“Luk Pra Kob” – Thai herbal compress massage workshop

„Luk Pra Kob”,  which are thai words for the traditional herbal compresses, is one of the finest warm treatments for the winter months.

What is  Luk Pra Kob?  These are small compresses with handles, prepared from a mixture of herbs and spices, which are warmed in a vegetable steamer for about 15 minutes. The hot steam releases the aromas, essential oils of the ingredients. After this, a massage is performed with the compresses,  given on the energy lines and painful areas of our patient, or alternatively, permanent herbal compresses are placed on the painful regions. during the process of the treatment, the aromas of the herbs enter the patient through the pores, and start their aromatherapeutic and fine-energetic healing action through the skin and capillaries. At the same time, the moist warmth relaxes muscles and nerves, and as the pores open, detoxification escalates.  Luk Pra Kob is generally offered as a one hour treatment on its own in Thailand, but can be readily combined with other therapies of trasditional thai medicine. Eg. a 15 minute workout can effectively relax the muscles, spasms and energy lines before a traditional thai yoga massage, if there are areas that may be too sensitive for thumbing or palming (it is utilized often in cases of acute lower back pain, spasms, muscle inflammation, etc.)

Syllabus:  the one day workshop will teach you how to give this massage, from selecting the herbs, through the creation of the herbal compresses, right up to steaming them, and giving a full massage. After a short theoretical intro, we go right into making our compresses, and then after some demos, we work in pairs, giving and receiving the massage with our compresses.

Prerequisites: since we work with compresses of quite a large surface on the energy lines, the sucess of the massage depends on the right amount of pressure, the right rhythm, the love of the herbs, and the affinity for intuitive work, instead of clinical technique. A beginners course of traditional thai yoga massage may be useful, but not  a prerequisite. Many have succesfully taken part with no real training in any form of massage. So whoever recognizes themselves in the above criteria are welcome to join.

What does the price include? Food and accomodation, teaching, printed course material. We also provide the technical materials for the compresses (linen, herbs, rope, steamers).

What to bring? Comfortable clothing for giving the massage, clean sheet for receiving, and a warm blanket to cover the parts not massaged. If you have your own herbs you like, you are welcome to bring them.