abhyanga

Jul 29

Abhyanga is the Ayurvedic tradition of self-massage with aromatic oils. It is an act of love that helps build ojas. Remember, ojas is important in helping stabilize the body and mind— in the body it relates to our immune strength and in the mind it reduces emotional fluctuations and increases overall contentment. Additional benefits of abhyanga include improving self esteem by fostering that connection to one’s body and it reduces potential for injury to the body by keeping the muscles and joints lubricated. Beautiful, right?

Always use high quality, cold-pressed oils as they are absorbed by your skin and therefore become apart of your physiology. You can warm your oil, especially if you have vata prakruti/vikruti or if it is the vata time of day (2-6am/pm) or season (fall/early winter). You want to lather on the oil in circular motions around joints, chest, abdomen and buttocks, and make oblong strokes over long bones and back. Leave the oil on your body for 5-20 minutes, then shower it off using a nice soap like chandrika. That order is very important! The toxins in our bodies are lipophilic, meaning they are attracted to the fat molecules of the oil, so the oil is literally drawing out the toxins and then you want rinse them off with water. You can moisturize again when you get out of the shower but that is not the same as the abhyanga practice.

Abhyanga does include scalp massage, but let’s face it, leaving oil on your scalp and dealing with rinsing and having enough time to dry it without it looking oily is not always practical in our busy lives. What I do is I leave it for the weekend when I have more time— massage with oil, wrap it up for 20 minutes or even over-night, shampoo it out (sometimes twice is necessary) and let the sun dry it out if possible. Below are the best oils for each dosha: