Daily oil massage plays a major role in preventing
complications from stress like hypertension, depression,
headaches, and more. In India massage is a natural part of
daily life. Infants are massaged every day from the day they
are born to age three, and weekly after that. By age six,
children are massaging their elders. It’s common for entire
families to massage one another once a week. Pregnant women are
massaged daily during pregnancy and for more than a month after
giving birth. Sensual massage with aphrodisiac oils is advised
in treatises on sexology.
In Ayurveda, bathing is a ritual designed to clean you inside
and out, and begins with the application of oil. Applying oil
to your skin lubricates, protects, detoxifies, and rejuvenates
your skin and nervous system, while soothing your endocrine
system. The oil helps loosen and liquefy ama so that the toxins
can drain into the body’s gastrointestinal tract for
elimination. It is an excellent antidote for modern stresses
and is said to help you achieve the balance that is the
foundation of spiritual development. As the body’s largest and
most sensitive organ, your skin deserves abhyanga every day.
In Ayurveda getting a massage or giving one to yourself is one
of the most effective and pleasant ways you can balance vata
and is a wonderful way to start the day. With regular practice
you’ll see why abhyanga is considered to be the crown jewel of
rejuvenation, prevention, and longevity. Sesame oil is
recommended for vata, pitta, and kapha types, and for healthy
people as well as those suffering from an illness. The only
exception is when your kapha is aggravated in this case you
should use a dry massage, described below. Be sure to get
cold-pressed organic oil from a health food store. Olive oil is
also acceptable, and coconut oil works well for pitta types.
Never use mineral oil or any other oil that is not digestible
(the skin is a digestive organ). It’s traditional to cook the
oil one time, heating it until it forms tiny bubbles. This is
said to cure the oil and prevent it from turning rancid.
Certain condi=ACtions respond best to medicated oils=97oils to
which special herbs and fragrant spices have been added, as
specified in the A=96Z section. Once you’ve been treating
yourself to abhyanga regularly, it’s hard to stop, and even
busy people manage to make time.
“If I get lazy or pressed for time and skip my daily abhyanga,
I really start to miss it. I feel scattered, less grounded,
less able to cope. I love the little pool of serenity it
creates in the morning . . . a quiet, sensual time just for
myself before I get swept up in the madness of the day. I think
what a different world it would be if everyone had v,p,k,
massage in the morning Copyright =A9 Dr.Helen Thomas 2007. All
rights reserved.
About The Author:
http://www.drhelenthomas.com/health_care/store/massage_oils_2.html
California License to Practice Chiropractic 1983 Bachelors From
California Institute of Integral Studies Focus Ayurveda Trained
In Practicing Ayurveda in California for fifteen years. First
Ayurved Formal education : Mah
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