Teaching Chavutti Thirumal is not for the faint hearted – this powerful treatment has a 2,000 year heritage and to make things more complicated it’s applied with the feet. Kath Seward gives the inside track on The Soma Institute’s training course “Learning Chavutti is a bit like learning to fly,” founder of the Soma Institute, Emma Field, told me on the first day of the course. “It’s a strange concept to balance on one foot while using the other one like a hand.”

Teaching Chavutti Thirumal is not for the faint hearted – this powerful treatment has a 2,000 year heritage and to make things more complicated it’s applied with the feet. Kath Seward gives the inside track on The Soma Institute’s training course

“Learning Chavutti is a bit like learning to fly,” founder of the Soma Institute, Emma Field, told me on the first day of the course. “It’s a strange concept to balance on one foot while using the other one like a hand.”

Being a journalist whose experience of body work was limited to some ungraceful yoga, I wasn’t at all sure that I was going to be able to master this treatment which requires stamina, dexterity and co-ordination. Emma was obviously going to have her work cut out in making a Chavutteuse out of me and it is therefore testament to her teaching ability that I not only passed the course, but that people are now paying me to do it!

Chavutti Thirumal is an ancient Ayurvedic treatment which was first used by the Kalari warriors to keep their bodies in peak condition and was later adopted by the Kakathali dancers. The technique was borne of yoga and Siddha medicine and the moves are fairly yogic in their format. It is the only massage which can cover the length of the body in one stroke and in order to achieve this the practitioner has to stand on one leg and then, holding a rope for balance, slide the other foot along the body, maintaining deep and even pressure.

At the first level, this massage is used to tone and/or loosen overbound structures that tend to over contract the muscles and structures that are the opposite end of the spectrum – are underformed and so need more definition. More specifically, it is able to alleviate muscular pain, stiffness in joints and any restricted movement due to too much or too little exercise. At a deeper level, Chavutti is able to affect the vicious circle of bad posture and mental stress.

The Soma Institute, established by Emma in 2000, offers the most comprehensive Chavutti training in the UK and is the only course which teaches the treatment in its original form. Emma learnt it in its birthplace of Kerala, India in 1991 and in a quest to add to the tiny number of practitioners in the UK, and to reach a wider cross section of people, she developed the diploma in Chavutti Thirumal.

The course not only aims to impart the knowledge that Emma gained while training with masters in India, but also to teach the added dimension that Emma has brought to the treatment through her other studies. She prides herself on teaching Chavutti in its pure and original form with a connection to its historical origin in the martial arts, as well as to work from the centre of gravity in the lower dantien.

Dantien was a new word to me and I wasn’t sure that I had one. I was informed they are below the belly button and towards the middle of the body. Qi gong is one way of activating the dantien. Broadly speaking, this is a slowed down version of tai chi, which involves holding postures until spontaneous movement occurs. By activating the dantien it is possible to tap into a supply of energy which doesn’t rely on the larger muscles and brings about a greater connection to the energy of the earth. Emma warned us that with Chavutti being such a physically demanding treatment, relying on the larger muscles will result in a fast burn out.

A few sessions of qi gong later I began to appreciate what Emma meant when she referred to the “internal dynamic” and “working from the centre of gravity.” I felt like the door to a whole new world had been opened to me.

Jane Prestedge, from Derbyshire, decided to undertake the training because her hands were tired from too much deep tissue massage. She says that the Chavutti training added another dimension to her work: “My background was in Swedish and remedial therapy, the training that I had had before was fairly sterile. Emma’s course was more encompassing because it really integrates the spiritual side of massage.”

Jane also says she learnt a great deal from Emma about empathising with clients: “There is a certain vulnerability arising from taking all of your clothes off and lying prone. On the first day of the course I was the one that Emma used to demonstrate on and I initially felt embarrassed being virtually naked in front of people that I had only just met, but Emma’s lovely manner really put me at ease. The experience reminded me of how clients feel when they come for a treatment and it changed my approach towards them.

“Emma also drummed into us the importance of posture and was continually correcting our stance, which was incredibly important, and again, something which I could bring to my Swedish practise.”

Jo Osborne had practised qi gong for several years before embarking on the course and also worked as a therapist using Swedish massage and buqi tuina. “Chavutti was the icing on the cake for me, as it pulls together energetic work and massage into a really dynamic treatment. I particularly like the way that the alignment of the practitioner is supporting the treatment – the practitioner is very engaged and uses their body in a very interactive way, unlike Swedish massage where you are at the wrong angle to work on a deep healing level.”

Besides learning to do this amazing treatment, the course brought me a heap of other benefits. It improved my posture and my fitness. As the strokes involve linking breath and movement, it greatly improved my yoga practice and I opened up a spiritual side of myself that I wasn’t previously aware of. I consider Chavutti the king of treatments and the course reflects that. One of Jo’s clients summed it up: “That’s not a massage, it’s a life changing experience!”

For more details contact the Soma Institute on 07790 562781

Kath Seward

Kath worked as a leisure journalist for eight years before training at The Soma Institute. After qualifying, she took her Chavutti skills to New Zealand for six months and is now practising in Cornwall.