Tok sen is now a standard and favorite massage technique of Paula's, and is therefore incorporated on an as-needed basis in all Combo or Fasciae Therapy sessions. If you prefer to receive Tok sen only, you simply request it in the notes at booking or during the consult upon arrival.

Hammer Massage?

I have an open mind, but I am also critical, objective, and focused on scientific understanding of healing mechanisms. Consequently, I have never embraced an alternative method of healing without first much skepticism. And, never was I more skeptical than when a weekly client, we'll call her Sam, presented me with three, large wooden objects and said, "I want you to use these on me. They say it's energy medicine." I said something I can't print here, but it went something like, "Not a chance." Sam was remarkably independent and intelligent - something I admire in people - and therefore succeeded in coercing me to learn about something called "tok sen," also known as "hammer massage."

This photo of Spa Mantra is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Sam's Heartless Bones

Sam also had rather unusual fascia, and specific to the story, somewhat heartless bones. The goal was to use the sticks to fix the bones that seemed to be the opposite of my own, highly sensitive bones: Hers were almost completely a-sensitive. Light tappings were not wanted; Sam wanted a pounding, so to speak. At this point, I was curious and followed her instructions. I hammered away and gave myself quite the workout!

Normalized!

One week later, Sam returned, stating to my great surprise that she wanted to skip the BioSyntonie (a true and powerful form of energy medicine) and do only tok sen. She said the "vibrations" could be felt for days longer than even the BioSyntonie - and she could feel it deep in her bones. BioSyntonie is the strongest energy medicine system I have ever encountered, so Sam got my attention with that statement. Always open to experimentation and learning, she guided me and I hammered her. 
    By the time we finished hammering almost all of her bones, something amazing happened: Sam's bones normalized; they were no longer a-sensitive. I had already read the research on gua sha being a "normalizing treatment", and now it seemed that tok sen had a similar and yet potentially more potent effect.

Too Weird for The Public?

You can imagine that it wasn't easy to approach my clients and ask if I could hammer them! But more importantly, I wanted to choose clients to practice on who were naturally skeptical, highly intelligent, and notably, easily pained. This was to be sure that tok sen was truly safe and worth incorporating full scale. So, I picked a qualifying few and asked if they would be willing to volunteer in the name of science. Instead of getting negative feedback or fear, my first test clients happily volunteered and then promptly fell asleep while I hammered their entire body! That was when I relaxed and began the process of introducing all my clients, including newcomers, to this peculiarly effective therapy. The result? My clients need me even less now than ever before! And you know what? Nothing pleases me more than when my clients don't need me any more. (But, I do encourage them to say hi now and then!)

My Theory

With the right kind of wood (because quality and frequency matters in the world of natural  healing) and the correct implementation in the needed locations (because nuance really matters, too,) tok sen tapping appears to create mechanical, unidirectional vibrations that sing through the fluid of the fascia system like a submarine ping through ocean waters. And the fascia, particularly the bones (which are fascia, too, only more densely packed and mineralized), seem to speak that language and welcome it as some kind of healing message, because suddenly joints relax, muscles relax, fascial congestion clears, and any irritating calcifications or crystallizations that can do so, melt on contact and get cleared out by the body's natural elimination systems.
​    And it lasts! In other words, tok sen, as crude as it may seem, may be one of the most effective methods of triggering health-promoting mechanotransduction - which is a fancy word for saying that a mechanical stimulus causes a biochemical (systemic) and healing reaction in the body. And in the case of my arthritis and calcific tendonitis research? Tok sen helps me go straight to an inflamed bone spur or sharp calcification - of even the tiniest size - and melt it away. The peculiar thing is, just like a paper cut, the tiniest calcifications cause the most pain! So, with skilled palpation to locate those calcifications, we can tap away pain and tension often in mere seconds!

Caveat

Due to the needed focus on modification of traditional massage tools and modalities to better communicate with and get better results from the fascia system of the body, the same is true of tok sen. Therefore, tok sen is not used at Paula's Body Shop the way tok sen is traditionally taught and used. So, even if you were fortunate enough to experience tok sen in Thailand, you may be pleasantly surprised by how much more it can accomplish when tailored to communicate on a deeper level with the body.

Experiencing is Believing

Experience tok sen, today. It's included in any Combo or Fasciae Therapy session.

PS

My cat, Dove, likes tok sen, too, but we are both camera shy. So, instead, please enjoy this video from ThaiTokSen.