describe embodied experience post-TYM. However, the deeper I went into the data while writing this blog post, the more I concluded that, altogether, the themes give voice to inter-related experiences of relaxation, connectedness and resilience. These are mutually-supporting and impossible to truly tease apart. Whatever the theories we might imagine on this, I am encouraged and excited by the (albeit small sample size) findings and what they might mean about the role of touch and bodywork in wellbeing.
Having certified as a TYM practitioner and launched this new offering in October 2022, I look forward to discovering how regular TYM sessions support my clients over time. I’m also curious about whether there are consistent differences in descriptions of embodied experience between holistic massage and TYM, as I have not previously collected data on holistic sessions. Such information could support clients to determine which approach is best for them based on the experience and outcomes they seek.
Watch this space!
*All quotes appear with volunteers’ permission