Blue Lotus
Thai Healing Studies
Chicago School of Traditional Thai Bodywork
Our Mission
Blue Lotus Thai Healing Studies offers comprehensive 200-hour Traditional Thai Bodywork trainings. We seek to promote health and peace through excellence in education, compassion in action, and honoring the connection to Thailand and the lineage of Thai bodywork.
our story
For the past 11 years, Blue Lotus has been training people in Traditional Thai Bodywork. The 200 hour program is a comprehensive program that not only covers the physical practice but everything that supports it. We explore the basics of its Buddhist roots which informs how a Thai medical practitioner looks at the body, disease and disease causation using Thai element and sen theories. The program also delves into Reusi Daton, an expansive system of self-care including breath practices, meditation, self-massage and much more. Finally, the Blue Lotus training also teaches some of the many physical therapy practices that are a part of this grand and self-contained traditional medical system, grown from the fertile soil and balmy climate of Thailand.
Update - July 2020
Unfortunately, because of the Coronavirus, we will not be holding in-person classes until it is safe to do so. Keep your eyes open for an online course that we are developing that will cover all the things that can be taught without being in the same room as a teacher such as Buddhist studies, meditation, self-massage, element and sen theory, and much more. Healing starts with us. Therefore, we will explore our own healing through the lens of Thai medicine.
Paul Fowler
Owner & Teacher
Paul first went to Thailand in 1999 and was smitten by Thai bodywork the first time he experienced it. The gentle yet strong compressions, stretches and movements were just what his body was thirsting for. He began to study with master teacher Pichest Boonthumme and has gone back to study with him and many other teachers and traditional doctors over a dozen times since then, oftentimes bringing his students with him. Through the many years of learning and practice and more learning, he has come to realize that Thai bodywork is just the tip of the iceberg of a profound and internally coherent system of medicine. Although his teacher says that he is too old to become a Thai doctor and all that entails, he continues to learn and expand his understanding and share what he can with his students!
Student Testimonials
“I am delighted and impressed with the Thai massage training at Blue Lotus. The program is well-designed, well-thought out, and the learning experience has been great fun. I’m learning to give Thai massage and enjoying it, and I am getting way more than just that. What I feel to be the most amazing aspect of the program is that it helps students build a personal practice of daily meditation, self-care and gratitude. Paul is an extraordinary teacher – fun, patient, inspiring sets high standard and helping us meet them in a gentle and compassionate way.”
Thao Nguyen
“I began Paul’s program in the spring of 2017. It was my first time learning bodywork and it was my initiation into the healing arts. For me the program was magical. I rediscovered the healing power of touch and realized the depth of embodied transformation. I definitely came out changed. The experience really felt like being in a different reality.”
Miya deBaker
“After practicing Thai Bodywork for a short time I was looking for a school that would help me take my Thai practice to the next level. Blue Lotus and Paul Fowler were the perfect fit for me. With deep foundational roots in Buddhist meditation, the Blue Lotus diploma program guided me on an incredible journey of self-discovery and insight. Yes, I learned great Thai techniques as well as a highly effective and innovative Thai sequence – but far more valuable to me as a bodyworker were the skills that encouraged me to look deep within my heart and soul.”