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ith its roots in Taoist principles, Tuina is an ancient Chinese massage treatment. One of the UK’s foremost clinics just happens to be right here in Kentish Town. We spoke to practitioner and co-founder of Touch Tuina, Mariana Arando, about how they give clients a new lease of life.
How does Tuina differ from a regular massage? Tuina – which is pronounced “twee na” – literally means push and pull. It is one of the branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine, known throughout China as a medical massage and is often based in hospitals there. It shares the same theories and knowledge as acupuncture. It is not only used for pleasure and relaxation but as a treatment addressing specific patterns of disharmony, pain and disease.
How does it work? Tuina increases wellbeing by speeding up the body’s ability to heal itself, mentally and physically. We cater to all levels; everyone from injured sporting professionals to everyday warriors. We treat a whole range of symptoms: people come to us with aches and pains, injuries, postural misalignment, migraines and digestive disorders, to name a few.
As a result of our work, sports pros get far fewer injuries and find their performance is noticeably faster, more precise in action and that they are more flexible overall, too. Usually, clients come to see us when they’ve been failed everywhere else. We quickly become their first port of call when they’re in pain, or something isn’t working in their body as well as it should.
Explain how your ‘multi-bed clinics’ work? We adopted this idea from the way the treatments are performed in the hospitals in China, and found that when several people are treated in the same space together, a real community spirit emerges that is very beneficial.
Tuina is mostly performed fully clothed, where the client is covered with a Tuina blanket, so everyone in these group treatments feels comfortable. Further to this, an energy field or “Chi” field is created and this can enhance the power of one’s healing experience.
We see you’ve also been working with the Jamaican football team. What was that like? It was a great opportunity to be invited by the coaches and physios of the national team so they could experience our work as we shared our skills. Once we treated the athletes, they were able to make it to semi-finals whilst beating Mexico, all injury-free.
And we don’t only work with the JA football team, but a lot of the athletics, track and field and netball teams out there also.
