#1 Yoga Technique To Get Relaxation And Peace
The Ancient Yogic Technique for Holistic Wellness
I’ve been doing yoga since my teenage years. And in 5 years, I’ve done a lot of yoga asanas. Every time I complete my yoga session, I’d feel calm and peaceful.
Yoga is a connection between the body, mind, and soul. Since all three are involved, it activates the deepest corners of your being.
From sitting postures to standing, I’ve done it all. Sure, I’m not a certified yoga trainer. But I studied yoga for 2 years in my school days and scored 92 percentile.
I was quite curious when I first met with the idea of Yoga — I’d see my dad doing Pranayam, Kapal Bhati, breath work, and whatnot. But there was much I needed to learn.
There are many yogic kriyas and asanas I practice. One such is Abhyang. In simple words: it is self-massage with warm oil. It’s the amalgamation of yoga and therapy. Some also add warm oil according to their doshas.
Back in April 2022, my Vata dosha was high. Vata dosha means when there is excess air in your body. For context, there are three kinds of doshas in your body: pitta, vata and kapha. When pitta is high, it means excess heat in the body. When Vata is in excess, it means you have excess air in your body. When one has kapha elevated, that means they have excess sluggishness in the body.
The balance of all three doshas is what you call health.
You can also take the test to see what kind of dosha you have.
Moving on, when your Vata dosha is in excess then it is beneficial to do self-massage. Anyone can do this at any time, of course, but if you have a Vata dosha imbalance, it’s a must.
That’s what I started doing 13 months ago.
The first time I did, I felt like a wave of calm and peace had run over me. I’ll tell you the reason why. First of all, we live a crazy sedentary lifestyle. We keep procrastinating until it becomes the need.
But when you apply cold-pressed oil and massage, blood circulation supplies oxygen to most corners of your body.
Abhyang is a practice where you massage your body in the direction of your heart. For example, Palm → wrist → elbow → upper hand → shoulders → chest. The same goes with legs, from feet and heels → legs → calves → thighs → inner thighs → abdomen → chest.
This boosts blood circulation and makes your skin butter-like smooth and soft. Throughout my teenage years, I never applied lotions, creams, moisturizers, or serums. Nothing.
Hear me out. I’ve been learning about Ayurveda for quite some time now. It says: skin is the extension of your body. So whatever is happening inside your body, it’s shown on your skin. Your skin absorbs anything you apply to it just like your tongue. So when you apply those chemicals laden shampoos, lotions, makeup, and serums, your skin absorb it ALL.
Don’t complain if you get rashes, inflammations, itchy skin, etc. Because these chemicals react with your skin and cause all these allergies.
Experience shows I have better skin when I nourish it from within.
So, when I came across this Abhyang practice I thought — how would I find natural oil which wouldn’t react with my skin? I’d again procrastinate doing so. But thankfully I found a cold-pressed oil that I apply.
In general, cold-pressed sesame warm oil is preferred but you can apply coconut oil too.
You can also add essential oils for fragrance. This is quite fancy though. But regularly doing Abhyanga will:
- Make your skin soft and smooth
- Boost blood circulation
- Keep you calm and relaxed
- Detoxify you
- Relieve muscle and joint pain
- Improve digestion
- It also balances your energy, doshas, and sound sleep.
This small technique helps with better digestion. Just like you do servicing for your vehicles to ensure they function properly, so Abhyang is a lubrication to your body.
Consider doing it in the lukewarm sunshine in the early mornings. It’s healthy, calming, and peaceful.
Try it out and lemme know your experiences in the comments below.
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