About Mike

I have always undertaken some sort of physical activity, even though I'm not particularly interested in sport. Somehow I have always understood that my body needs to move to remain healthy and I enjoy the sensation of movement, whether it be dance, skiing, running, swimming, yoga or tai chi. I'm not naturally athletic or flexible. I studied electronics and I've spent most of my working life as a software engineer. My desk-bound lifestyle led almost inevitably to a 'slipped disc' in my early thirties which took over five years to fully resolve.

For personal development rather than with any desire to teach, I took the training with the YMCA as an aerobics and gym instructor. By accident, when a teacher failed to turn up at a the local sports centre I ended up taking a class and was asked to continue it. I ended up teaching there for ten years! Equally by chance I took a yoga class and became interested in the benefits it brought me. In one shot I was getting improved strength, flexibility and a moving meditation.

On a brief stop-over in Bangkok on the way to Australia a Thai friend took me for my first Thai massage in a place well off the beaten tourist trail. I was completely bowled over by this amazing treatment. I could see parallels with the synchronising of movement and breath I had learned in yoga. I was hooked and had to find out more.

I returned to Thailand the following year to take a practitioner course with The Sunshine Network at the Lahu village school. By the end of the course I knew I wanted to take it further and the school referred me to The School of Thai Yoga Massage in London. I took the practitioner exams there with Kira Balaskas, and went on to take the advanced course too. Each exam involved submitting case studies of massages I had given, a practical a written paper. I've received such positive feedback and encouragement not only from my tutors, but from so many of my case study clients that I almost feel obliged to continue to practice. I returned to Thailand in 2014 to study with Thai master Pichest Boonthume.

I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to my teachers, Kira Balaskas and Andrea Baglioni, their teacher Asokananda; to Pichest Boonthume my Thai teacher, and all the way back to the founder of Thai massage Jivaka Kumar Baccha. Also to everyone who has come for massage - you teach me more with each massage I give.

Training Record

Sept 2014 Thai massage for lower back pain, with Ralf Marzen and Cyprian Londt
Feb 2014 Study with Pichest Boonthume, Thailand
Feb 2014 Lahu Village course with Laurino Bertelli
Nov 2013 ITEC Certificate in Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology for Complimentary Therapies
Sept 2013 Advanced Diploma in Thai Yoga Massage: The School of Thai Yoga Massage, London
Mar 2013 Appointed Person Emergency First Aid Certificate: Michael Bond RGN
Oct 2012 Certificate in Traditional Thai Yoga Massage, Practitioner Level, The School of Thai Yoga Massage, London
Jan 2012 Lahu Village course with Andrea Baglioni