Take a Load Off: How Learning Seated Massage Techniques Can Carry You Through

Susan Good • August 23, 2026

I believe in healing through movement, both for the client and the massage therapist. That’s why I fell in love with Thai massage! Finding my flow while giving Thai massage allows me to walk out afterward feeling better than when I walked in.

In 2022 I began to more seriously transition my clients from the table to the mat. I noticed an increase in my flexibility and strength and was eager to continue converting clients to Thai massage.


Fast forward to Fall 2024 and I was pregnant with my second child. I had to fight nausea during Thai massage from jostling and frequently leaning over my clients. I also started experiencing round ligament pain and would hold back gasps after moving too quickly. That’s right–the same rhythmic movement and self-stretching during sessions that I loved so much was now the very thing I couldn’t do! 


Thank goodness for Thai foot massage, facial bo jin, facial cupping and herbal poultice being in my toolkit! All of these treatments allowed me to remain mostly seated during a time when I would have otherwise felt like I needed to reschedule clients. (Not going to lie, there was no way I could use the Thai herbal balm during foot massages while I was pregnant!) 


Maybe you’re a pregnant LMT, or you injured your low back or broke your ankle, or you feel drained. It’s a game changer being able to think on your feet (excuse the pun!) and shift your clients from their typical table or mat-based sessions when your body needs to sit and rest.

Of course you need to take care of yourself and reschedule clients right after an injury or as needed, but it’s a beautiful thing to be able to continue serving your clients with nourishing treatments.


When I give seated treatments like Facial Gua Sha, Bo Jin or Thai Foot Massage, I still absolutely pour my heart and energy into each session. I even find myself tuning in to the client in a more holistic way and slowing down, taking my time and relaxing my whole body into the session. (It’s another reason I love doing neck work on the table while I’m seated. I can close my eyes, linger on a trigger point, cradle the head, and work with intention.)


One day I may find myself needing to pump the brakes and remain seated during more appointments, and I’ll forever be grateful to have learned many different approaches to working with my clients.


What brings me even more joy is being able to teach some of these techniques to talented massage therapists with Apex Retreat Seminars in the Charlotte, NC area.


So pull up that chair and learn how to wow your clients, all while giving your body a bit of a vacation!

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Nurturing Pregnancy Through Thai Massage

By Susan Good • December 19, 2025
Before I became a massage therapist, I trained as a doula and fell in love with all things pregnancy and birth. I was living in Ireland at the time, and then I spent two months volunteering as a doula in Honduras. In one town I taught childbirth education classes in Spanish, but in all three hospitals where I volunteered I offered labor and birth support. Sometimes I wondered how I could help when I myself hadn’t yet had children, but I quickly learned that it was all about being a quiet presence and supporting the birthing woman’s own natural process. The following year I became licensed in massage and was excited to start working with prenatal clients. I noticed some of my co-workers at the spa hated getting booked prenatals, and I wondered why since I truly enjoyed the work. Over the years, chatting with colleagues helped me understand some of the things they didn’t enjoy about prenatal sessions: They hated massaging in side-lying position. They didn't like all the cushions. They fumbled with the draping. They were nervous they’d send their client into labor. (If only it was that easy!) THEIR bodies hurt giving the massage. In the beginning of my career I definitely felt physically uncomfortable giving some prenatal massages, like if my table wasn’t the correct height or my client’s back wasn’t close to the edge of the table. Sometimes I would contort my body to give what I thought was a good therapeutic massage. As I deepened my Thai massage practice, I noticed my body started feeling so much better than it ever had before. Working on a mat on the floor allowed me to use more of my body during the session and to deepen the work without having to overexert myself. One of my Thai massage teachers, Homprang Chaleekanha, says in her classes that when giving the massage stops feeling good for the practitioner, the work stops being therapeutic for the client. When I was pregnant with my daughter I received a Thai massage, but it was a bit too intense. The stretches went too far, the compressions too deep, and I felt very protective of my low back. After that, I assumed Thai massage was just something you couldn’t get when you were pregnant. In 2022 and 2023 I went to Thailand to study womblifting with Homprang, whom I first studied with in 2019. She taught us how to make herbal poultices and use them during the treatments in a traditional way. (I wish I could heat clay pots over an open fire in my treatment room!) Although womblifting is totally contraindicated during pregnancy, I learned so much about the approach of working with women where one of my jobs as the therapist is to nurture and support. Attending that training was deeply healing for myself after having had my first baby a couple years prior. Women need special attention in the prenatal and postpartum periods, and I love learning different holistic ways I can offer that. Over the years, I started feeling much more confident doing Thai sessions with pregnant clients. I realized those sessions aren’t (only) about what not to do in terms of stretches and compressions, but how to nurture the pregnant woman with oils, gentle focused stretching, and warm herbal poultices. Although experiencing pregnancy is ABSOLUTELY not necessary to be able to give a wonderful prenatal Thai massage, I made note of the various changes my own body had made during pregnancy to help customize each and every session. Listening to the cues my clients' bodies give before and during the massage always helps me learn something new with each treatment. Some of my favorite sessions to give are prenatal Thai massages! I love mixing the herbal blends, filling the treatment room with the sweet floral aromas before the client arrives, and creating an environment where the client can truly tune in with her body and relax mentally. Giving prenatal Thai massage on a mat allows for much more room for cushions and for the client to rest comfortably however she wants. The steamed herbal poultices are a soothing extension of my hands…not to mention MY hands feel amazing while working with the herbs. As one of my clients once put it, receiving a prenatal Thai massage is like taking a nap in a warm cup of herbal tea! I’m excited to teach Thai Prenatal Herbal Poultice Massage to therapists so we can help more pregnant women experience this deep and nourishing relaxation!