Ayurvedic massage: the art of touch

Ayurvedic massage is the holistic massage that best embodies the art of empathetic listening through the touch of another.

Human contact and its necessity, always Human life cannot be conceived apart from contact, an archaic aspect present in its various forms.

Contact is part of the individual history of every single person, from the very first moments of a newborn's life. Everyone needs it to develop and grow physically, mentally, psychologically, and emotionally.

It is what nourishes us emotionally, transmits closeness and support, gives help in moments of loneliness and discouragement, provides security in times of difficult choices. It is the hug after a cry, the pat of a friend on the shoulder, the merging of lovers, the relaxing massage we receive. It accompanies every phase of our life, is an integral part of it, at every moment.

And when contact is missing? The drama of the lack of a caress, a hug, a kiss?

Ayurvedic massage and contact

Can we perhaps say, then, that "the life of man is contact?" And what does all this have to do with Ayurvedic massage? Literally, the word ayurveda means "science of life".

Over millennia, humans have learned to take care of themselves and others through contact. Spontaneously, instinctively even, but undoubtedly in an authentic way. Only authentic, true, and sincere contact, only pure contact can become a gift of attention for the other, a form of care.

Taking care of another with ayurvedic massage involves giving a constantly new opportunity for personal growth, it gives the possibility to discover new aspects of the human being, to see the same things in an ever new way.

At the same time, taking care of others presupposes taking care of oneself daily, cultivating one's own person with care and attention physically, mentally, spiritually.

How could an authentic ayurvedic masseur share with others an experience from which they exclude themselves a priori? It would be a contradiction in terms, the realization of the mental illusion that purely rational knowledge is enough to help others. The illusion that the mind is sufficient unto itself.

Man, as ayurveda and Eastern philosophies in general teach us, cannot be reductively traced back to just the body, nor to just the mind, but is an integrated union of mind, body, and spirit.

The sacred unity of intention, attitude, and touch When we are about to professionally make contact with another through the practice of ayurvedic massage, can we disregard this? The reasons for deciding to learn the art of massage are many, all valid and different for each person. When you embark on a path like that of ayurvedic massage, you do not imagine setting out on a road that will probably take you far: a journey within yourself, a journey to discover the other.

The study of this ancient Indian discipline soon proves to be irreducible to the mere acquisition of a technique, manifesting instead as an experience that involves the body, certainly, but also our mind in the attitude with which it is practiced.

The realization, at first faintly perceived and then increasingly conscious, concerns the fact that it is not simply a course, but a journey that involves body, mind, and spirit.

If the ayurvedic practitioner truly wishes to be of help to others, in an authentic way, they are called to work intensely on themselves, to seriously undertake a path, indeed, of personal growth.

Experiencing that body, mind, and spirit belong indissolubly to each other, experiencing this massage after massage, means at the same time not evading the need for these aspects to be in harmony when we take on the honor and burden of bringing this practice to others.

Others, who turn to the ayurveda professional for various reasons, not least for the pure feeling of being welcomed.

How many times, behind the words spoken, do we instead sense the unspoken and implied emotional request to be seen, touched, welcomed?

How many times, faced with these situations, does the holistic ayurvedic practitioner feel called upon not only for their theoretical and technical knowledge, but also and above all for their relational skills?

Professionalism and awareness

What does all this entail? What are we required to bring into play, even if not explicitly, in terms of experiences, feelings, emotions? These considerations bring out, among other things, the need for a certain form of awareness, the awareness that does not hide behind forms of blind professionalism, but opens up to that high level of professionalism that is open to the possibility of ever new paths of inner, professional, and personal growth.

Any holistic masseur, physiotherapist, osteopath should find a way to look at the people they meet with new eyes, seeing in each the eyes of a little boy, a little girl. Sometimes it is easy, that gaze is there to be caught, almost intact, innocent, sweet. Sometimes, instead, that gaze is hidden by the veils of life, by pain, by fatigue, by worries. But even there it is possible to find, every time we give ourselves the chance to see them, those eyes. There is hope in those eyes.

There is the possibility of meeting the other, of getting to know them a little more, there is the possibility of letting oneself be known, of lowering even just a little one's own defenses and appearing as we are. All this is the opportunity, for every encounter, to become richness and hope.

It is the challenge of trying every day to return to being children. We must start again from there, from where perhaps we have never moved, where the reasons of the heart become home.

References to doshas and energy belong to the Ayurvedic tradition. This content is for information and wellbeing and does not replace professional medical advice.