Most Popular Indian Treatments at Spas

India... The ancient sage adding a spirited life force to our world with her colorful saris, vibrant festivals and mystical rituals... And it’s benevolent enough to bring us together with our inner energy by presenting transformational practices such as yoga, meditation and Ayurveda into our lives...

Ayurveda is a timeless healing method that supports us to reach and maintain an optimal level of wellness and to this end, that can “freely and personally” adapt itself to each and every of us, regarding our distinctive constitutions (prakritis). And, in its thousands of years of history, it contains dozens of therapies that it has gradually developed and carried to the present day.

In this article, we present to you the most favorite Ayurvedic treatments that spa goers love to experience at Spas…

Indian Head Massage

If you’ve ever searched for the secrets of Indian women's glamorous hair, you've surely come across Indian head massage. 

This 1000-year-old therapy, which blends Ayurvedic healing with Chinese Medicine, focuses on the areas of our body that incur the highest blockage in the free flow of Qi, namely our head, face, neck, shoulders and upper arms. In this massage, which we receive for 25 to 45 minutes, dressed and with or without oils, deep techniques such as kneading and compression are used from our scalp to our back, while softer cyclic pressures are applied on our face. Thus, as the negative accumulations in our meridians are removed, we begin feeling the lightness of getting rid of negative emotions such as stress and anxiety, as well as physical and mental tensions.

Indian head massage is an energizing treatment that can make us feel refreshed from all angles, despite its limited application area. It's also a great way to get healthier, thicker and shinier hair!

Abhyanga 

Centered on Sneha, which means ‘love’ in Sanskrit (a soft, oily or lubricating Ayurvedic medicine), Abhyanga is a therapy that literally infuses compassion and wellbeing into our existence…

According to Ayurveda, our body is like an inverted tree. The head is the root, the thorax and abdomen are the trunk and the limbs are the branches. In Abhyanga, the experienced hands of one or two therapists apply calming massage techniques in the direction of arterial blood flow from head to toes, using herbal oils (ghee). That way, the therapy aims to strengthen our “tree” and bless him/her with a long-life. And, while nourishing all our tissues (dhatus), it also helps us to slowly let go of all our internal and external poisons.

Perhaps the most valuable contribution of therapy is to our dosha balance. Due to several variables that occur inside and outside of our beings, our dosha balance usually gets deviated. Abhyanga restores this balance with Ayurvedic medicines selected based on our vitiated doshas. Thus, our innate healing power is revitalized, our cells are encouraged to regenerate, our love and compassion feelings become prominent, leading to a lasting tranquility.

If you’d like to learn more about doshas, you can also check our article “What is Dosha?”.

Shirodhara

Shirodhara therapy involves the continuous pouring of oils, milk or water-based solutions or boiled herb extracts on our forehead from a certain height for 30 to 60 minutes as we're lying back comfortably. And in India, it's been practiced for centuries as a healing therapy to awaken and strengthen the third eye (Ajna) chakra. 

Our Ajna chakra represents our cellular intelligence and is the main bridge for our body-mind-spirit balance. When this chakra has a high frequency, our self-awareness is strong. Self-awareness allows us to integrate with our cognitive (Manus) and inner (Swabhavik) intelligence and focus on the present moment. According to Ayurveda, our self-awareness is the most vital part of our power to heal ourselves. 

To put it more scientifically, the warm oil flow in Shirodhara stimulates our serotonin hormone, transmitting the positive messages created through our peripheral nerves to our brain. Our brain reorganizes our metabolic and mental functions according to these messages. On the other hand, with the support of the warm oil flow, our circulation starts to accelerate reflexively. As a result, we are cleansed of both our physical toxins and our mental and emotional parasites such as depression, anxiety and insomnia.  

Shiroabhyanga

If you desire a more gentle and "spiritual" experience compared to the intense techniques of Indian head massage, Shiroabhyanga therapy may be what you are looking for! 

In this therapy, warm herbal oils mixed as per our needs and our vitiated Dosha are first poured on our head, neck and shoulders as in Shirodhara, and following this process, our reflex points are massaged with light strokes and pressure. The therapy usually lasts around 30 minutes. 

Shiroabhyanga combines subdued reflexology techniques of Indian head massage with the tender and kind approach of Shirodhara and Abhyanga, allowing us to experience the effects of these three therapies altogether, and more efficiently and quickly. Moreover, Ayurvedic medicine not only allows, but also recommends us to experience it daily, just like Abhyanga.

Marma Therapy

Before talking about marma therapy, the acclaimed ancestor of today's point therapies like acupuncture and reflexology, we first would like to explain marma points.  

Marma points are referred to as the “gates” where our consciousness and material body merge. We have 108 marma points, one in our mind and 107 in our body, and they are located where our tendons, bones, muscles, joints, veins, nerves and other tissues intersect. The main marma points correspond to our seven chakras. 

Prana (life energy) flows from our consciousness marma point along our energy pathways (nadis) and tissue channels (srota) to our other marma points and circulates back. Blockage in any marma point prevents this flow and our self-healing power begins to diminish. Marma therapy elegantly stimulates the affected points to remove these blockages, which are also considered toxins in Ayurveda, to regulate the flow of prana and balance our chakra frequencies. 

The therapy, which usually lasts 60 to 90 minutes, starts with a srota or Abhyanga massage and continues with circular and very light touch techniques accompanied by plant-infused oils on our marma points. The direction of the circles and the order of stimulation of the points are determined depending on our dosha balance and needs. Additional essential oils, crystals and light therapy may accompany the treatment.

Lepa Therapy

This therapy represents the topical application of Ayurvedic medicines and is a healing practice that can offer solutions to most of our skin problems, from infection to edema, eczema to cellulite, blackheads to sunspots.

In the therapy, one or more fresh herbs, selected due to our dominant dosha and the type of ailment, are ground into a paste. If the mixture is dry, small amounts of liquids such as water or milk can be added. Since the value of the mixture depends on the freshness of the ingredients, the therapist immediately starts applying the medicine to the problem area of our skin, in the opposite direction to our hair follicles for better absorption. When the mixture dries, the therapist cleans our skin, makes and reapplies another fresh mixture in one or more times. 

According to the Sharangdhar Samhita, we should receive Lepa therapy at night. This is because our body temperature, which is often affected by atmospheric heat during the daytime, can reduce the effectiveness of the mixture used in the therapy on our skin.

Pizichil

Did you know that Pizichil therapy was known as the “king of Ayurvedic therapies” as it was practiced only for royalty in ancient times?

Pizichil, which literally means “to squeeze”, is an unparalleled combination of Snehana (oleation) and Swedana (sudation) therapies. In this 60-to-90-minute therapy, Dosha-suited herbal oils are first heated to a relaxing temperature. Then the mixture is squeezed through a special linen cloth in the traditional method or poured through thin tubes in the modernized method, while simultaneously massaging the body with relaxing strokes by the skilled hands of two or four therapists. 

Blending the warming effect of oils with massage techniques that accelerate our blood flow and make us sweat better, the main purpose of this ‘ultra-warm’ approach of the therapy is to enable us to remove even deeply ingrained toxins, from the brazen excess fat to the unabashed elements like mercury. 

That’s why Pizhicil is considered a therapy that not only cleanses our body, rejuvenates our skin and repairs our muscle tissues, but can even help with severe problems such as diabetes, blood pressure, arthritis, paralysis, neurological disorders. Not to mention its highly soothing contributions to our emotional and mental aspects thanks to the added support of Snehana, a.k.a. the ‘loving therapy’...

Gandharva 

Gandharva, which translates to “music” in Sanskrit, is a fascinating therapy that imbues our body with energy and happiness. This therapy uniquely blends the ancient spiritual wisemen's tradition of sound healing adapted to Singing Bowl ritual with marma therapy. The practice in which universal vibrations are echoed in musical form, starts with the Singing Bowl therapy, creating certain melodic rhythms (Ragas). Our therapist determines these rhythms according to the time of the therapy and our mood. This supports our body-spirit balance and enables us to reconnect our energy with mother nature. 

Afterwards, the therapist begins applying marma therapy with dosha balancing herbal oils on our body, to gradually rebalance our chakras and encourage a better flow of Prana through our nadis. In the end, all our cells resonate with Mother Nature and our quintessence, paving the way to a state of joyful and ideal Wellbeing. 

The aforementioned Ayurvedic therapies are just a few of the most popular treatments in Spas... We will continue to share other effective and popular Spa therapies with you in our upcoming articles. So stay tuned to Spatopia to keep discovering more!