Nuat Phaen Boran Retreat, Geneva, Switzerland 2013

This retreat held by ITM Belgrade primarily provide a profound insight into what Nuat Boran actually is. Unlike commercial “Thai massage”, which is usually presented as one of a number of bodyworks, Nuat Boran is an integral part of traditional Thai medicine. It is one of a dozen of physical therapies used in traditional Thai medicine, while at the same time physical therapy constitutes only one of five components of the TTM. Therefore, it is clear that Nuat Boran is just one of the techniques used in medical treatment. It is very important to be aware of this and to understand that Nuat Boran cannot be practiced without knowing the theory of traditional Thai medicine, because it is only one of its expressions, which is for the most part used together with other forms of therapy within TTM. This is the first and the most important fact to be learned. It cannot be effectively practiced if one hasn’t spent years in serious and diligent commitment and learning.

At this retreat, a student gets to know general concepts of traditional Thai medicine, and how this perspective enables one to perceive the Universe and the human’s place in it. How does the Universe manifest itself? How does the human manifest himself/herself within the Universe? What is the human’s interaction with his/her environment? What does the human body and mind consist of? How do they function? What is the meaning of good health and illness? How does illness come about? How do we diagnose an illness? Is it possible to cure an illness or not? What therapy is capable of curing it?

Once these facts are explained, we shall focus on Nuat Boran and the events when it is applied as a therapy – what does physical therapy mean? What parts of the body does it affect? What is the body made of and how does it function? What are the Elements? What are the layers? What are the Wind gates? What are the Sen channels and what kinds of Sen channels are there? How can we affect them? How do we make general diagnosis? What techniques do we apply in our work? How do we check the efficiency of a treatment?

Nuat Boran originated from the system of exercises called Reusi Dat Ton, and in order to gain an understanding of it, it is necessary to have certain practice in Reusi Dat Ton, so a basic set of exercises will be presented at the Retreat. Being part of the traditional Thai medicine, Nuat Boran is a spiritual practice and integral Wai Khru ceremony will be performed on daily basis.