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Ayurveda is the most ancient Indian medical science, the origin of which can be traced back to the Vedas, which are the oldest available classics of the world. Vedas are the ancient books of knowledge, or science. They contain practical and scientific information on various subjects beneficial to the humanity like health, philosophy, engineering, astrology etc. Ayurveda is the only ancient independent scientific system of medicines.

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One of the main contributors to our everyday stress is our workplace. 70% of workers surveyed by a survey stated that their job is very stressful. Stress is the No.1 cause of disability. It costs employers crores of rupees a year on lost productivity and healthcare costs.

Since workplace is stressful, it seems commonsense to provide some means of stress relief at the workplace. More and more employers are recognizing that a regular massage can reduce the physical and mental effects of stress, thus reducing burnout and stress related diseases. More and more companies abroad, offer massage therapy not only as a perk, but also to increase their employees’ productivity and morale.

According to the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), “You get immediate results -the employees experience stress reduction and greater satisfaction with their jobs.” Indeed, studies have shown that massage improves the bottom line of employers.

A study by the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami found that after five weeks, a group of 26 employees who had twice-weekly, 15-minute massages in the office fared better than a control group of 24 employees who were just told to close their eyes and relax. The massaged group experienced reduced stress and improved performance, while the control group did not. Using electroencephalograms (EEG), researchers measured alpha and beta waves in both groups, and found massage recipients to be more alert. Stress hormones in the saliva of the massaged group were lower than in the control group. The massaged workers completed Math problems in half the time as normal and with half the errors they had committed before they were massaged. The Math skills of the control group, however, did not improve. The massage recipients also said they were less fatigued and more clear-headed.

Every year, more companies are heeding the call. There are no statistics on the number of companies that offer massage therapy onsite, but those that have offered it include law firms, hospitals, manufacturers and major corporations, such as Boeing, Apple Computer, Pepsi Co, Sony Music and United Airlines.

Most companies contract with massage therapists who schedule appointments with employees during breaks. The recipient is seated in a specially designed chair, which allows the therapist to work on the back, neck, shoulders and arms addressing the common problem areas of today’s workers. There is no oil used and the worker is fully clothed. The massage session usually lasts 10-15 minutes, the time for a coffee break.

Benefits of Therapeutic Massage

• Relieves physical problems associated with repetitive tasks.
• Helps balance the effects of stress in our lives thus reducing tension, headaches, reducing anxiety level and restores a calm mind and feeling of well-being.
• Therapeutic massage helps balance the effects of stress in our lives, and avoid stress related disease and dysfunction.

(Source: AMTA)

Sweat Treatments (Swedana)

Sweating leads the doshas to fluidity, making it easier for it to flow out of the system. It opens up the pores and rids the body of impurities through the sweat glands.

There are two principal ways of inducing the sweat.

• External application of heat or retention of body heat such as by exercise, use of heavy clothes, or blankets, fasting, use of alcohol etc.

• Active heating done within a well heated chamber, medicated steam, sauna, hot water bottle, sunbathing, exposure to fire (or use of an infra red lamp), plasters of hot substances such as mustard, hot baths, or showers (especially with medicated oil or water), and hot packs.

Plants such as castor root, pnarnava, barley, sesame, kulttha, black gram, jujube and the drumstick plant all encourage the body to sweat more easily. However, this therapeutic sweating should not be used on persons who are pregnant, persons with bleeding disorders, who have used alcohol recently, persons who are very fat or very thin, persons with diarrhoea, jaundice, anaemia.

Patients suffering from fainting, dizziness, nausea, fever and similar ailments should not undergo the sweat therapy.

Benefits

• The steam bath improves peripheral circulation. This in turn reduces high blood pressure.

• It also helps the absorption of medicinal particles present in the herbal oil and augments the elimination of impurities in the system through excretory and secretory outlets such as sweat glands, kidney and liver.

• Besides, the medicine used for herbal steam bath will help to reduce stiffness, pain and swelling.

• Due to the elimination of excess water from the body, the person experiences lightness.

Ayurvedic Massage

In India there are various systems of massage in practice along with the Ayurvedic treatments. One of the most advanced and sophisticated systems is the Kerala massage and Marma therapy. This system of massage is a sister discipline of one of the most ancient schools of martial art known as “Kalaripayattu.” Researchers are of the view that this fighting art is even older to the Shaolin Temple traditions.

Continue reading Massage Therapy: What is Kerala Massage Therapy?

Self-massage can be done on a daily basis by almost anyone, in order to maintain good health and practise on-going prevention. The massage should be done with the oil that is appropriate for one’s constitution.

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The renowned Ayurvedic scholars of Kerala have developed specialised forms of therapies, which have excellent clinical effects. Some of these therapies are known as Sekam (pizhichil), Kizhi, Dhara, Sirovasthi, Sirolepam, Pitchu, Thalam, etc. A whole lot of new forms have also made their appearance in the recent years, some of them invented by the new generation of practitioners and entrepreneurs. Some traditional names have also undergone a change to suit the current population and have been designed to appeal to the foreign tourists.

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What are Trigger Points? Trigger Point (Myofascial)

• A trigger point is an area of hyper-irritability, within soft tissue structures characterized by local tenderness and sometimes referred phenomena. These referred sensations can include pain, tingling, numbness, burning or itching.
• Not all trigger points refer pain, some are just localized. Each person is different depending on his or her life history.
• Localized areas of deep tenderness and increased tissue resistance that often produce referred pain.
• The origin of the trigger point is thought to be changes in the chemical balance in a local area, irritating the sensory systems.

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SWEDISH MASSAGE

A Swedish gymnast, Per Henrik Ling, originally developed Swedish massage in the late 19th century. He developed a method of massage and gymnastics known as Swedish Movement Treatment or Swedish massage. This was the first systematic application of therapeutic massage in the West. It was based on European folk massage, oriental techniques from the Middle East and the then emerging knowledge of modern anatomy and physiology.

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The traditional oriental view of health is quite different from the modern, technological medicine in the West. In Eastern philosophy, illness is placed in the context of a holistic approach to life, and in particular the concept of an energy-based system, from the idea of a universal energy, or the highest level of spirituality, down to the lowest forms of life, much of Eastern ideology is an energetic one, with all parts of the human body interconnected and infused with a vital energy, and all life-forms similarly interdependent on an exchange of energies.

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Guidelines for Giving Deep Tissue Massage

Be in communication with the person. Find out, what areas need to be addressed and how the person feels to start with. Is there pain, tightness, numbness or tingling anywhere?

Continue reading Massage Therapy: Guidelines for Giving and Recieving Deep Tissue Massage