Bangkok Alternative Therapies

Back to nature

In our modern age, and especially in large cities, people are leading fast-paced lives, are increasingly exposed to pollution, maintain unhealthy diets and don't get enough exercise. These factors, together with the added components of stress and career pressure, have an adverse effect on the well-being of both the body and the mind. Alternative therapies are becoming more and more popular. People are going back to basics: nature. They opt for non-chemical healing and treatments such as acupuncture, aromatherapy, yoga and Pilates to prevent and cure illnesses, as well as to maintain their physical, spiritual and mental well-being.

Quite self-explanatory, aromatherapy offers an holistic treatment to care for the body with the use of pleasant-smelling botanical and herbal oils such as rose, lemon, lavender and peppermint. The essential oils are added to a bath or massaged into the skin, inhaled directly or diffused to scent an entire room. (READ MORE)

Acupuncture is a branch of traditional Chinese medicine that involves inserting fine needles at selected points on the skin to balance the body's energy (chi), thereby treating and preventing disease. It's used to treat a wide range of common ailments, relieve pain and promote general health. (READ MORE)

After medicine and dentistry, chiropractic is the world's third largest health care system. The word chiropractic finds its etiology from the Greek words 'cheiro' (hand) and 'prakrikos' (done by hand). The chiropractor manipulates the backbone with his hand to bring back into alignment the vertebrae that are partially misaligned or misplaced. This restores the normal flow of neuro-hormonal secretions in the spinal cord and the attached nerves, so that the body recovers from pain and the diseases causing that pain. (READ MORE)

Yoga is an ancient form of Hindu philosophy and spiritual practice. In broad terms, it aims at deliverance from suffering and pain through meditation to effect a reunion with the Universal Spirit. In more specific terms, it includes the practice of various postures - static and moving, breathing exercises, a disciplined diet, and meditation - which tone the body, mind, and spirit. Yoga is, therefore, not a system of medicine; it is more a discipline. (READ MORE)

Massage is the practice of applying structured pressure, tension, motion or vibration - manually or with mechanical aids - to the soft tissues of the body, including muscles, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, joints and lymphatic vessels, to achieve a beneficial response. (READ MORE)

Detoxification is a term increasingly popping up among the health-conscious. Even though it means foregoing some of the pleasures of life - like chocolate, coffee, wine, cheese and steak - at least for a few days or longer if done properly, the ancient concept of cleansing the body has always been popular. Lately, it has also become a fashionable term among stressed-out workaholics and hard partygoers. (READ MORE)

Feeling frustrated and stressed out? Is your mind busier than the Bangkok traffic? If so, why not plunge into a few moments of inner peace, cleanse your mind of worldly matters and emerge as a more relaxed and calm person? Being one of the most significant aspects of Buddhism, this ancient practice of meditation is viewed as essential to cleanse the mind in order to achieve clarity and inner peace. It is through meditation that the Lord Buddha achieved the supreme state of nirvana (happiness or peace). (READ MORE)