Benefits of Oil Massage for Stress Relief

The importance of massage therapy and its potential benefits can be gauged by the fact that it is included in conventional as well as alternative therapies in its various forms. There are presently nearly thirty types of massages listed for various treatments including physical and mental stress relief. The simple oil massage is the oldest and most common type of massage.

Oil massage, as a therapy can be traced back to thousands of years and finds mention in many ancient cultures including Indian, Chinese, Greek and Roman. The popularity of oil massage can be attributed mainly to the Ayurvedic herbal massages or Abhyanaga.

Basically, oil massage involves rubbing, pressing and moving muscles and soft tissues with hands and fingers. With added herbs, the massage becomes more potent and effective in relaxing the muscles. Research shows that herbs have antiseptic and analgesic properties and are capable of adjusting moods. Although the oil facilitates the movement of hands and fingers over the skin, the main purpose is to derive the benefits of the medicinal properties of the herbs contained in the oil. Performed by a specialist, the science and art of oil massage can do wonders to your physical and mental health. It is a very effective tool for de-stressing the body and the mind.

Oil massage works at a physical as well as a mental level. It stimulates bodily functions and provides nourishment to body tissues, increases absorption of food, increase vital body fluids, improves mood and calms tense nerves.

Physical benefits of oil massage include but not limited to the following:

• Relaxing tense and stiff muscles
• Alleviating pain and swelling
• Promoting faster healing of strained muscles and sprained ligaments
• Controlling blood pressure
• Improving skin health
• Improving posture
• Promoting joint flexibility and ease of movement
• Providing lubrication to body mechanisms

At the emotional level an oil massage promotes a healthy and alert mind. The most famous example of this is the Indian head massage (champi). With appropriate oils, it works on the areas that are most tense and uses gentle to moderate caresses on the head and face to provide almost immediate relief by increasing blood flow to the brain.

Besides head massage, the full body oil massage also provides emotional benefits that include:

• Reducing general susceptibility to anxiety
• Reducing sub-clinical depression
• Increased mental alertness
• Monitoring stress signals and activates relaxation response
• Improving cognitive abilities

The gentle touch of a professional massager also satisfies the need of the caring touch, which is sometimes very important for relieving stress.

An oil massage is integral to holistic treatments for physical and mental ailments. Although oil massage therapy was relegated to obscurity by other civilizations, Ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine retained it through the centuries and is still widely practiced in India. In the west massage therapy was maligned by ‘massage parlors’. But in most eastern cultures it remains a sacrosanct holistic and natural form of treating various ailments and stress relief.

Choosing Your Massage Oil

In addition to the massage technique, Ayurveda lays a lot of importance of the type of oil to be used for a massage. One can either use single oils or oils infused with medicinal herbs. Generally sesame oil is recommended for vata type individuals (thin build, dry skin, cold body), coconut oil for pitta type individuals (medium build, hot body, fair or reddish skin susceptible to sunburns) and olive oil or mustard oil for kapha type indivduals (heavy build, soft skin, susceptible to colds and congestion).

As it’s extremely rare to find individuals with purely single constitution, usually a combination of above oils is recommended.

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