Decode Ancient Ayurvedic Massage Techniques, With Forest Essentials Experts

Ayurveda offers a variety of treatments, concoctions, diets and remedies to help strengthen our mind, body and soul. With a holistic approach, Ayurvedic body massages have been renowned for their rejuvenating and calming properties with simple massage techniques to relax the body. But, what are these massage techniques and how feasible are these? Taking forward from this, our Ayurveda experts have answered frequently asked questions for our readers to gain a better understanding of the Ayurvedic body massages and how easily can these be performed at the comfort of your home.

What Is An Ayurvedic Body Massage?

Other than inducing relaxation and a sense of calm, traditionally an Ayurvedic body massage was practiced regularly in every Indian household, to enhance blood circulation and increase blood flow to the skin while releasing ama (toxins) out from the body. An Ayurvedic body massage can simply be a rejuvenating therapy for your hands, feet or face. Since ancient times, oil blends of potent herbs extracts have been used to facilitate these body massages for detoxification and better absorption of nutrients by the skin. It is recommended to use a rich textured oil while self-massaging. For this, we recommend using the Forest Essentials Ayurvedic Body Massage Oil Narayana for its anti-inflammatory property to release muscle strain. You can also explore the selection of pure Ghee based Body Massage Oils by Forest Essentials in a variant of your choice.

How Often Should You Indulge In A Body Massage?

Ideally, one should indulge in a body massage 1-2 times a week. Body massages are naturally calming for the mind and help release muscle tension. Furthermore, practicing Ayurvedic body massages can also help achieve healthy and glowing skin, as the body is detoxified and the skin is flushed with regulated blood flow.

How Can You Arrange A Body Massage At Home?

Ayurveda offers some effective self-massaging techniques that are a part of traditional Ayurvedic treatments, and help activate marmas, i.e. the Ayurvedic pressure points to improve circulation and blood flow to the skin. Marma points are vital energy points that are present all over our bodies. They associate with a particular physical and mental aspect of your mind and body. They also help us balance our energy, lymphatic, nervous, and circulatory systems.

Our Ayurveda experts have curated a few self-massaging techniques that are equally effective and can easily be executed at home. But before you begin with a self-relaxing body massage, burn a diffuser with a calming essential oil or light some incense sticks. Explore the range of Forest Essentials’ Diffuser Oils, and choose a relaxing scent like that of Sandalwood, Lavender or a citrusy aroma like Lemongrass, Mandarin.

Lymphatic Drainage Massage

• With clean hands, tub your hands back and forth and bring some Prana (energy) to your hands.
• Add a couple of drops of an emollient serum or night cream to your hands and pat it into the skin and commence the massage. Allow gentle pressure of your hands to reduce stress.
• Use the top-down approach, starting from your forehead, using upward strokes to release tension in facial muscles and tissues. Then, go down to your eyebrows and temples, following your jawline. Focus on your natural contours and use the knuckles of your index fingers to gently massage the area below your cheekbones, in an upward and outward scoop motion.
• Take a few drops of the face serum and focus on the neck. Begin from the sides of your neck while switching from using the heels of the hands to using their outer sides. End the massage by going down the clavicle. Repeat the entire process five times.

Feet Relaxing Therapy

• Start with your right foot, gently rub lukewarm oil in small circular motions from the ankle to the soles of the feet. Next, with your thumbs, gently press your toe nails. Slowly drag your thumb across the top of your foot to the big toe, and back. Repeat this for all toes across both feet.
• Now, place your right hand on the top of the foot, lace your fingers between your toes, and push the foot inward, outward, and then in a circular motion.
• Make a fist with your right hand and press it against the foot, working it along the sole in a circular motion to activate the energy points. Slowly pull each toe away from the foot to remove stress. Repeat on your left foot.
• When you’re finished, soak your feet for five to ten minutes in a bucket filled halfway to the top with warm water and one teaspoon of salt to draw the stress and toxins out of your feet.

Also Read – How to give yourself a perfect foot massage at home?

With your daily skincare routine, invest 10-15 minutes of relaxation as you activate your marma points by performing the following simple techniques:

• To improve circulation to the face and connect with inner feelings, gently press and release 10 times in the middle of the chin (Hanu).
• To help ease dizziness, improve mental clarity and sexual desire, gently press and release 10 times in the middle of the upper lip (Oshta).
• To relieve eye strain, press away from the eye towards the bony orbit in the outer corner of each eye (Apanga).
• To relieve tension and bring peace and harmony to the mind, gently rub in a clockwise spiral in the middle of the forehead (Sthapani).