 | You don't have to be a Thai massage therapist to use the healing magic of Thai herbs at home. Shop your local market, add a couple of deliveries by the UPS man, and you will have all the dried herbs, seeds, barks and flowers you need to get started. Herbal steam, soaks and scrubs have been used for centuries in Thailand's rural villages and now in its posh urban spas. These simple, effective treatments do much more for you than just improve your skin. |
Using Thai herbal blends, you can ease chronic muscle tension, reduce inflammation, improve the quality of your breath, even treat eye strain (because that computer is wicked on your eyes!).
Even more importantly, Thai people understand that specific herbs promote a sense of calm in the heart-mind, or citta (think of it as your inner self).
Even more importantly, Thai people understand that specific herbs promote a sense of calm in the heart-mind, or citta (think of it as your inner self).
 | "How Do I Begin," You Ask?Take my example. Last weekend, a room full of gorgeous and willing women gathered at my place, and we pounded, rubbed and steamed Thai herbs to make foot baths, exfoliating scrubs, steamed herbal inhalations and... (drum roll)... a traditional Thai herbal steam bath. No kidding! You can fabricate a steam tent with cotton sheeting, two lengths of rope, a plastic garden chair and a rice cooker. It's that simple, and if you make sitting in it a weekly habit you might just live to be 90 (my take on it). |
Into our rice cooker we put (clock-wise from top) ginger, galangal, cinnamon bark, soap nuts,
lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, neem, turmeric, and ylang ylang essential oil.
Then we sat in our little steam tent one-by-one, cinching the sides in tightly to concentrate the steam. We breathed it deeply into our lungs, and we let droplets of herbal dew gather on our skin.
After 15 to 20 minutes, we emerged, pink and happy. We let the herbal dew dry on our skin, no toweling off and no rinsing to allow the herbal magic to absorb deeply into our tissues. To hydrate we sipped glasses of lemongrass, chrysanthemum flower and Asiatic pennywort tea.
(and we were pretty dang proud of ourselves for doing it!)
Then we sat in our little steam tent one-by-one, cinching the sides in tightly to concentrate the steam. We breathed it deeply into our lungs, and we let droplets of herbal dew gather on our skin.
After 15 to 20 minutes, we emerged, pink and happy. We let the herbal dew dry on our skin, no toweling off and no rinsing to allow the herbal magic to absorb deeply into our tissues. To hydrate we sipped glasses of lemongrass, chrysanthemum flower and Asiatic pennywort tea.
(and we were pretty dang proud of ourselves for doing it!)
  | Is It As Hot As a Sauna?Nope, and that may be one of its advantages. We warmed just enough for a gentle sweat. Here's what one happy camper said; I loved the gentle heat of the steam tent. I was worried it was going to be too hot and suffocating. It was gently meditative and soothing. I felt content and nourished in the tent. I didn't have any wild out of body experiences, more womblike, nurtured. Meditative because it is hot enough to bring your focus to your breath. Soothing because the gentle heat melts you into the chair and the small white tent is like a cocoon. No visual distractions, just the murmur of the bubbling herb pot. Do Those Herbs Really Work?Yes. When my skin is once again dry and back to normal temperature, I experience an amazing sensation. I feel warm under my skin, in that connective tissue realm between skin and muscle. |
It's as if all my connective tissue has drunk in the healing herbs and is radiating a gentle warmth. It's weird and wonderful and terribly specific.
And, this sensation is completely different from the big sweat and pounding pulse rate of a hot sauna, because here, love, it's all about the herbs.
And, this sensation is completely different from the big sweat and pounding pulse rate of a hot sauna, because here, love, it's all about the herbs.
 | Why Is Warming Connective Tissue so Important?Because warm connective tissue can move, glide and stretch like it is supposed to and allow you to move freely. Confession time. I have a wonky left shoulder at the moment. We massage therapists are a little shy about telling folks when we are hurt, but there it is. |
Just before our Herbal Steam gathering, that wonky shoulder was, like "ouch", super wonky! I couldn't get my arm behind my back. (I know, I know, I need a Thai massage!)
After 20 minutes in the herbal steam tent and 10 minutes of steamed herb pack self-massage (yes, those little cotton bundles filled with herbal magic!), I tottered off to bed. Within 36 hours, I could put my arm behind my back (yay!) and get my hand (almost) to my shoulder blades.
It was the herbs. They had softened the contracted connective tissue of my shoulder and eased the muscle tension. It was the herbs and nothing else.
(P.S. You need the herbs too.)
After 20 minutes in the herbal steam tent and 10 minutes of steamed herb pack self-massage (yes, those little cotton bundles filled with herbal magic!), I tottered off to bed. Within 36 hours, I could put my arm behind my back (yay!) and get my hand (almost) to my shoulder blades.
It was the herbs. They had softened the contracted connective tissue of my shoulder and eased the muscle tension. It was the herbs and nothing else.
(P.S. You need the herbs too.)
 | Not Ready to Sew a Tent? Grab a Towel InsteadThai herbal steam can also be done as a simple inhalation. Simmer a pot of herbs on the stove, remove it from the heat to cool slightly, then drape a towel over your head and inhale the herbal infused steam. My grandmother did this for me as a child to ease chest congestion, and sitting quietly with my pot of steam takes me right back. You'll love it too. |
We tried two versions. Eucalyptus, ginger and mint, a combination to treat respiratory irritation, headaches, and to calm the heart-mind, and we also tried a blend of cardamom and camphor to open the sinuses, relieve congestion, and soothe asthma and bronchitis.
This combination was a bit more stimulating that the first, and the smell of camphor brought back our childhood memories of Vick Vapor Rub and Campho-Phenique.
This combination was a bit more stimulating that the first, and the smell of camphor brought back our childhood memories of Vick Vapor Rub and Campho-Phenique.
  | Why Stop at Steaming? Get Your Hands Dirty!A workshop should be hands-on, right? In our at-home Thai spa day, we got our hands and feet into the action with fresh papaya to gently exfoliate our skin and a Thai dry skin soak of papaya rind, turmeric, powdered milk and chamomile. (These ladies were totally adorable. I expected they might daintily dab a little mashed papaya onto the back of one hand, but they whole-heartedly dove in and rubbed in on their legs and faces. Love chicks like that, right?!) They went home with yellow feet and big smiles. It was a very cool workshop, indeed. |
Join me for a DIY Thai Herbal Steam Tent Workshop
Check Classes for upcoming dates for this very popular DIY workshop offered in New York's Hudson Valley and on Vinalhaven island off the coast of Maine.