Fair February

Yesterday, I got a email that at first glance looked like standard phishing. According to the email, sent as a reminder, I had booked a massage class?

Now, this wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary for me—I sign up for random newsletters all the time, turning my inbox into a treasure hunt resembling vintage shopping at a flea market. But when did I manage to register for this class without taking any note of it?

Turns out, I did it on the go while still travelling around Colombia a couple of months ago — my primary concerns were having enough sunscreen, ensuring my booked buses showed up on time, and deciding whether I would say ‘si‘ to yet another arepa that day (the answer would indeed be ‘si‘ in most cases). Little did I know back then that I had chosen the perfect timing for this experience, and I am very thankful to that care-free Anna from December 2023.

What I got myself into was a *free*^{(no wonder I signed up)} hand Nuad Thai class, where you not only receive a rejuvenating 30-minute massage but also learn to give one. The class was described as a transformative experience of a full-body massage – from feet to head, clothes on – guided by a expert teacher, focusing on relaxation and therapeutic touch. When receiving massage, one should surrender to relaxation, allowing the partner to customise the pressure based on your state and the teacher’s guidance. When it’s your turn to give a massage, one should watch the teacher and follow along, while embracing a meditative state and syncing up with the rest of the group.

Why is this class offered for free? The philosophy of the studio running it is that compassion and touch are fundamental to human connection, and by embracing the art of giving and receiving, you contribute to the wellness of those around you. It is also about reconsidering massage as just a sporadic treat – rather making a fundamental shift towards incorporating massage therapy into your lifestyle. With that in mind, they believe in making massage treatments affordable for everyone.

In the spirit of this mission, they run a membership service, where you get limitless access to Level I hand massage classes for just €90 per month¹ (for comparison: in Amsterdam, you pay €40 for a 30-min traditional Thai massage). For more experienced masseuses and masseurs, they also offer separate Nuad Thai programmes for a deeper understanding, covering positions, bodyweight usage, contraindications, and indications.

According to UNESCO, Nuad Thai, traditional Thai massage, is a holistic approach to healthcare deeply rooted in Thai culture. It brings together art, science, and manual therapy to rebalance the body’s energy and structure along ‘sen’ lines, thought to be pathways of energy flow. By normalising the body’s elements and opening blocked routes, Nuad Thai aims to treat ailments caused by energy obstructions.

Therapists use a variety of manipulations with hands, elbows, knees, and feet, combining passive stretching and yoga pose as well as incorporating herbal hot compresses to alleviate inflammation. Overall, research suggests that Thai massage may help lower anxiety and stress, reduce headache intensity, improve flexibility and ease back pain².

So, what’s my verdict? I really enjoyed this class, both as a receiver and as a giver. The person I was paired with has been taking these classes for a couples of months and clearly knew what he was doing. It was relaxing but not to the point of snoozing off – it was actually nice to follow the movements and pay attention to my physical and mental experience of it. Giving the massage was interesting – as a Nuad Thai noob, I had to watch the guide carefully and follow the sequence with my eyes more than with my hands. But, unlike giving massages in a more intimate situation, this allowed me to focus on how the body was responding, finding a natural flow and guidance in that as well. All in all, I learned something new (and practical) and had a good time,

Ain’t gonna lie, I am really temped to incorporate that into my routine!

1. Attention Amsterdammers — you can also book their classes via OneFit or ClassPass! ↩︎
2. NB: like in many cases, these results are expected when practiced consistently ↩︎

***

The challenges I tackled today were a five-minute shower (all good), vegan food, keeping unplugged devices unplugged, using stairs instead of elevator. My plan to bike to the office was disrupted by weather warning announcing the arrival of Storm Louis, so I decided not to test my luck — however, it is helping me with collect rainwater for my plants. I was also planning on taking freshly used with coffee grounds to put them to good use (here are some examples) but came home too late — saving that for tomorrow.

To sum up, this is today’s progress:

SUCCESS	FAIL
Vegan food	No waste (food packaging and mail)
Compost (coffee grounds)	Learn to make something new
Unplug devices that are not in use	Bike to work (thx storm Louis)
Use stairs instead of elevator
Five-minute shower
Collect rainwater
Learn a new skill