Johari Harish. Ayurvedic Massage

Vermont: Healing Arts Press Rochester, 1996. — 125 p. — ebook ISBN: 978-1-62055-077-9; print ISBN: 0-89281-489-6.My training in Ayurveda started at an early age. As a child of eight or ten, I would assist my mother in making powdered herbal remedies, healing poultices, face masks, and herbal teas. Later on I would assist my grandfather and granduncle in making eye remedies, oxides and pastes from gemstones, and rejuvenating tonics (rasayanas).
Between the years 1955 and 1968 I was in the constant company of an Ayurvedic practitioner, a vaidya, by the name of Rameshwar Prasad Pande. During this period, 1 learned about the healing energy of foods, herbs, plants, and gemstones; the doshas or body humors; the role of astrology in understanding illness (both physical and mental); and how to detect disease by examining various parts of the body. My interest in Tantric yoga and alchemy brought me to meet many vaidyas, and each of them taught me something valuable about life.
At the age of thirteen 1 became a regular practitioner of wrestling. At the martial arts school, or akhara, in Jaunpur I met many vaidyas who practiced wrestling for their own physical and mental well-being. Wrestlers in India could be called the artists of bodywork — they work with prana, pranic energy, breath control,1 and various exercises to build strength, stamina, and vigor. Massage was an integral part of wrestling.
In ancient times Ayurvedic clinics did not regularly offer massage, as everybody gave and received massage. Whenever patients needed a particular treatment they were referred by vaidyas to massage specialists. These technicians used special oils and rubbed the afflicted areas as instructed by the Ayurvedic doctor. Often these massage practitioners were wrestlers. Today in India massage practitioners with this training roam public places in great number and give head and body massages for a few rupees. Although they may have no knowledge of Ayurveda, they do know how to work with muscles, joints, and bones. One of my trainers was the famous wrestler Siddique Khan, from Nawab of Rampur. He was a perfected master of massage who could heal and strengthen any body part, tissue, or muscle.
Some of these wrestlers/massage practitioners were also Ayurvedic doctors and/or hakims. (A hakim is a doctor who has studied the Unani [Greek] system of medicine.) Over time they developed a special system of their own that contained the knowledge of the Ayurvedic or Unani system of medicine. The massage methods described in this book are based on the techniques of these doctor/wrestlers. I call it traditional Indian massage based on Ayurvedic principles, such as the doshas and marmas (pressure points). Over the years I have trained with two main groups of teachers, one Hindu and the other Muslim. From the Hindu teachers 1 learned about marmas and doshas; from the Muslims I learned about pressure points called muqame makhsoos. Much of the time the marmas and the muqame makhsoos are the same, but there are occasional important and helpful differences. Some of the pressure points on the feet correspond to those used in the West by reflexologists.
The massage presented in this book is primarily preventive and is to be practiced on a regular basis for this purpose. Except for dealing with some minor ailments, this massage method is not meant to be therapeutic. It is not, for example, the same as the massage given before panchakarma (purification) treatments. Many therapeutic Ayurvedic methods use oils and techniques specific to a particular disease condition. These methods should be practiced only under the supervision of an Ayurvedic doctor or vaidya, and they are not covered in this book.