Pain Sufferers Log

The Thailand Conference from a Pain Sufferer’s perspective.

“Ouch, oooh, ah, my body hurts – BUT Boy! Does it feel good”. Just one of many comments heard during a marvelous two week Thailand experience with Steve Lockhart. The “no pain, no gain” phrase kept me, a pain sufferer, going throughout the intensive two week SLM treatment/ training session held at the Sandy Spring Hotel in Pattaya.

Our group of fourteen filtered in over a two day period from all corners of the Commonwealth, namely Canada, the U.K and four states in Australia. Two pain sufferers brought their spouses along as prospective SLM therapists. Three prospective therapists were changing lanes mid career. Three experienced therapists, who had been sold on Steve’s approach to healing and maintaining a healthy body, saw this fortnight as an opportunity to further their massage skills and help their patients. And then there were the few like myself, who had ‘googled’ back pain relief and signed up as patients.

The camaraderie was instant. Everyone got along extremely well, attested by the long conversations over meals and the hilarity in the pool as we all tried Steve’s pool exercises on our swim noodles. By the end of the two week period we all experienced great benefit from our morning SLM Yoga sessions. The exercises geared to strengthening every muscle in our bodies. I was amazed at just how much more flexible I became and vowed to continue them on a regular basis when I returned home.

Steve had arranged our itinerary in excellent style. We were greeted upon arrival at the airport with our taxi driver bearing a sign with our names on it. The journey to our hotel in Pattaya varied in length depending on the traffic, the time of day and conditions of the road. Our hotel was clean and comfortable right in the heart of Pattaya’s beach front and active night life, restaurants and shopping facilities. We were here in the ‘low season’, so could only imagine how the place ‘hummed’ at other times of the year.

Our daily routine began at 7.00 a.m. with approximately an hour of SLM yoga exercises, followed by breakfast at a little restaurant adjacent to the hotel. Pool exercises were normally carried out between breakfast and noon as the pool was still in shade. This left the afternoon for retail therapy and lunch or a sight-seeing trip. The daily massage sessions began at 4.00 p.m. with a rotation of masseurs to those needing treatment. Steve would rotate among the six patients giving advice and individual treatment where necessary, tailored to their specific needs. Every few days the therapists would gather for an invocation session where advice could be sought and questions answered. Included in the package were regular Thai massages or foot massages for the therapists.

A highlight I will always remember is our evening meals. Steve’s excellent knowledge of Pattaya resulted in us being taken to a varied assortment of very reasonably priced restaurants. Every evening was spent savouring a different kind of foreign fare and some of the best Thai food I’ve ever tasted. We also branched out on our own and exploring the nightlife and fine tuning our bartering skills at the many and varied market stalls.

A wonderful 2 week experience I could recommend to anyone wishing to start a new career, and to those wanting to get their body back in shape, and relieving their pain.