It starts with a prayer and ends with a backbend. And by the time Pat Barrentine finishes her two-hour Thai massage, she will have been pulled, pushed and kneaded into 100 pretzel-like positions, and oddly enough, will emerge relaxed. This is the contrary nature of Thai massage. It's gentle and demanding, peaceful and surprising. It's as old as Buddha and as new as the latest trend.  Barrentine, 70, says it helps realign and relieve her scoliotic back. Others gravitate toward it to heal injuries, soothe aches and relax muscles. 

While Thai massage has been practiced in Thailand for some 2,500 years, it's only in the past few years that it has stretched its way to America, and even more recently to the Sacramento area.

 Of course, compared to Western-style massage -- like Swedish and sports massages -- Thai massage is still a small phenomenon. About 100,000 people offer Western massage in the U.S., while only 3,000 practice Thai massage, according to the Chicago-based International Thai Therapists Association. But in the last year, more people have been certified than any previous year, says Dr. Anthony James, president of the association. Travel to Thailand has increased interest and demand in the U.S., James says.

Also, a growing interest in holistic medicine has brought people to Thai massage, says Janice Vitavec, who offers it in her sunny Nevada City studio. "People are looking for an interaction of mind, body and spirit. These form a triangle of healing," Vitavec says. "And Thai massage incorporates all three. . . I think also there's just a fascination in how unique it is."

 Vitavec studied the healing art in Thailand and for the last four years has offered and taught it to Northern Californians. She's also in the process of making an educational video.

 Her studio, a converted garage, is adorned inside and out with statues of Buddhas and goddesses. Barrentine takes off her shoes before entering the pristine space. A small altar with incense, candles and a flower pays homage to the master of Thai massage, Dr. Shivaga Komarpaj. Soft reed music and birdsongs flow from the stereo. A large, thick mat on the floor serves as the work table.

 "In Thailand, massage is part of traditional medicine," Vitavec says in a hushed tone. She asks Barrentine, also a resident of Nevada City, to lie on her back and then takes a seat at her client's feet. Vitavec prays, asking for guidance and health for Barrentine, then massages her feet and her legs in quick, soft presses of the flesh.

"Through touch, healing comes," Vitavec says.

 But Thai massage, which traces its roots back to Komarpaj, a friend and doctor to Buddha -- the spiritual leader of Buddhism circa 563-483 B.C. -- involves far more than just touch. Medical texts carved into the walls of the Wat Pho temple in Bangkok depict in drawings the different therapies -- yoga, acupressure and reflexology -- comprise Thai massage.

 It's worlds apart from Western massage. Western massage therapists use their hands to exert long, deep strokes on a still body. Thai massage therapists use feet, hands, elbows, knees and heels to move and hold a body in a yogic position. From there they compress and stretch the muscles with pressure, kneading, and gentle, rhythmic rocking.

 A casual observer might think it's a strange interpretive dance, with a limp dummy for a partner. In one position, called the Side Half Locust, Barrentine lies on her side while Vitavec stands above her and lifts her top arm and leg. It appears as though Vitavec is about to lift and swing her client. Instead, Vitavec keeps one foot gently on Barrentine's middle to stabilize her body and holds her limbs in a deep stretch. Another pose looks similar to the way a physical trainer might help a professional basketball player stretch. Barrentine lies on her back while Vitavec pushes Barrentine's bent knee forward, toward her chest, stretching out Barrentine's lower back and hamstring.

Sometimes Thai massage seems almost comical, as with the Cobra pose. Barrentine flips onto her belly and Vitavec sits on the client's hamstrings, pulls her arms back and forces her whole upper torso to lift, rocking her slightly right and left. "I call this the bow-of-the-ship pose," Barrentine jokes. Vitavec says that it stretches chest muscles, shoulders and spine.  Obviously, Thai massage is a close contact sport. But many people find it less intimidating then Western massage because it's performed completely clothed.

Sessions typically last one to two hours, and cost about the same as Western massage, from about $50 an hour to about $80 for two hours. And it's applicable to anyone -- from infants to the elderly.  It's invigorating, both physically and mentally, Barrentine says. "The sense of flexibility and balance I get is amazing." And she seesthat as an investment in her future. "I want -- I plan -- to live to 100, and I want to do it in style," she says.

"Stretching is the best thing you can do for yourself," Vitavec says. "It relaxes and stretches tendons and muscles. It creates space for energy to move."  Yoga instructors and students flock to Thai massage because it places them in yoga positions they could never accomplish on their own. Thai people call it "the lazy man's yoga."

Athletes like the use of Thai massage to warm up for sports, or to repair strained muscles, Vitavec says. Chiropractic patients use it to maintain or prepare themselves for adjustment.  Grass Valley chiropractor Doug Mitchell has several clients who use Thai massage between visits. "It really expands the tissue and makes it easier to do deeper chiropractic work," he says. "It has the same effects as yoga. It creates lasting expansion in their body, of their musculoskeletal structure, tissues and their whole posture."

Even Thai massage practitioners find relief in it.

Back at Vitavec's studio, Barrentine is manipulated into one of her last poses of the day: a backbend. It's a deep stretch, but Barrentine does little of the work -- it's all Vitavec. She's lying under Barrentine, propping Barrentine up with her knees in Barrentine's back and her hands on Barrentine's arms, stretching them wide and toward the floor.  It looks as though it should hurt. But according to Vitavec, Thai massage is rarely painful. "It's coming from Buddhism. The basis of Buddhism is loving kindness. . . so it's very compassionate."

Barrentine, once upright, simply sighs, "Aaaahh."
"I know this is therapeutic, but it's also just so indulgent."

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