The Rejuvenating Benefits of Self-Massage
The Rejuvenating Benefits of Self-Massage
and why it's in my daily routine
I know everyone loves dry skin brushing but I’ve never been able to do it daily. I would much rather slather myself in oil and massage it in. Luckily, this is extremely health promoting so I am here to tell you why and how.
“The body of one who uses oil massage regularly does not become affected much even if subjected to accidental injuries, or strenuous work. By using oil massage daily, a person is endowed with pleasant touch, trimmed body parts and becomes strong, charming and least affected by old age.” Charaka Samhita Vol. 1, V: 88-89
I first learned about oil massage whilst studying Ayurveda as it is a foundational practice in the art of health. The Ayurvedic term is abhyanga and is often used both as part of a treatment plan for illness and also in someone’s daily routine for general health.
In India, massage is a regular part of daily life,
‘Babies are massaged daily until three years or so….massage is given both bride and groom before heir wedding…women and their newborns are given daily massage for forty days after deliver. And so the circle of nurturing touch carries on. What a wonderful tradition!
Melanie Sachs- Ayurvedic Beauty Care
So the practice of abhyanga is simply applying oil to the body.
The oil itself could be infused with herbs and warmed and then massaged into the entire body before bathing.
The benefits of the massage include:
Adding lustre, firmness and suppleness to the skin
Bringing softness, strength and colour to the body
Relaxing the muscles and removing stiffness
Making the spine supple and improving posture
Increasing heat and aiding circulation that stimulates the internal organs
Flushing out waste products from the body to support with detoxification
Improving immunity and resistance to disease
Correcting the flow of electromagnetic energy n the body
Building body awareness, self-confidence and intelligence
Decreasing the effects of ageing, increasing longevity and preserving youth
Helping with stamina and sexual vitality but enhancing sleep patterns and more……
So massage will help you feel young, vital and beautiful. However, massage is often seen as a luxury rather than a regular practice.
But it doesn’t need to be an expensive habit as we can get so many benefits from massaging ourselves!
So up next I will cover how to self-massage, using oils and their benefits and additional areas of the body to focus on!
How to self-massage:
Warm 3 teaspoons of oil (you can place the oil in a small bottle that you pop in a mug of hot water) or if you are short on time, warm it in your hands before applying to the body.
Then, in a warm room, apply the oil to your entire body. Begin at the hands and feet and work in toward the navel.
Use long strokes on the limbs and circular strokes on the joints. Massage the abdomen and chest in broad, clockwise, circular motions.
Lastly, massage the sole of your feet. These feet are especially important, and proportionately more time should be spent here than on the other parts of the body. I’ve included below a reflexology map so you can see where you would like to focus.
Optional:
Apply oil to the crown of your head and work slowly out from there in circular strokes. Oil applied to the head should be warm but not hot.
Put a couple drops of warm oil on the tip of your little finger and apply to the opening of the ear canal and inside your nostrils (this is good for allergies or hay-fever).
Leave the oil on for about twenty minutes and then have a shower or bath to drive the oil deeper into the tissues and feed the life force.
When you get out of the shower, towel dry. Keep a special towel for drying off after your massage because it can eventually get ruined, due to the accumulation of oil.
If you do not have time for a full body massage or abhyanga, the feet and legs can be massaged in the same way. This should be done in the evening and the oil left on. You can wear socks in bed to protect the sheets. This is especially good for people suffering from insomnia.
Using Oils
As a herbalist, I love to use infused herbal oils. However, I am a total novice when it comes to the art of oils. The preparation can be complex dependent on the desired effect and quality you would like to amplify such as infusing in sunlight or moonlight or storing in coloured bottles.
Oils are not just medicinal but sacred for example; in the Orthodox church the chrism oil used in baptism and the anointing of the sick is made from 57 ingredients including the ash from burnt icons and produced in Constantinople every 10 years.
My friend studied with Felicity Warner who is trained in a lineage of women who heal with myrrh and uses oils for transformational practices.
However, I’ve kept my own oil practice very simple mainly working with sesame, coconut, mustard, castor and olive oils and infused herbs such as St John’s Wort. You can read my article about working with it as an oil here:
So a quick overview of the benefits of these oils:
Mustard- very heating so great for soothing sore joints and improving circulation. Good for massaging the chest to open up the lungs. Specific uses include earache, preventing greying hair and fungal infections. A good quality oil should not irritate the skin in the way that you would imagine but still would be too heating for some!
Coconut-more cooling and antiseptic so great for inflammation such as skin rashes, burns, swellings, sores, eczema, and fungal infections. I’ve just read in Harish Johari’s book on Ayurvedic massage that men massaged with it regularly will find that it increases vitality and semen and stops premature ejaculation.
Olive- this was popularly used by Greek wrestlers and athletes both to minimise injury and keep the bodies supple. It is a heavier oil so can be mixed with other oils to make it less sticky and can strengthen the muscles, skin, nerves, support digestion and boost cell regeneration.
Sesame - has a beneficial effect on the endocrine glands so supports hormone function. It contains eight essential amino acids that are important for the brain, which may be why it has a history of being used for head massage and for hair oils (another remedy for grey hair!). It improves skin texture, muscle pain and even breast shape!
Generally, I would use sesame oil as it’s quite warming and I have a cold constitution (the vata dosha in Ayurveda) so it regulates this.
Additional Ways to Use Oil Massage
Apply oil to the scalp for thick, strong soft and glossy hair and to prevent hair loss and greying hair.
You can also place oil on the crown of the head to nourish and feed the brain (which I think is very cool to have a brain remedy).
Use on the face to prevent wrinkles and calm the senses
Apply in the ears to calm issues caused by stress and will also help with the neck and jaw tension.
Apply to the feet to bring strength, suppleness and benefit the organs
Applying oil into the belly button can hydrate the whole body. The navel area is very important in Ayurveda as it is the meeting point of 72,000 subtle nerves known as nadis.
The best thing is that massage produces oxytocin which is a key hormone needed to reduce stress in women. It’s the ‘tend and befriend’ reaction that is often neglected when we think about ‘fight or flight’ or ‘rest and digest’.
Oxytocin balances our immune system and hormones, increase our overall fitness and improves our mood.
This is why I start the day with an oil massage!
I find it very grounding and nourishing. I don’t spend too long doing it but I enjoy it before a shower because then also your skin also feels protected against the water that can be quite drying.
However, you can do it during or after a shower too. Although you don’t need large amounts of oil, if you do it after a shower you just need to watch out for the clothes you wear though!
So there is my self-massage 101 and I would recommend that everyone does this!
Most of us lead a sedentary lifestyle or if you unable to exercise for whatever reason then massage is powerful alternative for enhancing the growth and development of the body.
If you are exercising lots then massage eases the stress on the body and allows for quicker recovery and more benefits.
And then if you are tired, stressed, finding it hard to sleep then self-massage will be essential to reset the nervous system.
Finally, as all of us are exposed to toxins in the food, air, water and more…. so how do we help the body detoxify and eliminate all this waste to bring us back into balance….well the answer is summed up below!
The best, easiest, and most natural remedy for all of these problems is massage.
Harish Johari
