RASIDATON (Thai Yoga)
October 18th, 2024
Every day begins at 7am with 1 hour of ‘Rasidaton,’ an ancient yoga-like warm-up based on the Thai Massage movements and stretches. We are one of the very few schools that offer full instruction in this Traditional Thai ritual-movement — Homprang herself leads the practice everyday before breakfast, even during her Herbal courses.
The class begins with the students chanting a Pali invocation asking for help and protection from the Buddha and his personal doctor, Maw Chiwok–the latter sits garlanded with jasmine just below the Buddha on the shrine in our training space. This invocation is followed by one hour of Rasidaton, a Thai Yoga developed by another disciple of the Buddha, the forest hermit, Rusi–he usually sits next to Maw Chiwok in Thai medical shrines.
Above you can see 3 different groups doing the Rasidaton at 7am with Homprang. In fact it’s not difficult for anyone, based as it is on the Thai Traditional Massage movements and stretches. On the other hand, those trained in Hatha Yoga seem to get as much from it as those who have never done yoga before in their lives. And Homprang is one of the very few Thai Massage teachers in the world who includes an hour of it in every class every day.