The Thai Yoga and Somatic Healing studio, Thai Brooklyn, is moving into a permanent space on 37 Greenpoint Avenue. 

“The universe doesn’t only heal one person. When you practice healing, that healing moves through you and into others as well.”

Sarah Seeley

Sarah Seely founded Thai Brooklyn in 2014 and has been sharing the pedagogy of Thai Yoga and Somatic Healing with North Brooklyn ever since. 

“Drawing from traditional Thai medicine, Ayurveda, Reiki, and Somatic practices, my approach to healing takes into consideration the difficulties and pressures we face in today’s society.

Working with the body, mind AND spirit, we will sift through the layers of limiting beliefs, old habits and holding patterns, traumas and tensions – releasing energetic blockages and freeing up your range of motion to bring your entire being back to a state of natural equilibrium.”

Thai Brooklyn

The Founder 

Sarah Seely was a professional dancer and personal trainer/fitness instructor before founding Thai Brooklyn in Greenpoint. Her journey to this practice has been multilayered and involved a lot of hardship and grief, but, on the way, Seely relearned how to heal herself and teaches others how to do so as well.  

Let’s rewind, shall we?

When Seely was a personal trainer, she began offering private, at-home sessions for her clients. Since many of her clients at the time were older and weren’t always feeling 100%, Seely would frequently need to rework her daily plan to meet their individual needs. She had been learning a bit about Thai Yoga from friends, which became a small part of her routine, and her clients would increasingly ask for that particular practice in their private sessions. With a growing demand and a growing appreciation for this work, Seely really wanted to continue her studies formally. She did as much as she could state-side, and always knew it would be important for her to continue her studies in Thailand.

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Around this time Seely also got engaged, and, shortly after the engagement, her partner was diagnosed with stage four cancer. She became his caretaker for the two years before his passing in 2014. This devastating, unspeakable loss weighed on Seely as she struggled to continue teaching yoga, but the desire to sit in a quiet place and heal was much more appealing. With the help of her friends and their fundraising efforts, Seely was able to travel to Thailand for five months to officially learn this modality under the appropriate tutelage. She then opened Thai Brooklyn where she continues leading individuals in bodywork and meditation with an overall goal to heal both the body and the mind. 

To restate her powerful words:

“The universe doesn’t only heal one person. When you practice healing, that healing moves through you and into others as well.”

Sarah Seely

Thai Yoga

What is Thai Yoga? Well, Seely explains it as yoga being done to you and working through the energy lines of the body. Seely will massage and stretch her clients as they move through the motions and try to identify any trouble spots. 

Photo courtesy of Thai Brooklyn

“Based on Nuad Bo-Rarn, the ancient medical massage style of Northern Thailand, Thai Yoga is a dynamic, therapeutic approach to healing that uses reflexology, acupressure, myofascial release, and passive stretch to promote physical, energetic, and spiritual wellbeing.”  

Thai Brooklyn

Seely also offers private sessions for couples to practice Thai Massage together. 

Somatic Healing

Likewise, what is Somatic Healing? Partnered well with Thai Yoga, Somatic Healing is the practice of body talk. After you’ve identified the trouble spots in your body, it’s about asking questions. What kind of shoulder pain is it? How does it feel? Is it a pinch or is it an ache? The better we understand the type of tension we’re holding, we can begin to work through it. Seely pointed out that most of the time our bodily pain comes from the body trying to protect us as a true coping strategy. Therefore, somatic healing often becomes about creating a safe space to remind our bodies that we can find comfort and protection without the pain. 

“Somatic Therapy offers a variety of benefits. It reduces discomfort, strain, and stress in the body and transforms traumatic or negative emotional experiences, strengthens resourcefulness, creates a greater sense of Self, and builds resilience to life’s challenges.”

Thai Brooklyn
Photo courtesy of Thai Brooklyn

Products and Gift Boxes

Throughout the years, Seely started a product line and makes healing products to aid her practice. She learned how to make tiger balm in Thailand and now makes her own version of muscle balm and headache remedy balm. Plus, Seely sells bath salts, facial massage oils, herbal tea blends, and various gift sets. 

For the holidays Seely also makes mystery gift boxes! She will ask the gift giver for a little note about the person they’re gifting and then Seely will make a box tailored to that person. In this practice she’s come across so many people who are handling hardship while doing wonderful things and she really enjoys sitting down and holding those people in her heart as she curates a box made specifically for them. Just as she sends love into her clients in person, this is her way of sending a little more love into the world.

If you’re interested in booking a session or buying a box, visit Thai Brooklyn online.

Photo courtesy of Thai Brooklyn

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