Posted by John Peretz on Wed, Oct 28, 2009 @ 06:42 PM
Lately, we've been getting a lot questions about what is the best skier massage. We think the best skiers massage is a massage you may not have heard about - a classic Thai Yoga massage.
A Thai Yoga massage combines the magic of acupressure with significant stretching. It can often mean the difference between wasting a day or two of your expensive 5 or 7 day ski pass, or getting back on the slopes with little or no pain in no time.
During a Thai massage, your trained massage therapist will take you through a series of over 100 massage sequences, in a specialized technique that is estimated to be over 1,000 years old.
Instead of laying on a massage table, you actually receive the massage on a padded floor mat. The stretching that goes along with this highly technical massage goes a long way in improving blood flow, increasing flexibility and releasing stored up toxins in the body.
Some people like to call it "lazy man's yoga" because the massage therapist will do almost all of the work for you, although sometimes you are asked to grab the wrist of your therapist for maximum stretching.
People that have had a Thai massage are amazed at its effectiveness, but, you need to be in reasonably good shape for this type of massage. Skiers with very little flexibility or older skiers with a more brittle bone structure would probably feel like this is a tougher massage to experience. But, if you want to get back on the slopes without wasting your tickets, Thai massage is a great choice.
Look for a spa that has trained and licensed Thai massage therapists. In our Steamboat Springs Day Spa, the owner Pam Peretz spent nearly two months in Thailand at the source learning Thai massage as featured in this recent newspaper article.
If you are traveling to Steamboat Springs, you can book a Thai massage through this link. If you're skiing someplace else, check out some of the local massage places to see if they offer Thai massage. You will instantly become a Thai massage convert.