AYURVEDICMASSAGE

Body massage (lymphatic). This massage is performed on a mattress on the ground. We use our hands and feet in performing this massage. There are many techniques for warming up the body

and reducing tension. These are among the oldest medical practices. Ayurvedic massage fulfills many functions due to the influence that it exerts on various systems in our body. It operates on three levels: physical, mental and spiritual.The essence of Ayurvedic massage is connected with the movement of energy in the body. It is a subtle combination of classical massage and the use of oil and herbal powder. Calamus (Sanskrit ‘Varkhand’), the herbal powder used in the massage, is an excellent detoxifying herb. It is an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and exfoliating agent. It helps remove toxins from the body.

After a person has warmed up and stretched in accordance with their individual predispositions, each session restores harmony, balances energy in the body and helps maintain a proper level of flexibility.

The person should take deep breaths, as this helps unlock their emotions and calms them down.

The goal is to restore balance in the life energy, called prana, which circulates throughout the body in Nadis. Nadis are channels that are invisible to the naked eye and that distribute energy to all of the body’s organs and areas. Restoring the harmonious flow of energy by stimulating acupressure points (Marma points) is an expression of physical, mental and spiritual health. Maintaining proper balance among all of the body’s energies can prevent illness and restore a sick person to health.

In addition to mechanical actions directed towards the surface of the skin, individual energy channels and points (also called ‘life points’) also energize individual parts of the body. During an Ayurvedic massage, the body is stimulated to regulate and regenerate itself, leading to recovery. This is the basis of the mechanism of action for healing and regeneration. It is difficult to describe from a purely materialistic standpoint. And it is considerably effective in supplementing and sometimes even replacing pharmacological treatment.

Harmony and equilibrium of the mind, heart and soul initiate a process of internal healing and restore the vitality and youthfulness of the physical, emotional and spiritual body. Ayurvedic massage is performed within the framework of preventative health in the broad sense.

Ayurvedic Massages Consist of a Series of Treatments:

• Relaxation
• Cleansing
• Healing
• Slimming

Benefits of Ayurvedic Massage:

Recommended for the Following Ailments:

• activates the immune system and increases the individual’s overall sense of well-being
• for nervous disorders and depressive states, chronic stress and insomnia.
• restores the harmonious flow of energy in the body
• ensures deep relaxation, eliminates stress and negative emotions
• helps the body work to restore its lost internal balance.
• improves mental performance and physical fitness
• regulates the functioning of all internal organs, alleviates numerous ailments
• for chronic fatigue (which is a loss of vital energy), weakened immune system
• for concentration and memory problems
• for sinus pain, headaches and migraines
• for back pain, muscle cramps and post-traumatic pain
• for liver, pancreas, gall bladder, intestines constipation, gas
• for menstrual disorders in women, reduced potency and sexual dysfunction
• for hypertension, hypotension, obesity

The Main Objective of This Treatment Is

• detoxification (removing toxins from the body)
• purification
• improving the lymphatic system
• restoring harmony and balance at the mental and spiritual level
• stimulating the nervous system (disorders of the locomotor system)
• improve the functioning of the endocrine and digestive system

THE ORIGINS OF AYURVEDA

The history of Ayurveda begins thousand of years ago and its beginnings are shrouded in legend. According to Hindu myths and legends it was Brahma, the supreme god of the Hindu pantheon and the first teacher of Ayurvedic medicine, who dictated the Vedas to demigods and sages around seven or eight thousand years ago. He is the one who composed the text of the Vedas, which consists of 100,000 verses recorded in thousands of chapters. Because the text in its original form was not understandable for ordinary people, Brahma decided to shorten it and divide it into eight parts, called the Ashtanga Ayurveda. In this form he imparted the knowledge to his son Prajapati and then to the Ashvins – demigods, divine twins and sages who were considered the best healers. They in turn conveyed the knowledge to the warlike demigod Indra, whence it was passed on to a man named Dhanvantari, the first mortal being to obtain the holy wisdom. Dhanvantari was incarnated in the 7th century BC as the king of Kashi (modern-day Varanasi) and was called Kashinares Divodasa. He wasn’t a human being in our understanding of the term, however, because he was born from the mind of Brahma himself and was known as a Rishi. In accordance with canonical Hindu beliefs and traditions, at the beginning of the world there existed 14 Rishi, and it was to them that fragments of the holy Vedic hymns were revealed. Ayurvedic knowledge is therefore part of a vast legacy bequeathed to mankind by the Rishi, ancient Hindu poets. According to folk tradition, these sages were highly educated and spiritually developed individuals who had achieved enlightenment through deep meditation and spiritual practices. They discovered through personal spiritual experiences that energy is manifested in everything that exists, in both the material and immaterial world, and in human beings too. They characterized this omnipresent energy as an expression of cosmic consciousness (in different cultures termed God, Absolute, Unviersal Energy or Higher Intelligence). They developed this doctrine into a system of thought known to us as the Ayurvedic philosophy, in which the human being constitutes a unity and is an integral part of the cosmos. In the beginning, this knowledge was passed down orally from generation to generation, from master to pupil, in the form of hymns and songs that were learned by heart so that they could be passed down further. The first records concerning ancient Hindu medicine appeared in the Vedas, the oldest surviving literature in the world, around 4000 BC. The most interesting part of the Vedas from a medical point of view is the Ayurveda, in which the characteristics of diseases are presented in a relatively rational and synthetic manner.

Foundations of the Ayurvedic system
All physical bodies in the universe, including human bodies, consist of five elements: earth, water, fire, wind (air) and ether (space). These are the five so-called basic elements. In the human body, these five elements occur in the form of the Tridosha: three humors, temperaments, principles or active energies. Each Dosha is the manifestation of two elements
In the human body, these five elements occur in the form of the Tridosha: three humors, temperaments, principles or active energies. Each Dosha is the manifestation of two elements.

• Vata Dosha - is the manifestation of wind and space.
• Pitta Dosha - consists of fire and water
• Kapha Dosha - of water and earth. Physical bodies consist of seven tissues

(Dathus): plasma, blood, muscles, fat, bones, marrow and regenerative tissues, along with three byproducts (waste products - Malas): urine, feces and sweat. Doshas, i.e. tissues and waste products, are fundamental elements of the body that are present from its formation to its decomposition. Their role is similar to that played by tree roots, which are responsible for the tree’s growth, continued functioning and death.

When balanced, they maintain health in the body; when unbalanced, they lead to illness. Tridosha control all of the biological, physiological and psychological functions of the body, mind and consciousness. Each person’s fundamental constitution is determined at conception and results from connecting a combination of the five elements possessed by each of the parents. The basic individual constitution, which conditions the structure of the body, remains unchanged throughout a person’s lifetime. However, a partial change of the combination of elements is possible in response to changes in environmental conditions.

Of course, this is a question of external and internal conditions, which a person can also influence independently.

Vata is connected with the principle of movement. It is energy that is responsible for biological movement. All changes within the body take place thanks to it.

It controls breathing, tissue transformation, secretion, excretion, motor and sensory functions, natural drives and feelings of fear, emptiness and anxiety. The following features are connected with Vata: dry, light, cold, rough, delicate, lively, bright, distracting.

People Characterized as Vata:

• light, slender build
• rapid in action
• irregular occurrence of hunger, unregulated digestion
• light, easily disturbed sleep, even insomnia
• enthusiasm, imagination, lively disposition
• excitement, moods
• rapidly assimilates new information, but also forgets rapidly
• tendency to fall into depression
• tendency towards constipation
• tires easily
• mental and physical energy appears in bursts
• goes to bed at different times, skips meals, lives irregularly
• very emotional, but quickly calms down and forgets
• walks quickly

Pitta is connected with fire and heat. It is the energy that heats the body. It is responsible for digestion, absorption, assimilation, body heat, hunger, perception, understanding, desire and feelings of anger, hatred and jealousy. Qualities of Pitta are: oily, penetrating, hot, light, lively, smooth, bitter-smelling.

People Characterized as Pitta:

• average build
• average strength and endurance
• industrious, like challenges
• keen intellect
• intense feeling of hunger and thirst, proper digestion
• tendency towards anger and irritation under the influence of anger
• fair or flushed skin, frequently has freckles
• aversion to sun and heat
• precise and clear speech
• blond, light brown, red or reddish hair
• lives by the clock, is irritated whenever time goes to waste
• wakes in the night feeling hot and thirsty
• takes charge of the situation
• is aware of being too demanding, sarcastic and critical
• has a decisive, energetic stride

Kapha is connected with water. It connects elements in the body, providing material for building its physical structure. It is responsible for moisturizing, oiling, healing, filling space, collection, giving strength and stability, attachment, greed and peace, forgiveness, love and joy. Characterstics of Kapha are: heavy, slow, cold, oily, slippery, dense, soft, static.

People Characterized as Kapha:

• strong, solid build, great physical strength and endurance
• constant level of energy, slow and harmonious activity
• calm, relaxed personality, slow to anger
• cool, smooth, fat, pale skin, often greasy
• assimilates new information slowly, but remembers it long after
• deep and long sleep - tendency towards obesity - slow digestion, average appetite
• emotional, tolerant, forgiving
• tendency towards possessiveness and self-satisfaction
• makes decisions after careful reflection
• respects the feelings of people that he or she likes
• finds satisfaction in eating
• moves gracefully - has a springy step

Doshas are also characterized by their specific distribution in the body:
Vata is mainly located below the bellybutton. Vata resides in the large intestine, abdominal cavity, bones, thighs, skin and ears
Pitta is situated between the heart and the bellybutton. Pitta resides in the small intestine, stomach, blood, fat, sweat glands, eyes and skin.
Kapha is located primarily above the heart. Kapha resides in the chest, head, throat, mouth, nose and sinuses. The Sanskrit word for body, sarira, derives from a word meaning to disassemble or rot.
For this reason, too, the body is treated as ‘something that is destroyed at every moment.’ Furthermore, the term Dosha derives from the root ‘dus’, meaning to destroy or spoil.
Disorder and loss of equilibrium with regard to Dosha occur as a result of improper diet and behavior. They also occur due to disorders in the remaining bodily substances - tissues (Dhatus) and byproducts (Malas); disease processes arise as a result. According to the Ayurveda, the human body therefore possesses a kind of inborn tendency towards imbalances. Becoming aware of this fact and its consequences is of major importance in our lives and in deciding on various paths of development, regardless of whether that path is yoga or any other path. Much like other spiritual traditions, the Indian tradition, too, reveals to us the impermanence and imperfection of the body. We should bear in mind that this concerns not only the coarse material body (physical). In Ayurvedic and yogic thought, the subtler dimensions of our existence also have a material character. And so the Suksama Sarira specifies individual bodies as consisting of a physiological (Pranamaya Kosa), psychological (Manomaya Kosa) and intellectual (Vijnanamaya Kosa) shell. This is also why expressions referring to the mental sphere, such as hatred, love, joy, etc., are used in discussions of the individual humors. In accordance with Ayurveda, our body tends not towards harmony, but towards disharmony. This process is encoded in human existence and causes us to feel pain. However, the practice of both yoga and Ayurveda serve to slow this process down so that by achieving a state of maximum harmony we can, under certain circumstances, create in ourselves the potential to transcend matter and enter the realm of the spirit. To take as an example individuals with an excess of the humor Pitta, unless this imbalance is recognized, it cannot be expected that the body will harmonize itself through its natural tendencies. To the contrary, this excess can cause not only illnesses of the physical body, but can also cause specific behavior and preferences (e.g. relating to food) which could increase this disharmony. Consequently, when an individual’s predispositions or tendencies are being examined, it is also important to consider how their diet influences their body and changes in mood. Ayurveda addresses this knowledge in great detail; one of its fundamental healing practices is to prescribe an appropriate diet. This disharmony can also apply to how we practice yoga. Here it is important to know one’s own ayurvedic constitution, which specifies in what proportions the Doshas (humors) manifest themselves in our body. In order to determine this constitution, one should consult texts on the subject that are available in many publications or obtain the advice of an Ayurveda doctor. Understanding the Practice of Yoga Through Ayurweda. To begin with general principles, yogic asanas influence the manifestation of humors in the body and hence the body’s structure and functioning. Doshas are dependent on five fundamental elements: earth, water, fire, wind and space. Asanas therefore influence those elements in us. Vata is the principle of movement, while Pitta and Kapha are immobile. Vata always activates the body, strengthening or weakening it; it is the manifestation of space and wind (air). In general, performing asanas strengthens the element of space, because it extends muscles, opens closed joints and loosens up soft parts of the body. Savasanas are of special importance here. In this position, when all movement of the humor Vata (connected with the element of wind) ceases, space dominates. This is one of the key sensations experienced in the state of relaxation.