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About Thaimassage Vacanza

Thaimassage Vacanza was founded in 2011 by Patrick Tanner to offer Thaimassage courses for those unable to travel to Thailand. This led to the organization of the first Thaimassage Retreat in the Swiss Alps, which has been held regularly due to its positive feedback.

After completing his Shiatsu training in 2000, Patrick discovered Thaimassage during a trip to Thailand. Inspired by his first course in a Lahu village in northern Thailand with Asokanda, his passion for this dynamic form of therapy began to grow.

During the same trip, Patrick met Krishnataki from Greece, who had also studied Thaimassage with Asokananda. Since then, a deep friendship has developed between them. Krishnataki is enthusiastic about Thaimassage and has led over 100 Thaimassage workshops and retreats in Europe, Asia, and the USA since 2001. He is one of the most popular and experienced Thaimassage therapists and teachers in Europe.

To offer participants a recognized training program with a diploma, allowing them to practice Thaimassage professionally, Patrick decided to introduce a recognized 303-hour training course. This program started in 2022, and the first participants successfully completed it in 2023.

Why Thaimassage Vacanza

Vacanza represents taking a break or holiday from the hectic pace of everyday life. Our retreats usually take place amidst the stunning Swiss mountain landscape, surrounded by serene nature, far from noise and stress. This environment provides the perfect setting to engage in the process of stillness, grounding, heart connection, and enhancing perception – naturally, also to delve into the world of Thai massage.

Vacanza does not mean spending the day lounging on a deckchair. Instead, we are active and work extensively on ourselves and with others. We meditate, practice yoga, train our perception, cultivate presence and compassion, and learn Thaimassage techniques involving pressure points, mobilizations, and stretches. While this may sound demanding to some, it is necessary to increase energy and establish a connection with our center and heart – an essential prerequisite for profound treatment. In each retreat, participants experience growth – personally, spiritually, and therapeutically.

The supportive circle of all participants acts as a catalyst in this transformative process. Participants always leave our courses feeling light, joyful, satisfied, fulfilled, nourished, and at peace, with a singing heart. The invested effort pays off and resonates in daily life long after. This is evident in the multitude of returning participants we welcome each year. For many, it feels like coming home, where they can share and exchange with like-minded individuals. They enjoy the oasis of tranquility and contemplation to reconnect with the heart and grow spiritually.

Our Philosophy

Our goal is to enable participants to realize their growth potential and bring them closer to spiritual essence. Personal growth, therapeutic growth, and medical growth. To achieve this, we not only share the principles and philosophy of Thai massage, anatomical, physiological, pathological, and biomechanical knowledge of medicine, but also ancient practices, wisdom, and techniques from Buddhism, Taoism, Yoga, and Vedas.

Our task is to disseminate the teachings that were crucial during our training as bodyworkers and profoundly shaped us so that others can benefit from them, cultivate their own practice, and recognize the power of touch.

We utilize Buddhist principles of Thaimassage to cultivate compassion, mindfulness, and present, compassionate, deep-touch. In alignment with yoga philosophy, we aim to align body, mind, and soul to enable healing. Combining Thaimassage principles with the precision and knowledge of osteopathy allows us to address the correct tissue level where energy flow is obstructed to harmonize it.

The philosophy of Taoism serves as a guide to establish a connection with the natural environment, find its rhythm, and balance the energy of Yin/Yang. We navigate between static and dynamic, silence and movement, fire and water.

During our courses, we address the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life by integrating movement, meditation, and massage. We deepen presence, attention, and loving-kindness, which are the fundamental pillars of our approach to manual healing. We seek to connect with our hearts and embark on the journey of self-acceptance and self-love, which we then extend to others. Retreats create a community of practitioners who support, share, connect, practice compassion, and spiritually grow together. Educational Objective

Thaimassage Vacanza aims to train professionally and socially competent Thai massage practitioners. These individuals should apply what they have learned mindfully and responsibly in their dealings with clients and themselves to achieve the greatest benefit for all involved. The overarching goal of the training is to obtain the Thaimassage Vacanza Diploma.

At the same time, Thaimassage Vacanza places great emphasis on promoting and further developing personal skills through bodywork, mindfulness, and self-care. The belief is that experiences from these aspects positively influence the quality of Thai massage treatments.

Overall, within the diploma training, Thaimassage Vacanza promotes health awareness and self-responsibility among students. The training prepares them in a sustainable manner for professional Thai massage work with future clients.

Professional Training as a Thai Massage Therapist with Diploma

The professional training and associated Thaimassage Vacanza Diploma form the basis for professionally, methodically, and socially competent practice of Thai massage. Our teaching places particular emphasis on promoting health awareness and self-responsibility among students within the training to prepare them in a sustainable manner for professional activity in Thai massage. The training is modular.

Prerequisites for participation in the training are a minimum age of 18 years and successful completion of secondary school or equivalent education. The professional training forms the basis for obtaining the Thaimassage Vacanza Diploma and aligns with the criteria of the Thai Ministry of Health, Thai Ministry of Education, as well as the Swiss health insurance registration bodies ASCA and EMR. Additionally, we continuously exchange expertise with our partner schools Sunshine School/Chiang Mai/Thailand, Sunshine Network Center/Lahu Village/Thailand, and Sunshine House/Evia/Greece.

The Thaimassage training consists of 6 modules, as well as 4 units of self-experience, documented massages, practice workshops, and exam preparation, totaling 706 learning hours, including 303 in-person hours.

Some modules are also taught by our teachers abroad. These can be completed in addition to Switzerland, internationally, and are recognized if they comply with the hours and training guidelines of Thaimassage Vacanza.

Each training day comprises a theoretical and practical part. Training days generally last 8 hours (excluding meditation and yoga practice) and are structured as follows:

45 minutes: Meditation (Extra-Curriculum)
1.5 hours: Yoga practice, Chi-Gong practice (Extra-Curriculum)1.5 hours: Breakfast break
15 minutes: Opening of the day with prayer/chanting/questions
45 minutes: Theory lesson
30 minutes: Perception training/movement exercises
45 minutes: Practical lesson – Demonstration and questions
2 hours: Practical lesson – Massage exchange
1.5 hours: Lunch break
45 minutes: Theory lesson
45 minutes: Practical lesson – Demonstration and questions
2 hours: Practical lesson – Massage exchange
15 minutes: Day closing prayer/chanting/questions

A participation certificate is issued after each module. Confirmation of successful completion of the entire training is issued upon completion and attending at least 90% of the training time and passing the examination. A maximum of one absence day is allowed per module.

Here's all information about all courses: https://www.thaimassagevacanza.ch/courses/?lang=en

Thaimassage Vacanza’s Objective

The goal of Thaimassage Vacanza is to pass on the art of Thaimassage. During his travels through Asia, Patrick met inspiring teachers and therapists. His aim is to provide these talented individuals with a platform in picturesque Switzerland to share their knowledge with those interested who may not have the opportunity to travel to Asia. Our principle is to offer high-quality training at affordable costs.

Thaimassage Style and Senior Masters

Thaimassage Vacanza teaches the northern style of Thaimassage from the two senior masters Chayuth Priyasith (deceased 2004) and Piched Boonthumme (deceased 2023). These two masters taught Asokananda (deceased 2005), who, in turn, was the teacher of Krishnataki and Patrick. Asokananda traveled to Asia in the 1970s, was ordained as a Buddhist monk for a time, and came into contact with Thaimassage in Chiang Mai, which successfully treated his physical ailments. As there was no training available for Westerners at the time, he spent months with Chayuth and Piched learning and documenting the procedures and therapeutic treatments. Asokananda wrote and published the first book on Thaimassage in Western language, “The Art of Traditional Thai Massage,” in 1990.

Afterward, Asokananda founded the first Thaimassage school for Westerners, “The Sunshine Network,” and began teaching two-week Thaimassage courses for travelers in a remote mountain village. Krishnataki, Patrick, and Till were fortunate enough to be personally taught by Asokananda. His courses were so popular that classes often had over 50 participants. Unfortunately, Asokananda passed away in 2006 after a brief, severe illness. His longtime assistants took over to keep the school running and began teaching the courses, which are still being conducted today.

Today, the popularity of Thaimassage is immense. There are countless Thaimassage schools worldwide that teach this art with varying quality, and Thaimassage practices can be found almost everywhere, often offering a painful Thaimassage experience.

Asokananda, as a Buddhist monk, placed great emphasis on the Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha, in his courses. The application and integration of Metta, the Pali and Thai word for loving-kindness, during Thaimassage were essential to him for sustainable healing. Therefore, the Thaimassage sessions at the Sunshine Network and Thaimassage Vacanza are not painful, unlike most traditional Thai massages, where pressure and stretching often go beyond the pain threshold. When applied painlessly, the massage system can regulate the nervous and fascial systems better, and the relaxing, healing effect is more sustainable and profound.

Asokananda called the combination of Dhamma and Thaimassage Thai-Yoga Massage.

Krishnataki

Krishnataki was one of Asokananda’s most senior students, assisted in many courses with him, and founded the Sunshine House on the island of Evia in Greece in 2001, where he regularly holds Thaimassage retreats and has taught over 100 courses and well over 1000 participants in Thaimassage.

Patrick

Patrick is a massage therapist, Shiatsu and Thaimassage practitioner, as well as an osteopath, BSc. He has deepened his knowledge in bodywork over the past twenty-five years through studies and practice in Europe, Asia, and Australia. He lives and works in his own practice in Itingen, a small village out of Basel, Switzerland.

Here's all information about all courses: https://www.thaimassagevacanza.ch/courses/?lang=en