Herbal Ball Making & Application

The day finally came that I've been so looking forward to, learning how to prepare and make herbal balls. Only downside? It was only one day! I was hoping it would be more comprehensive but was grateful for the opportunity at all.

To the left is the set-up we all walked in to, I was jumping with joy, just itching to play with it all! After 3 weeks of giving and receiving Thai massages every day your body gets pretty sore and it was sooo nice to break it up with something a little different. In normal life, you would never get massaged this often, this intensely. But its the only way to learn - hands on.

We were given a hands on, noses on, kind of tutorial where each herb was described and passed around so we could learn the smell, taste and touch of everything so when we go back home and try to find these ingredients in the local markets we will be able to tell what is what.

The 3 especially confusing ingredients are ginger, gallingal and plai which all look strikingly similar from the outside and pretty darn close from the inside. They do smell very different though and have slight differences in colour, you really would have to break one open to see for sure.

 

Trying to learn the difference between the 3 roots!

We also got to learn about and pass around lemongrass, kaffir lime, tamarind leaves, eucalyptus leaves, turmeric, sea salt and camphor and learned about the medicinal effects of each. I was quite fascinated to learn that citronella comes from lemongrass and the essential oil bergamot from the kaffir lime - I had no idea! 

All of the raw ingredients laid out.

Kaffir lime.

Not sure which this is just from looking, but I'm guessing plai...

Lemongrass.

Turmeric & gallingal.

Next it was time to chop everything up and grind it all up in mortar and pestles. Cute story by the way: back in the time when people lived in huts with thin walls, the men would tell the hard working women from the lazy ones by the speed and ferocity of their mortar and pestle. This was my first time using one (I'm no cook!) and I think it would have made my husband proud!

Once everything was nice and fine we mixed it all up in the right proportions and went about filling our cotton cloths and forming the balls. It was a very specific step of wrapping, folding and rolling in twine. They certainly weren't perfect but we were all very proud of our creations! 

After a group photo and lunch we got to steam them and start incorporating them into the routines we have already learned. It was a lot different then what I'm used to at home. First of all, the herbs were fresh, not dried and oozed juices and oils all over the place. My hands were really sticky and so was my client! Secondly, we used them over clothes instead of directly on the skin which left some pretty interesting stains on all of us. Thankfully they give us clothes to wear every day! To do this at the clinic I would have to provide clothes as well. One plus to it? You can see exactly which areas you have worked on! 

I still prefer working with the dried herbs although I'm sure the fresh ones are much more potent for the client. Unfortunately they are a bit too messy to be practical, but I'm glad I got to learn how to make them I'm just not sure I will be making a whole lot of them in the future. We were not taught the rolling technique I learned in Canada and used mostly pressing techniques on pressure points which was another difference. I still have to go for a Thai Herbal treatment before I go just to see how a professional Thai person incorporates them into a treatment. Was a really fun day though and I wish we hard more time to work with them! As you can see, I was over the moon! 

List of ingredients & properties: 

Plai: Anti-inflammatory for sprains & muscular pains, wound healing, relieving menstrual cramps

Lemongrass: Anti-bacterial, asthma 

Kaffir lime: Antiseptic, relaxing, detoxifying, improve scalp and hair condition

Tamarind leaves: skin cleansing, main ingredient in Thai sauna

Tumeric: To stop itching and for infected wound healing 

Galingal: Reducing cramps, healing wounds and bruises, respiratory ailments, detoxification, skin purifier

Eucalyptus: Cold, nasal congestion, muscle aches, bruises, swelling

Ginger: Anti-inflammatory, anti-viral

Safflower: Relaxation, lower blood pressure, toxin cleansing

Rock salt: reduces fever, anti-inflammatory for joint pain 

Camphor: Anti-septic, to enhance aroma and absorption