Traditional Healing Session with Nephyr
 

All sessions are via video during the covid pandemic

Before covid changed our lives my sessions involved sitting together and talking over tea. Now we meet over Zoom, but I still invite you to pour yourself a cup of tea. It will be your favorite, because it will come from your kitchen.

We’ll chat about what’s bothering you. It might be a physical ache, a digestive woe, lack of sleep, or something less tangible. I might make you an herbal formula, or teach you a self massage technique. We might discuss mediation, exercise, or dietary habits. It depends on what may be of most benefit.

I am an herbalist, massage therapist, and traditional Thai medicine practitioner. I draw primarily from traditional Thai medicine, but my studies have dipped into other pools of knowledge as well. You can learn more about me here.

Rates: I am currently following the traditional medicine practice of working for dana, that which is joyfully voluntarily given. This means that my sessions are donation based. Those who can afford to give more tend to take care of those whose means are currently limited. You can read more about this below if you like.

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In Thailand you can still find traditional medicine practitioners who follow the old customs of not having set prices for their work.  This was, historically, one of the rules of practicing healing and spiritual arts.  Recipients of the work understand that the healing arts practitioners need to make a living, keep a roof over their heads, buy their children school clothes, and all the other necessities of life, and the practitioners understand that they must not be motivated to practice medicine or give spiritual guidance purely for money.  And so, in a culture where all of these things are understood, it works out.  The traditional medicine practitioner goes into every treatment session with no idea if they will earn very little or very much, but if they are good doctors they treat each person equally, with compassion and good will being the primary motivators.  And the recipients understand the efforts and needs of the practitioner, the years of training, the efforts and cost of providing care and herbal formulas, and so they honestly pay as much as they can for the work.  Sometimes this is very little and sometimes this is very much and in the end hopefully everyone's needs are met. 

In the west this system can be confusing.  Westerners tend to feel ill at ease with not having a firm price and they worry about paying the wrong amount; too little, or too much. Or some think that no set prices means it is free or cheap, and they interpret this to mean that the work is not valuable.  When we don't value healing arts, we are less likely to benefit from them.  The system was never meant to make anyone feel worried, nor was it meant to undervalue a medicine practice.  So in my attempt to bring this Asian custom to my work in a western culture, I offer loose rate guidelines.  The truth is that I trust that you will think about what you can truly afford, how much you value your healing and my time, and find an amount that is given with joy from the heart. 

For those who would like guidelines/suggestions of what to pay, think about this:  The current average for a one hour massage is $90, most naturopaths cost about $125 an hour, therapists are $75 to $150, and acupuncturists range from $50 to $70, but can treat multiple patients at once.   My sessions tend to last at least an hour, but keep in mind that you are giving for the help, not the minutes,.  In the end, I gratefully accept what you are able to give, without expectation or judgement.  I give a little of everything I earn to charity and to my teacher, who in turn gives to his teacher.  The rest keeps a roof over my head and food in my family's pantry.  

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