5 tips to get most out of your Ayurveda therapy

“Therapies that open body’s healing channels”.

-Dr Deepak Chopra, Author ‘Perfect Health’

First, let’s get to know the working principles behind Ayurveda therapies, on which the 5 tips below are based.

“From patient’s perspective massages and other therapies are pleasant and very relaxing. But from quantum perspective, these are cleansing and restoring the channels that bring healing signals into our cells.”
— Dr Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Principle of Calmness

Almost all Ayurveda therapies take you to a place of stillness because, Ayurveda believes that ‘health springs from calmness’.
In calmness, one can get back in touch with the quantum body.

Dr Ainslie Meares (Australian Psychiatrist) also firmly believed that facilitating an extended state of profound stillness was very healing.

Principle of Touch (Sparsha)

 
 
 

Nothing is as healing as the human touch- Bobby Fischer.

Sparsha is one of the 5 Tanmatras- i.e. body’s perception mechanisms.

Psychological studies have found that a compassionate, respectful touch brings happiness, peace, and physical health.

Ayurveda requires the therapist to have a great deal of clarity and compassion in their heart for the touch therapy to be beneficial to anyone.

Healing effects achieved from Ayurveda massages are partly due to this principle of touch.

Principle of Oleation

Oleation (applying oil) therapy’s importance is akin to oiling the car engine and is part of Shodhana i.e. cleansing therapy. Thoroughly rubbing about half a liter of oil in massages like Abhyanga allows part of it to pass through superficial fascia, into deeper tissues.
In addition to nourishing skin and other tissues, at deeper level, it helps to 1) removes ama (toxins) accumulated in the tissues and 2) dislodges aggravated doshas i.e. imbalanced bio-energies, from their manifested sites and move them from their external disease pathways into their respective ‘seats’ into the G.I. track, for elimination.

Principle of Bodily Intelligence

The most important principle- originated from mind-body connection (a concept founded by Ayurveda) and our connection to Nature.

Ayurveda therapies are developed with a time-tested ancient wisdom, practiced for thousands of years, with unique understanding of human anatomy, psychophysiology, science of herbs and various modalities including quantum healing mechanisms, yet unknown to modern science.

Ayurveda believes that our body is inherently intelligent. The body that keeps the score, knows how to heal too.

 
 

5 Tips to get the most out of Ayurveda Bodywork Therapies:

  • It’s natural for us to think about the issues we are experiencing while relaxing on the treatment table. But one will benefit more if they are able to switch off i.e. be in the present moment during the therapy. There are many simple ways to achieve this:

    • Focus on your breath

    • Keep attention on different bodily sensations during the treatment. Feel the warmth of oil, feel the relaxation experienced in muscles during a massage, as examples.

    • Be fully attentive to our carefully curated healing music.

    • Or like some do, just have a snooze. The sleep experienced during a therapy is not like usual sleep but is therapeutic, as the healing is taking place on one hand.

    • Mind will wander- keep it bringing back using above techniques.

      As Dr Chopra says, “Being in the moment will open your perceptions. When your perceptions open “in here”, so does everything “out there”.

      To help you to be in the present moment, at Ayusha, we deliver most of the treatments in absolute silence, so you can experience the stillness, calmness.
      However, please feel free to let the practitioner know during the treatment if any aspect of the treatment is not comfortable e.g. you need less pressure or warmer AC etc.

  1. Be in the present moment.
    How?

2. Energy is the Key

Body, composed of 3 bio-energies Vata, Pitta and Kapha, is regarded as a dynamic system of Energy from the Ayurveda treatment perspective. Making the Energy flow freer and smoother is the key to better results.

It is achieved by various forms of massage strokes, therapy techniques and by removing blockages with different methods. Lesser the barriers in moving it, freer it moves.

3. Follow the recipe

  1. Please follow the preparation instructions. The practitioner will explain you the treatment in detail prior to starting, including the rationale behind the therapy. Ask as many questions as you wish to clarify any unclear aspects.
    The more clarity you will have about how treatments will be delivered and why, better will be the outcome.

  2. Importantly, please follow the after-care instructions provided. e.g. For couple of days after any massage, keep well hydrated with warm water + half a tsp of lime/lemon juice per glass, and have 3 to 5 semi-dried prunes after dinner, to expel the aggravated doshas.

  3. Degree of dressing-down often varies with the treatment and the areas treated. As oleation i.e. application of oil is an important working principle of many therapies (as explained above), draping is traditionally kept minimal to avoid it itself soaking the oil. Modesty napkins are always kept on the treatment table; you're welcome to use them as you wish. Of course, you can dress-down to level of your comfort and we can work around that.

  4. In treating conditions, follow through with recommended number of treatments, which is generally 1 or 3 or 5 (for bastis). Sometimes ongoing treatments are recommended, especially for stubborn conditions like rheumatism or chronic issues or for maintenance.
    The treatment protocol is designed to facilitate the bodily intelligence to take over the healing process after.

    It’s humane to be impatient about results and some discontinue protocol after 1-2 treatments. But in that case, you are not giving your bodily intelligence necessary support and chance to heal.

4. Be open

Research says- for any therapy to be effective, 3 factors are necessary (the first two being our responsibility):
1) Individualized approach
2) Rapport and
3) The patient/client’s motivation for change i.e. Openness

There are 3 ways to look at openness.

  1. Allow yourself to be open to healing. Body is inherently intelligent. It keeps the score and it knows pathways to healing too. Ask as many questions till your satisfaction, but please keep your skeptical hat away. Believe in the ancient science of Ayurveda- even if you don’t want to. Being curious is good, but being skeptical or doubtful creates resistance and may hinder, than help healing.

  2. Please feel free to discuss / disclose with the practitioner any health issues, negative emotions or feelings that you may be experiencing. 100% confidentiality is assured. Ayurveda believes that unresolved, dominant emotions and feelings get stored in various organs, causing imbalances. If practitioner is made aware of any such issues or emotions, he may use some techniques like Marma therapy or change oils or massage strokes to help release of such emotions and correct imbalances.

  3. Be open to accept practitioner’s recommendation: Ayurveda treatments are multi-dimensional. Meaning, one treatment with some changes can be applicable in a range of issues. Further as the original Sanskrit names of therapies are not easy to pronounce and infer meaning, we have tried our best to describe each therapy in great detail to make selection easier.
    However, in some cases, during the brief consult prior to treatment, even if you have booked a particular treatment, the practitioner may advise a different treatment most suitable to you. Please be open to such suggestions/recommendations. Beyond offering better value for your money, it is practitioner’s responsibility to inform you the most suitable therapy in your best interest. You can take your time to read the therapy information on website, ask questions and then consent for the recommended therapy if you wish so.

5. Don’t expect, just Be.

Please keep away all your expectations from the treatment. Many a times, setting expectations creates resistance, disturbs the calmness. There is fine line between hoping for better outcome and keeping expectations.

‘Hoping’ is setting a positive intention, while ‘setting expectations’ is akin to chasing a particular phenomenon, result or experience.
And, chasing more often pushes away the very thing we chase.

Instead, set a positive intention and then let it happen whatever needs to happen. The body that keeps the score, knows how to heal too. Surrender to the ancient wisdom and that will open new possibilities for healing.

Important treatment information & etiquette

Save your time by reading this prior to appt

Sarah, 55, Maitland, mentioned having emotional breakthrough after her first Abhyanga. She had 2 more and experienced more benefits.
Dr B (33) from Brazil was 'feeling stuck' and also stressed with work and exam pressures. She experienced healing benefits after one Abhyanga.
Thank you Emily for sharing your experience.
Leesa (38) Newcastle sought Abhyanga for Re-balancing and Re-alignment.