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I am honored to be teaching Thai massage this fall at Liberty Athletic Club. When spa manager, Chris Maxton reached out to me about teaching Thai massage to their new crop of massage therapists, I was excited to get involved. Prema Lindsay Smith of Inner Balance Therapy has been working for several years to build and expand a Thai massage program at Liberty Athletics. Prema is a longtime fixture of massage and bodywork in Ann Arbor; she has been practicing massage and bodywork since the 1970s and fell in love with Thai massage in the last 10 years under the tutelage of Jenabah Giacomelli of BodyThyme Massage. Prema spent many years as a faculty member of the, now closed, Ann Arbor Institute of Massage Therapy, teaching multiple courses there. In addition to those impressive credentials, Prema is supportive and enthusiastic; always showing up with a smiling face and positive energy. At our first meeting, it was clear to me that Chris, Prema and Liberty Athletics all have great passion and support for expanding Thai massage. After submitting the course description, we had three wonderful licensed massage therapists currently working at Liberty enroll in the six week course, which is taught in a series of eight three-hour classes held in one of Liberty's studio rooms. Our aim to to provide a strong foundation in Thai massage, so that the students complete the training feeling comfortable and skilled in their craft. Despite the short duration, we delve deeply into technique in order to provide the basics so that the students can work on clients, experiment with techniques as they greet what is arising in a session, and hopefully gain an excitement to go further and study this powerful modality in depth with a variety of masters in the art of Thai massage.