NATURAL THERAPY
The Indian art of Ayurveda
Sunita Passi is an Ayurvedic massage therapist and founder of Tri-Dosha, makers of natural products and developers of authentic training programmes. Here she explains the Indian art of Ayurvedic therapy and why it’s a system that still works so well today
M
ost people love to travel and most love to be massaged, so you can imagine how incredibly lucky I feel that my life not only contains both these delights, but that I am able
to sit here and tell you specifi cally about Ayurvedic massage therapy and its history, beginning in a place called Kerala in Southern India. Since I fi rst trained in Ayurvedic therapy in 2002 in India, I have visited many parts of the world searching out Ayurvedic therapy and the many ways people have developed this technique from its original style and I have found that, though the classical procedures remain more or less the same, the delivery varies according to the desire of the required outcomes.
THERAPY TECHNIQUES The techniques are grounded in the principles of meditation and yoga. By massaging the body with routines using tadana (tapping), peedana (kneading), uharshan (rubbing) and marjanam (sweeping), you give yourself the feeling of a deep massage while lengthening and toning your muscles, giving yourself greater range of motion in all the joints, including the spine and a resonant sense of freedom in the body. Ayurvedic therapy is a compelling way to go deeper into a meditative practice, or any other physical activity and is a great way to relax and rejuvenate.
HISTORY OF AYURVEDA My fi rst journey into the history of Ayurvedic therapy started with a reading book in my grandfather’s clinic when I was seven years old. The book suggested that Ayurveda, as a well-being system, originated more than 4000 years ago, making it one of the oldest healing systems known to man. Originating in India, it is based on a philosophy of health and happiness that treats the whole person, not just the symptoms, which is why it makes sense today. It might be old, but it’s got real, modern values. Ayurveda involves combining nutrition, herbal remedies, yoga and massage to heal and nourish the body and spirit. Twenty two years after that experience, I signed myself up to learn about the therapy professionally, and in my fi rst class in Kerala, I was introduced to Ayurvedic massage through the teachings of visionary practitioner called Charaka. His books on the Ayurvedic system of health became known as the Charaka Samhita and in these he explained that through massage, we can unravel the layers of our body to reach an inner energetic system, which enables us to reduce congestion and tension at a very deep level. I then learned that another visionary practitioner,
Susruta, detailed his thoughts in what is known as the Susruta Samhita. Here, he took some ideas a little further and detailed the concept that by
60 • Simply beautiful
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retreats of India as I saw how the practice is used today
journey began in the clinics and
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My
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