Tools of Thai Massage Intensive

in NYC

This class looks at tools that are common aides in traditional Thai bodywork including balms and liniments (i.e. Tiger Balm), pao-ka-ma scarf work, khood, or "coining" (like a gentle form of the Chinese gua sha, or the western Graston therapy), and warm herbal compresses as used in a Thai massage practice.

In this two day in-person workshop students will learn:
• Use of Thai herbal balms, liniments and poultices for injuries and tension
• Thai scraping; a traditional technique with similarities to Chinese gua sha and Vietnamese “coining”
• Use of Thai hot herbal compresses that will transform your practice, I promise.
• Use of pow ka ma (ผ้าขาวม้า) scarves for compression and traction

Upcoming Workshops

Dates: September 6-7, 2025
Where: CATA 122 W 26th St 7th Floor, New York, NY
Time: 10 am to 5 pm
CEUS: 12 (NCBTMB approval is pending, we will update when review is complete)
Cost: Early bird price until August 6th $544.50 ~ After August 6th $600
Pre-requisites: None, however previous Thai massage training is helpful.

Link to Register via CATA coming soon
Please check back shortly

Instructor: I am Naj; your primary instructor for this program. I am the director, founder, instructor, and dish washer of The Naga Center, which I started in 2005. Basically, I am the Naga Center (and much of this website is written first person, in my voice). I have been a massage therapist since I was 21 years old (born in '69, so you can do the maths), and have been traveling to Thailand regularly since 1998 to study traditional Thai Herbal medicine and bodywork and lived there for two years while writing my books on Thai medical theory and herbalism. In the summer of 2017 I spent a month in Thailand, during which time I traveled into the jungles of the far north to learn from kind hearted midwives, in a continuing project of prenatal and postpartum care research that I began nearly 20 years ago.