Hi, I’m Shai. Lots of folks call me ShaiThai…

As in ShaiThai Massage. I fell in love with Thai Yoga Massage in 2001 when I was 26-years-old, because in many ways giving this humble massage taught me more about myself, about love, about getting in touch with my shit and growing as a person than I could ever dream of.

Of course I didn’t know all that when I first started, but I had an inkling the first time I put my elbow on my friend’s shoulder and she melted into my touch.

It was “listening” or sensing on a level that I had never known before and it totally changed my life.

The words I found that helps me to describe what I sense with every massage is that it puts me in relationship with the creative force of Love.

Not the romantic kind (although that would be one form of Love), but the building blocks of every cell of the universe. Inspiration, creativity, connection, opportunity beyond what I was capable of knowing. That kind of Love.

So this blog is a place to share how to live that journey. How to use tools like massage, yoga, good food, sports, or love or pretty much anything to help teach us how to live an ever evolving version of our inspired self.

Signing up is free, and I’ll write free posts all the time. You can sign up right here

There is also a paid option to get everything I write. I hope you’ll want that too. It’ll help me to pay for things that come with being a single dad to the coolest person I know.

I just reread my opening and it’s weird isn’t it?

When we think of massage, we often think of all the ways we get to help the people we’re massaging. And if I’m being honest, that’s often a good reason many among us don’t love giving massage over the course of our everyday lives.

I don’t think I’m any different.

If this massage wasn’t all about the infinite ways its helped me to grow as a person and the many ways it’s been an ally as I’ve faced all kinds of challenges, I probably would have lost interest a long time ago.

The truth is, for me, making Thai Massage a regular part of life was a catalyst for immense change.

I lost interest in drinking and drugs and I embarked on a much more dedicated path of healthy living and unlearning destructive habits.

This massage helped me to be my own teacher for the unscripted shit that accompanies life. It’s been there for me through celebrations, through the mundane and through the mud.

It’s not that I don’t love helping people…

I just think I would have eventually become bored and would have found something more mainstream and more commercial as a way to make a living while helping to contribute something helpful in this world.

I mean I do love to cook, and I’ve been practicing yoga since the late 90s. At some point, I’ll probably share some of that passion here as well.

It’s just turns out…

That giving Thai Massage is at least as good as receiving. What’s more, the more you give, the better. Not only for them, but for you as well.

These days I’m at the point where each massage I give is at least 10 times as good for me as it is for them. And that’s true even when my clients and loved ones tell me things like:

What I want to do in this space…

…is share how and why this works.

One of my aims is to peel back the layers and talk about what I see as the secret of this practice and how you can take it into any part of your life. That’ll be true whether you give regular massages or not.

Yet, one of my wishes is to inspire you to massage more people in your life. It’s not a prerequisite to anything I’ll be sharing here.

I just think a really great massage that is so freaking awesome for them, while also being this incredible experience for you is such a win-win. It is literally one of the greatest things you can do and it’s totally within your control.

In that way if you’re struggling in any way, if you’re looking to make a better life for yourself, if you’re looking to connect or create romance with someone you love, if you’re looking to help someone in need, if you’re feeling powerless, you’ll know that at least one answer is in the palm of your hands, and elbows, and knees and feet.

So Why Read This Blog?

Well, that’s up to you.

What I do know is that I practice what I teach and what I share and I am open to being called out constructively.

This is a no bull zone.

This is a place to grow together and be authentic as we get messy and as we succeed.

I have been blessed to teach and give Thai Yoga Massage for over 20 years to well over 10,000 people.

I’ve taught on 4 continents, at some pretty amazing places, including the Kripalu Center, the Omega Institute, 1440 Multiversity, the Ritz Carlton, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and more.

I’ve written four Amazon bestsellers about this massage and this practice that you can check out here.

I even have an online coaching, certification and mentoring program for Thai Yoga Massage.

It’s one of the “gifts” that came out of the pandemic when my way of making a living literally disappeared overnight and without warning.

It’s not the first time my life was turned completely upside down during my massage career and it’s not even the latest.

In a lot of ways, I think that’s the point and that’s what’s inspiring me to write here. We are all going to go through stuff. Big stuff (and little stuff). Unexpected stuff that rocks us to our core.

Isn’t it nice to have simple, yet profound tools and a plan of action that you can rely on when you’re going through it?

Isn’t it even better when you can plant the seeds of that growth every single day?

I think it’s one of the most important things we can do. Lets not wait to respond only in times of chaos when things are at their worst. Lets build for the long term so we are as nimble and supported as we can be during those times while we grow and learn and live wisely every single day… to the best of our abilities. Whatever that means to you.

Last word for now and then I’ll turn it over to the community. Did I mention that I love sports?

I guess I did in the title Lol. My love of sports is at least 20 years older than my love of Thai Massage. Before I had the ability to embrace what this massage wanted to teach me, I got my exposure into Love from watching sports, reading stories about athletes and what perseverance and pushing our limits and boundaries in healthy ways can do for us.

That love has never waned.

Maybe you have a love that seems at odds with this healthy, spiritual path. But I’m willing to bet it isn’t. It’s been there teaching you all along…

What others are saying about ShaiThai:

~Donna Davis client extraordinaire