There has been an amazing growth in spa therapies all over the world in recent decades. Sometimes it seems that spa is almost the new religion. Major hotels, particularly in big cities now feature spa therapies, not to mention special retreat, rejuvenation and vacation centers outside major urban areas. People travel not just for the scenery but for special spas, mineral baths, hot springs, mountain lakes or tropical waters all over the world. It has become an important component of eco-tourism as well as medical eco-tourism.
Yoga is also now part of the spa scene worldwide, with asanas, pranayama and meditation. Yoga centers and retreats commonly offer or feature spa treatments or massage. Ayurvedic medicine has also gained an important place in the new spa therapy. It has become part of health tourism in India, where various Ayurvedic massage and spa centers can be found from Kerala now to the Himalayas, catering to clients from Europe and America.
In fact, as we age we naturally gravitate towards and find value in spa treatments of all kinds. Massage, oil therapies, aromatherapies, saunas, good food, good herbs and good exercise are part of healthy living and of rejuvenation. Many of the therapies discussed in this book work well in a spa environment, particularly if in a beautiful natural setting. Ayurvedic spa treatment is an important adjunct for any Yoga and Ayurveda rejuvenation therapy.
The Skin and Rejuvenation
Rejuvenation or rasayana begins with the skin, which is the outer face of the plasma or ‘rasa’ dhatu in Sanskrit, the first of the tissues of the body. The skin as our outer membrane connects to the mucus membranes of the body that form our internal lining or inner skin. This associates the skin with the plasma, the first of the seven tissues in Ayurveda, which reflects the entire process of digestion and the state of Kapha dosha within us. As connected to the plasma, the skin relates to the lymphatic system which sustains it.
The skin is connected to Vata dosha (the air humor) as our point of initial contact with the air, the atmosphere and the wind. Like Vata dosha, it is therefore involved in the aging process, which causes it to become dry and depleted, particularly for those who work outdoors or in the sun. The skin shows how the outer weather and climate affect us. Our wrinkles are chronicles of our years.
The skin is the largest organ in the body. It is the second most important tract in
the body after the digestive tract. Its condition reflects that of our digestion as a whole, but its condition also has implications for the emotions, mind and nervous system as well. The skin is an important organ of absorption. After the lungs, the skin is the most important organ for absorbing prana and sunlight. Other nutrients can be absorbed through the skin as well, particularly as carried by various oils.
The skin holds a certain luster or Tejas, reflecting the glow of our vital energy. We can tell a lot about a person through the condition of their skin.
Moreover, the skin forms our first line of contact with the external world and makes up an important component of our immune system, functioning like its initial protective wall. The health and vitality of the skin, and the power of circulation through it, reflects the strength of the immune system. We contact the forces of the environment through our skin and its sensitivity to weather changes. The skin can make us susceptible to the forces of heat, cold, dampness, dryness and wind. It can allow these forces to enter into our body and energy field and to set in motion the disease process.
Keeping our skin healthy is an essential part of any real wellness program, as well as any rejuvenation therapy. Applying herbs, aromas and oils to the skin can be helpful for everyone, including those on the spiritual path as it helps calm the mind and clear the emotions. We can bring rejuvenative medicines into the body directly through the skin, particularly by way of oil massage but also through the use of aromatic oils. Herbal powders and pastes can be applied to the skin, as can healing clay and mud. Special mineral baths are important as well. Saunas, and steam therapies work primarily through the skin and can aid in its circulation, hydration or detoxification. Yet any rejuvenation therapy for the skin should be combined with other therapies for body and mind, particularly Soma increasing beverages to properly hydrate the skin, and herbs that nourish the skin like amalaki and shatavari.
Artificial Care of the Skin
Proper care of the skin, not simply for beauty but for the health of the body as a whole, is not just a cosmetic matter. It cannot be accomplished merely by using expensive cosmetics. Many cosmetics contain chemicals that deplete or damage the skin. Natural oils are much better, particularly sesame oil, which is extremely nourishing to the skin, though cosmetically speaking is greasy and messy to use. In addition to anything we put on the skin to make it look or feel better, we must improve our digestion and our intake of beverages, as well as develop better circulation through proper exercise and pranayama.
Today people are now changing their looks through chemicals and plastic surgery. Botox, a kind of poison, is the main such chemical used, which paralyzes the muscles beneath the skin, making the skin tight and removing wrinkles. Yet it is expensive and must be reapplied regularly and does not actually improve the skin itself. In fact, it weakens the muscles of the face and damages the skin over time.
Plastic surgery aims at tightening the skin of the face. Yet there are also surgeries to make larger, tighter, or smaller our other bodily parts. Here too we are not actually changing the energy or nutrition of the body but merely making it look good from the outside. Such procedures can make us more artificial and weaken our deeper creativity and spirituality. They are for the benefit of other people and our social image, not for how we ourselves feel. Natural methods can also be used to reduce our age and improve the quality of the skin and the muscles, but we cannot use them merely to escape the aging process. We must learn to age gracefully.
Oil Massage and Ayurvedic Oils
Oil application to the body, called Snehana in Sanskrit, is an important rejuvenation method as well part of ordinary health maintenance. It also serves as one of the preliminary practices of Pancha karma, Ayurveda’s radical detoxification procedure. Snehana consists of both the external and internal use of oils, with oil massage externally and taking of healing oils internally, particularly ghee or clarified butter in food, herbs or by itself.
Massage is one of the simplest and most powerful health-promoting and rejuvenation practices, particularly gentler methods that use a fair amount of oil in the process. The best massage oil for rejuvenation is sesame oil, which is warm, heavy, lubricating and nourishing in its properties. Sesame has the ability to penetrate deep into the bones and joints, carrying strong nutritive and calmative properties. It is specific for countering Vata dosha, which is the main factor behind aging and strengthens Ojas.
Other good massage oils for rejuvenation include almond, coconut, and ghee.
Almond like sesame is strong to reduce Vata dosha, but not quite as heavy and so easier for short-term usage. Coconut is cooling and nutritive and most important for reducing Pitta dosha. It is great for inflammatory skin conditions and its cooling nature is good for the head, which we want to keep cool. Ghee is also good for Pitta and for inflammatory skin conditions. Stored in a copper vessel, it gains yet better properties for healing the skin, particularly for chronic and inflammatory skin conditions. There are special Ayurvedic sesame oil preparations that have
rejuvenative powers as well. These include Narayana tail, Mahbhringaraj tail, Bhringamalaki tail, Dhanvantari tail and Kshirabala tail, among a variety of commercial preparations.
Regular oil massage is important for strengthening the skin, the plasma or rasa dhatu, particularly in dry climates, dry seasons (autumn and non-rainy seasons), and for those suffering from dryness in the body (like Vata types). Dryness of the skin can promote the aging process and the drying up of the other tissues as well.
Oil massage is an important method for reducing Vata dosha, the main factor behind the aging process. Oil massage helps remove Vata dosha from its place of accumulation in the bones and joints and allows the healing prana to flow within us. Even as a general longevity practice, oil massage is important, and should be part of everyone’s regular health regimen.
Full body oil massage is important. In Ayurveda, after a short massage that uses very little oil and aims more at the use of pressure, large amounts of warm sesame oil are poured upon the body along with a light massage. Traditionally, two massage technicians apply the oil in a simultaneous massage motion. Such extensive oil massage nourishes the skin as well as the nervous system. Special aromas are often used with massage oils and can add another healing dimension to massage.
Shirodhara and Oil Application to the Head
Shirodhara, or the slow pouring of warm sesame oil on the forehead while the patient is lying on a massage table, is another important massage and oil therapy, particularly good for improving Tarpak Kapha and also Sadhak Pitta. It can prove a little hot for Pitta types, however, who may need a more cooling oil application.
It is helpful for rejuvenation of the mind, as it calms and nourishes the brain and nervous system. It relieves stress and anxiety and helps promote relaxation and deep sleep. It increases the sense of calm and contentment in the nervous system.
Saunas, Steam and Sweating Therapies
Sweating therapies, called Svedana in Sanskrit, are another powerful means of improving the health of the skin and circulatory system. The sweat not only purifies the skin but also removes toxins and stimulates blood and energy flow. However, one must keep adequately hydrated while undergoing any steam or sauna therapy or they can become depleting. That is why in Ayurveda, these usually come after oil therapy.
The use of spicy diaphoretic herbal teas like ginger and cinnamon will further
promote sweating at an internal level, or the use of pungent herb like eucalyptus in the steam. Yogic pranayama can be used to develop a natural sweating even without herbs or heat, cleansing the Prana and the subtle body.
Sweating by itself is a reducing therapy, fiery in nature, and so is not normally part of rejuvenation therapy. The combination of oil massage and sweating therapies (snehana and svedana) is particularly important in Ayurveda. These conjoined therapies help drain the toxins from the deeper tissues so they can exit through the blood and plasma into the digestive tract for their elimination from the body in Pancha Karma therapy.
Salt and mineral baths, which are largely heating in nature, can also be part of sweating therapies and can have their own special rejuvenative effects, particularly for the skin and the lungs. The hydrating effect of the mineral water is almost a kind of oleation and aids in the moistening of the skin. Salts are particularly good for reducing Vata dosha. Yet again care must be taken as any hot therapy will tend to be more reducing and must be applied with care when there is any significant weakness in the patient.
Ardhanareshvara: Shiva and Shakti in the same body