THE ROLE OF MASSAGES IN RELIEVING STRESS

 

First historical references about massages can be found in ancient Chinese and Indian medical texts. Massages are very much part of theses systems even to this date. All different types of massages achieve a common goal; they help us relax our body in general and skeletal muscles in particular. For a relaxed body it is easy to relax the mind, and this is particularly important in today’s world where stress and tensions are very much part of our life.

In Indian system of medicine, Ayurveda, massages play a vital role in treatment. Most of these procedures involve the use of copious amount of oil. Massages are also done with materials like honey, chocolate or herbal powders.

MASSAGES AND ALLIED PROCEDURES TO RELIEVE STRESS IN AYURVEDA

ABHYANGA (oil massage)

Abhyanga is a massage with medicated oil. It is by far the most popular massage in Ayurveda because of its role in keeping us fit and healthy. It is recommended to do this on a daily basis as per Ayurveda texts, In India abhyanga was done by elite class like royal families and common man alike.

For many of us oil is repelling because of its viscous nature, chemically oil has similar molecular structure of our skin and hence it has a direct implication in giving an external nutrition to our skin, thereby allowing the skin cells to live longer. This clearly explains why wrinkles can be prevented by abhyaga and hence it is anti-aging in property. The befefits of an abhyanga is complete only if it is followed by a steam bath. In normal circumstances medicated oil cannot pierce the skin deeper because of its big molecular size. During sweating many pores of the body open and the oil enters the body; moreover the pressure applied by the therapists also aid in this.

Other benefits of abhyaga are; clarity of vision, both physical and in our mental outlook. It helps in nourishment as it is always done in the direction of blood flow and prana (vital energy in yoga) flow. It also increases lifespan. Apart from these abhyanga gives calm and serene mind too. The science behind this technique is simple; during massages our skeletal muscles goes to a state of rest and sends signals to the brain which in turn puts our nervous system in parasympathetic tone; which controls our rest, relaxation and digestion.

There are some allied practices in Ayurveda that relieves stress and tension; it is a procedure called shirodhara. It is a procedure where a metered amount of lukewarm medicated oil or suitable medicated liquid is poured on the forehead for a short time. This procedure can take the patient to a state of trance and hence immediate stress relief is achieved.

If circumstances are not conducive for shirodhara, like inability of patient to remain still or feeling restless, there are other options like pichu; that is putting oil soaked cotton on forehead or thalapothichal where a mixture of herbs and oils and pasted on the crown of the patient for a controlled period of time.

Normally abhyanga can be availed by all; both patients and healthy people, other stress-relieving procedures are done in Ayurveda centers preferably under the supervision of doctors.

Chakra-Marma Massage

There is another method called 'integrated-chakra-marma massage that is effective in reliving stress related problems. This utilizes the techniques of Kundalini yoga, marmas and prinicples of Ayurveda. Chakras are spinning-pranic energy centers in the subtle body. Marmas are the vital points in our gross body. These are connected with our endocrine glands and nerves. This massage uses the not only therapists hands but the subject's (patients) sense of vision, hearing, visualizations in getting relaxation by stimulating the nerves that are responsible for parasympathetic activity which allows us to relax, sleep and digest food.

Chakra massage is more fruitful if taken by someone who has basic knowledge of yoga!

Sprouts as food

In our attempt to minimze animal prodcuts more and more are people are shifting to protein rich lentils as alternate food. 

While doing so many of us have face problems of malnutrition or unable to absorb nutrients correctly. This is particularly relevant in the intake of beans or lentils in diet. 

Many people find difficulty digesting beans or lentils as food; it can cause indigestion. This is where sprouts are so important.

The enzymes that help in digestion of animal  proteins cannot digest plant protein is the real reason for this. 

A sprout is basically a germinated seed, the food stored in seeds are converted to easilly absorbable and digestable form. 

At the same time it also produce animo acids that are not found in unsprouted seeds.

It is also a reservoir of antioxidants too.

So next time when you go vegetarian go for sprouts too.

DOSHAS

The roots or basic principles of Ayurveda comes from an Indian philosophy called Sankya. According to this the whole universe is made up of five elements, Viz: earth, water, fire, air and space. We humans are not an exception our bodies are also made up of these five elements.

But we are a living entity; for the life to exist we need some vibrant activities to happen within ourselves. The medical science calls these normal activities or functions of the body as physiology. In Ayurveda we call this as doshas.

There are three doshas; viz

·        Vata

·        Pitta

·        Kapha

 

Kapha is responsible for the nourishment of all our cells; including the deep-seated cells of the body. It is also responsible for the repair of the body and immunity.

Pitta is that factor that is responsible for all fires or chemical reactions in our body, including digestion, hormonal activities and even the perception of light.

Vata is that factor responsible for all the neurological coordination of the body; mainly neuro-muscular coordination. It is also responsible for the natural death of every cell when it reaches its maturity.

When these 3 doshas are in equilibrium we call it as health. Any imbalances caused by doshas we call it as vikriti or pathology.

Dr Agnivesh Colossus of Modern Ayurveda

 ....मासि मासि रजः स्त्रीणां रसजं स्त्रवति....   पञ्चाशत kshyam....ഇതു പഠിക്കുമ്പോഴാണ് ആയുർവേദ സപ്പ്ലിമെന്ററി യൂണിയനിൽ പെട്ട ഒരാൾക്ക് സംശയം വന്നത് ..ദ്വാദശത്തിൽ തുടങ്ങുന്ന സംഗതി പഞ്ചാശതത്തിൽ ക്ഷയിക്കുമത്രേ! ഈ കണക്ക് ശരിയാക്കുന്നില്ലല്ലോ? പഞ്ച = 5 ശതം = 100 . രചനയും  ക്രിയയും ആദ്യ ചാൻസിൽ പാസ്സായ ബുജിയോട് ചോദിച്ചു , പുസ്തകപ്പുഴുവും മാർക്ക് മാത്രം ലക്ഷ്യമായിട്ടുള്ള അയാൾക്കും അറിയില്ല!  സീനിയറായ നമ്പൂരിശ്ശനോടും ചോദിച്ചു , പണ്ടത്തെ സ്ത്രീകൾ 500 വയസ്സു വരെ ജീവിച്ചിരിക്കാം എന്ന് ആരോ ചൊറിഞ്ഞു. അർത്ഥം തിരഞ്ഞ് സമയം കളയല്ലേ എന്ന പ്രായോഗിക ഉപദേശവും വന്നു!' അനാട്ടമിയിൽ പുതുതായി വന്ന ടീച്ചറെ സമീപിച്ചു; ടീച്ചർക്കും അറിയില്ല ! അവസാനം ഭയത്തോടെ കോളജിലെ വിജ്ഞാനത്തിൻ്റെ അവസാന വാക്കായ അക്കിസാറിനെ സമീപിച്ചു. സ്വതസിദ്ധമായ , കുട്ടപ്പൻ ചിരിയോടെ ' അക്കിസാർ തൻ്റെ പോക്കറ്റിൽ തപ്പി ഒരു 50 രൂപയുടെ നോട്ട് പുറത്തെടുത്തു അതിൻ്റെ പിറകിൽ സംസ്കൃതത്തിലെഴുതിയത് വായിക്കാൻ പറഞ്ഞു , "പഞ്ചാശത് രൂപ്യകാണി എന്ന് ദേവനാഗിരിയിൽ. ഗോവിന്ദൻ വൈദ്യർക്ക് തെറ്റുപറ്റിയാലും റിസർവ് ബാങ്കിനു തെറ്റുപറ്റൂലാ എന്ന് സാർ. പത്തിന് അശത് എന്ന പര്യായമുണ്ടെന്നും, അമ്പതിനെ സൂചിപ്പിക്കാൻ പഞ്ച അശത് എന്ന വാക്കാണ് ഇവിടെ ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നത് എന്നു സാർ ലളിതമായി പറഞ്ഞു തന്നു. ഇക്കാലത്ത് സംസ്കൃതം ശരിക്കും പഠിക്കാത്ത വിവരദോഷികളായ PhD  യുള്ള പ്രഫസർമാർ പോലും പഞ്ചാശത്തിനെ  പഞ്ചദശ എന്ന് മാറ്റിയെഴുതുന്നതായി കാണുന്നു. ഇതര ശാസ്ത്രങ്ങളിലും ഭാഷകളിലും സാറിൻ്റെ പാണ്ഡിത്യം അപാരം തന്നെ. 1990 ൽ സതീശൻ്റെ നേതൃത്വത്തിൽ ഒരു ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് ക്ലബ്ബു രൂപികരിക്കാൻ പ്രചോദമേകിയതും സാറു തന്നെ (രാജാവിനെ പോലുള്ളവർ അതിനെ പുച്ഛിച്ചു തള്ളിയെങ്കിലും). ഒരു ശിഷ്യനെന്ന നിലയിൽ ഞാനൊരിക്കലും സാറിൻ്റെ മുന്നിൽ നിൽക്കാൻ യോഗ്യനല്ല, എങ്കിലും   ആയുർവേദത്തിൽൻ്റെ ദ്രോണാചാര്യന് ഈ ഏകലവ്യൻ്റെ പ്രണാമം.

VEGETARIANISM IN AYURVEDA

 

Going Vegetarian is a new trend all over the world. There are several factors that has contributed to the rise in number of vegetarians.

 In some countries like India being vegetarian comes as part of their culture and cuisine. Many Indians are vegetarians mostly because of their faith.

Coming to Ayurveda the situation is bit ambiguous. Ayurveda does not endorse 100% vegetarianism. There are chapters in old classical ayurvedic books where there is explicit description about meat and alcoholic beverages. It was not a taboo in ancient India.

But coming to the current day practice most ayurvedic doctors ask their patients to follow a vegetarian diet. This is due to the fact that when a patient is on ayurvedic treatment the decoctions and medicated ghee are given to patient enterically. Especially in detoxification treatments like panchakarma procedures. If we eat nonvegetarian food, which in turn are complex proteins and fats can impede with the absorption of medicines. In some situations, they combine to form toxins.

Moreover, the meat might contain chemical toxins which might get lodged in deeper cells of our body, mostly in liver and kidneys, but if the amount goes higher it can even be stored in other parts of the body like bones and muscles.

The purpose of Panchakrma procedure itself is detoxification and this is why meat and  panchakarma procedure do not go hand in hand.

In many cases doctors insist the patients to on a vegetarian diet even for ‘shamana’ (symptomatic or palliative) treatment. Especially if they prescribe you medicines that contain shilajith or gulgulu.

There is also statistical evidence to prove that incidence of many diseases like coronary artery diseases, hypertension and various types of cancer are more prevalent among meat eaters.

 Being vegetarian is a noble idea, but one must do that with care because sometimes avoiding meat altogether can derail the nutritional and absorptive capacity of people. Some even may end up in malnutrition and poor immunity. Some may feel bloated and more gas formation in our gastrointestinal tract; especially while trying to eat lentils instead of meat as a suitable protein replacement.

But some people are able to shift to a vegetarian diet overnight without any problems, especially if they have a spiritual  inclination.

Even though milk and milk products do not come strictly under vegetarian food, it is widley accepted as a 'Satwik' food (the food that nourish our saitly qualities) and this can be a good replacement for protein and fats. Milk products like cheese, yoghurt, butter milk and curd contain probiotics. Probiotics contain many food materials normally milk does not have, this is due to fermentation and other microbial activities. Ayurveda says milk products like curd must not be eaten at night or on a daily basis.

We are facing unprecedent global warming and climate change; one contributor to excess carbon to atmosphere is large scale cattle farms, more and more forests are cleared for grazing and also cattle is the biggest contributor of methane gas which also adds to carbon in the atmosphere.

So be a vegetarian for your health and health of our planet Earth.

 

YOGA NIDRA

Most of us wants to live in Megapolis. Trends from all over the world shows that city population is steadily increasing regardless of continent one lives. From Sub-Saharan Africa to the Tundras of Arctic Russia. Everyone wants to migrate to Moscow or Peters.

 In city life we are constantly bombarded by stress inducing ammunition. Normally stress subsides itself by rest, relaxation and sleep. Weekly off days and yearly vacations also help us to rejuvenate our body and mind.

But sometimes these natural pacifiers are not enough. As stress accumulates inside it creates something called psychic or psychological toxins which in turn effects our mental health and some even becomes somatic (physical) problems.

The Indian philosophy of yoga has become so popular in the west because it has given a vent to get rid of these accumulated psychological toxins. Mostly they rely on the hatha yoga practice (Stabilize your mind to stabilize your mind). But physical practice is not possible for everyone.

This is where the dhyana (meditation) mentioned in yoga becomes so relevant. But first condition for meditation is concentration (dharana in yoga).

For a stressed person it is hard to concentrate, then how can he meditate?

Here is where Yoga Nidra comes into play. If a doctor, teacher or a guru can guide you by his commands most of us are able to meditate. And what does meditation do for our body and mind? It navigates us to our inner self or subconscious mind. Subconscious mind is so powerful that conscious mind and if we are able to give commands to it (By ourselves) we can heal many of our problems including stress, stress-induced hypertension, stress-induced insomnia and so on. We can even get rid of some physical problems like backaches of unknow etiology. (not possible in issues like back pain due to bulged or herniated disks or any anomaly in anatomy of our back)

Same techniques of yoga does not suit for all, as humans are heterogenous, we need different methods to reach our subconscious mind. We in Yoga use different methods like visualization, auditory impulses, concentrating on geometric symbols (yantra) and balancing postures of Hatha yoga practice.

Sometimes we can even use our faith in god to communicate to our inner self. As per yoga within our core, there is a section called “Aananda” or ultimate bliss, if one discovers this bliss inside you there is no pain nor pleasure!

 

 

WARM UP IN YOGA (Sookhma Vyayama)

Warming up is an important aspect of any physical activity like sports or games; Hatha yoga is no exception. This is because in Hathayoga tradition the asanas or dynamic postures are given prime importance. 

 

This is especially important if we do Asanas in the morning. During night's sleep the toxins /metabolites produced by the body might have percolated to joins of the body instead of kidneys, rectum, skin or lungs to get eliminated. This is due to lack of proper ventilation or improper sleeping postures, or poor blood supply to joints.

Age is also a factor as many people experience stiff joints in the morning, beginning from middle ages (40+). Sometimes the cause can be some other factor like autoimmune responses, typically seen in Rheumatoid arthritis.

Warm up exercises prevent any untoward incidents like tendon sprain, muscle catching or even subluxation in some cases.

It also helps to remove the build-up of toxins in the joints which in severe cases may lead to crippling.

Method of Doing

·       Start from neck

·       Shoulder Joints

·       Elbows

·       Wrist

·       Fingers

·       Hips

·       Knees

·       Ankles

·       Foot with toes

We can include breathing pattern where warm-up movement effects lungs.

If we are doing Ashans in the early evening, few rounds of ‘Sun Salutation’ (Soorya-Namaskar) will suffice instead of doing warm-up exercise, plus few later bends and twists.

MARMA THERAPY

 Kalari or Marma School of Ayurveda is indegnous to Kerala and souther Tamil Nadu state of India. Kalaripayattu is a martial arts from Keala. This art was developed to train soldiers of combat especially in sward or machetta fencing. It mainly aimed at