Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 05/02) - Their clients greet them stressed-out and tense, but leave feeling completely relaxed and at ease.

Mark Gale and Deanne Pye have blessed the city with an exotic and unique form of massage - the Thai massage. The technique alleviates not only physical discomforts, but is also claimed to relieve mental ailments.

"Thai massage focuses more on stretching, pulling and pressuring of the muscles. It's more of a workout," said Gale.

The couple picked up Thai massage while travelling through Thailand earlier this year. The technique was invented about 3,000 years ago. According to the legend, it was first offered by a friend of the Buddha's personal physician.

Thai belief is based on the assumption that there are pressure points at the end of all nerves throughout the body, especially in the hands and feet.

"In Southeast Asia they don't see the distinction between physical and mental discomfort the way North American's do.

"For them, everything is intrinsically linked ... the way they see things is that your body is completely interconnected, so a pain in one part of your body is being influenced by discomfort in all other parts of your body.

"You're not just helping your body, you're helping your soul," said Gale.

So, a Thai massage re-connects your body parts, resulting in a type of euphoria in which the client feels completely at ease and pain-free.

If you had a headache, for example, the Thai masseur would focus on the toe and the section between your thumb and forefinger to relieve the pain.

The couple opened C.B. Thai massage recently on the second floor of the Bromley Building on Franklin Ave.

Pye specializes in the full body massage which takes just over an hour and runs at a cost of $65. She works full-time at the business.

Gale offers foot reflexology massages and also specializes in upper body massage. Because he works full-time as an architect, he works at the business only during evenings and weekends.

The foot reflexology massage, with a price tag of $75, is a little more expensive than the full-body massage. But according to Gale, it's worth it.

"It's basically a really, really good foot massage," he said.

As for Pye's talents, Gale said she is quite good with her hands.

"She is really good. She has actually cured people of their headaches while she has been here.

"We've had people come in here who have taken all sorts of other massages and then she gets them and they come back many a time," he said.

Pye said when her clients leave, "they are smiling."