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Ayurvedic Insight

Issue #25, November 2003

In This Issue

Abhyanga - Ayurvedic Oil Massage
Recipe: Pumpkin and Green Beans
Ethical Revolution - Notes from David Crow

Abhyanga: Ayurvedic Oil Massage
by Dr. Claudia Welch

“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

Abhyanga is the anointing of the body with oil. Often medicated and usually warm, the oil is massaged into the entire body before bathing. For thousands of years, people have used abhyanga to maintain health, benefit sleep patterns, increase longevity. It has also been used as a medicine for certain disorders. Abhyanga can be incorporated into a routine appropriate for almost anyone.

The Sanskrit word sneha can be translated as both "oil" and "love". It is believed that the effects of abhyanga are similar to those received when one is saturated with love. Like the experience of being loved, abhyanga can give a deep feeling of stability and warmth. Sneha is subtle; this allows the oil/love to pass through minute channels in the body and penetrate deep layers of tissue.

In Ayurveda, it is believed that there are seven layers of tissue in the body (called dhatus). Each successive layer is more concentrated and life-giving. For sneha to reach the deepest layer, it is believed that it must be massaged into the body for 800 matras, roughly five minutes. To give this kind of attention to your entire body, you may need about fifteen-minutes. Considering the benefits that have been gained by people for thousands of years, fifteen-minutes per day is a minimal amount of time.

Benefits of Abhyanga (applying oil to the body) (Outlined in: Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Ashtanga Hrdayam)

Produces softness, strength and color to the body
Decreases the effects of aging
Bestows good vision
Nourishes the body
Increases longevity
Benefits sleep patterns
Benefits skin
Strengthens the body's tolerance
Imparts a firmness to the limbs
Imparts tone and vigor to the dhatus (tissues) of the body
Stimulates the internal organs of the body, including circulation
Pacifies Vata and Pitta and Harmonizes Kapha

Benefits of applying oil to the scalp (Murdha taila):

Makes hair grow luxuriantly, thick, soft and glossy
Soothes and invigorates the sense organs
Removes facial wrinkles

Benefits of applying oil to the ears (Karna purna):

Benefits disorders in the ear which are due to increased Vata
Benefits stiff neck
Benefits stiffness in the jaw

Benefits of applying oil to the feet (Padaghata):

Coarseness, stiffness, roughness, fatigue and numbness of the feet are alleviated
Strength and firmness of the feet is attained
Vision is enhanced
Vata is pacified
Sciatica is benefited
Local veins and ligaments are benefited

Vata Pacifying Abhyanga:
The primary qualities of vata are dry, light, cool, rough, subtle and mobile. Most of these qualities are opposite to those of oil. This is why warm oil is especially good for pacifying vata.

If your vata is high, either in your Prakriti or Vikriti, doing abhyanga daily can be highly beneficial, even life-changing. Sushruta says, "The deranged vayu [vata] of the body is restored to its normal condition by the help of Udvartana (massage)." (Sushruta Vol.2, 24:28) Just be sure to do the abhyanga in a warm place and avoid getting chilled afterwards.

Abhyanga Routine:
"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

Put about ½ cup oil in a squeeze bottle.
Place the bottle of oil in a pan of hot water until the oil is pleasantly warm.
Sit or stand comfortably in a warm room, on a towel that you don't mind ruining with oil accumulation. Make sure you're protected from any drafts.
Lovingly and patiently massage the oil into your entire body for about 15 minutes, beginning at the extremities and working toward the middle of the body. Use long strokes on the limbs and circular strokes on the joints. Massage the abdomen and chest in broad, clockwise, circular motions.
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 or on a cotton ball and apply to the opening of the ear canal. (If there is any current or chronic discomfort in the ears don't do this without the recommendation of your health care practitioner).
Be sure to wash your feet off before entering the shower.
After you've massaged your entire body, enjoy a warm bath or shower.
Remove the oil with a gentle soap.
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.

Dr. Claudia Welch is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and a practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine. She worked at the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, NM with her teacher, Dr. Vasant Lad, for seven years, and is currently a member of the faculty. She received her Master's Degree in Oriental Medicine from Southwest Acupuncture College in 1997. Dr. Welch is a faculty member at Southwest Acupuncture College and at The Institute for Postgraduate Studies in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Recipe: Pumpkin and Green Beans

2 cups string beans
3 cups pumpkin (1 pound)
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp. sunflower oil
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1/8 tsp. asafoetida
1 clove garlic
3/4 tsp. sea salt
2 tsps. coriander pwd.
1 Tbsp. brown rice syrup
1/2 tsp. curry pwd.

Wash and dry green beans; chop them in 1 inch pieces. Wash pumpkin, cut in 1 inch wedges, peel, then slice in 1/2 inch pieces.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and add mustard and fenugreek seeds. When mustard seeds pop, add asafoetida, whole uncut garlic and green beans. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then add chopped pumpkin, salt and water. Cover and cook for another 15 minutes over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. This goes well with any kind of soup and bread.

Ethical Revolution - Notes from David Crow

David Crow, author of "In Search of the Medicine Buddha," was recently honored with an invitation to speak on a panel with the Dalai Lama in New York City. We were moved by his vision for the role medicinal plants can play in solving global problems and wanted to share some of his remarks with you. The following is a reprinting of his notes for the talk.

Your Holiness:

I would like to discuss the role that traditional medical systems, such as Tibetan medicine, can play in creating and supporting an ethical revolution.

There are two broad topics to consider.

The first is the role that plants in general, and specifically medicinal plants, can play in solving global problems.

The second is the ethical principles that are contained within traditional medical systems, and how these can be used to protect the environment and benefit people.

During my studies of Tibetan, Ayurvedic, and Chinese medicine, I came to understand that medicinal plants are one of humanity's greatest resources. They are the world's oldest and most widespread form of healthcare. In many parts of the world, medicinal plants are the only affordable form of healthcare available to people.

Medicinal plants provide a wide range of therapeutic benefits, which can be summarized into two primary categories: they provide different kinds of nutrition, which revitalize and strengthen the body, and they detoxify the organs and tissues. These are functions which modern drugs are generally unable to perform. These two functions of strengthening and detoxifying the body will become increasingly necessary as the nutritional status of food declines, and environmental toxicity increases.

Medicinal plants are also the world's most lucrative legal cash crops, which are capable of lifting communities and nations out of poverty.

Because medicinal plants are so valuable, they are also the key to preserving ecosystems: they offer sustainable economic alternatives to environmentally destructive practices.

Medicinal plants are also the foundation of a culture's heritage of ethnobotanical knowledge and wisdom, one of humanity's most valuable legacies.

Looking to the future, we can see that humanity will be needing a lot of medicine. There is already a tremendous worldwide increase in the demand for natural medicines, and as environmental conditions worsen, this demand will grow further.

In order to have those medicines we must begin replanting the world, so that it can once again become a garden of healing plants. If we consider the four benefits of medicinal plants - medical, economic, ecological, and cultural - we can see that they are the key to solving numerous interrelated global problems, and the way to make this vision a reality.

Replanting the world is not only a necessity for human health. Just as plants detoxify and rejuvenate the human body, they also detoxify and rejuvenate the outer body of the planetary biosphere. Plants are medicines for the diseases of the earth, just as they are medicines for diseases of humanity: they purify, regenerate, and regulate the soil, water, and air.

There are ultimately no manmade solutions to the disorders of planetary physiology, such as global warming: The plants made this world livable for higher life, and only the plants can restore and maintain these conditions. For this reason, the ethics of the new millennium must include respect, gratitude, generosity, and restraint toward our botanical elders.

Your Holiness, the approach to replanting the world that I am advocating and working toward is the creation of a grassroots medical system. This medical system, which we could call "the people's pharmacy," is based on community gardens and school gardens, collaborating with seed banks, eco-preserves, organic farmers, the herb industry, health educators, and other related entities.

There are numerous benefits that ensue when communities come together to grow their own foods and medicines. Community gardens bring social healing, higher nutritional status, increased beauty, and decreased crime. Community gardens provide food and medical security during times of economic difficulties. School gardens in particular teach children how to have a positive relationship with nature, and help counteract the epidemic of nutrition-related health problems that are plaguing the pediatric and adolescent population.

The positive conditions created by community gardens are the foundation of an ethical, Dharmic culture. In order to manifest this goal on a wider scale, there must be strong collective motivation, political will, and economic resources. This is the link to the ethical principles that are contained within traditional medical philosophies, because it is primarily the responsibility of physicians and healthcare practitioners to raise the level of health consciousness within society.

There are countless examples of how physicians can transform society spirituality, ethically, politically, and environmentally. One of the simplest examples is to consider the changes that would occur if physicians gave only one piece of nutritional advice: to eat only organic food. This would lead to widespread environmental detoxification and decreased rates of chronic degenerative diseases. If physicians addressed illness at this level, they could help create a revival of sustainable nontoxic agriculture, and the creation of garden cities filled with healthy foods and medicines.

I would like to offer a pragmatic solution that would support replanting the world at this level. I propose that the global sangha begin planting gardens of organic food and medicinal plants. Specifically, I propose that Dharma centers become repositories of botanical biodiversity, centers of ethnobotanical knowledge and culture, and community pharmacies.

If these Dharma gardens are planted around the world, there will be widespread and far-reaching benefits. Endangered medicinal plants, such as those used in Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine, will be preserved within spiritual communities. The physicians of these ancient medical systems will be able to continue making and dispensing their traditional formulas. The health of both practitioners and lay people associated with these centers will increase. The presence of the plants will heal the local environments, and bring happiness and well-being to all.

These are not new ideas: monastic pharmacies and medicinal gardens were once a central part of many cultures, and there are many such projects currently underway. However, I believe that the world's urgent environmental, social, and medical crises require that all levels of society become much more active in this work of replanting the earth, one neighborhood at a time. I believe that the religious communities of all faiths can and should play an active role in this endeavor.

I also believe that if this is done, a new form of eco-dharma will evolve, that will teach through example the ethics of the new millennium within the context of medical, social, and environmental healing.

David Crow L.Ac. is a graduate of the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a Diplomate of the National Certification Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He has twenty years of clinical experience using integrated Chinese, Ayurvedic and Tibetan therapies, including massage, aromatherapy, acupuncture, herbology, and detoxification methods.

David Crow has done clinical internships with respected acupuncturists and herbalists in the US and Asia, and received advanced training in specialized acupuncture and herbal therapies for specific health problems.

He is the author of "In Search of the Medicine Buddha, " a book about his studies with Tibetan and Ayurvedic physicians in the Himalayas. He is dedicated to promoting the spiritual principals and earth-based wisdom of traditional healing art as a path to individual well-being, global ecological restoration and the revival of spiritual cultures. For more information visit http://www.floracopeia.com.