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Ayurveda: Shirodhara reviewed
Introduction
It is not usual in the west to have a 30-minute consultation before a massage, but it would be unthinkable in India not to have such an in-depth meeting before any ayurvedic treatment. So, when I was staying in Delhi and told the spa at my hotel that I would like to try a "proper" Indian massage, they booked me an appointment with an ayurvedic consultant.
What is Shirodhara?
Ayurveda is India's ancient and natural system of medicine. In ayurveda, the mind and the body not only influence each other - they are each other. So there can be no physical health without mental health -- and vice versa. Shirodhara is one part or feature of the ancient Hindu holistic medical practice of Ayurveda. "Shirodhara" is a Sanskrit word combining two other words - "shiro" meaning "head", and "dhara" meaning "flow". Shirodhara treatments feature the steady streaming of warm, fragrant oil onto the "third eye" on your forehead, followed by scalp massage, and - depending on the treatment - by other body massage as well.
What is Shirodhara good for?
Shirodhara is a very relaxing treatment that leaves you feeling both calm and clear headed. It aims to harness the flow of energy around your body.
What was the treatment like?
The day before my treatment, I went to meet the doctor, who took care to emphasise that this was not a medical treatment as we might understand it in the west, but a treatment that would aim to restore my mind and body to balance. For any treatment to be effective, it was essential to know my body type so that it could be tailored accordingly.
The consultation covered not only familiar questions such as how stressed I was and whether I had any specific aches and pains, but also what I liked to eat, whether I got to sleep quickly at night, whether I dreamed, and how I liked to work. The doctor also took my pulse and said he wasn't just taking my pulse but "feeling" my pulse, so he could tell what sort of person I was. He diagnosed my working style as one of aiming at perfection at all costs, and commented on how I carried stress in my head. In short, I am a pitta person, of the fire-and-water type. (Passionate and romantic, but also stubborn, pushy, and opinionated - that's me.)
The doctor also prescribed the treatment best suited for me: an oil massage (Abhayanga) with some Shirodhara, in which warm oil is dripped in a stream onto the forehead to relax the nerves and balance the Prana Vata, the dosha that exerts control over the brain. I was also told that there would be two therapists working on me - one male and one female - and he made sure I was comfortable with that. Good Spa Spies don't get where they are by being shy. My philosophy is that if I interrupt the slow of an Eastern treatment with Western hang-ups, then the treatment I am likely to get will be equally interrupted. I always reckon that if therapists are comfortable getting on and doing what they do best professionally, then I can be amateur enough to let them get on with it without worrying.
The next day, I came back for my treatment. When I went into the treatment room, my doctor came with me and explained the oils that the therapists -- Shanti and Bala -- would use. He opened the brown bottles and let me smell each of them in turn. Each had a warm, herbal smell, not spicy, or lemony, but dark and soothing. I was reminded in a strange way of Sunday lunches as a child - cooking smells and warmth. This was an odd sensation, but it wasn't the only time memories of childhood surfaced in the treatment.
The doctor then left the room and Shanti -- my female therapist -- turned the lights low; just two candles left burning. Shanti explained what would happen in the treatment. She asked if I was happy with all parts of my body being massaged. I explained about getting over any shyness and said I was perfectly happy with whatever she wanted to do. (She said she had to ask as if guests were not expecting their breasts to be touched by a man as part of their treatment, they sometimes became understandably angry.)
Ground rules, established, I whipped off all my clothes as instructed and laid them on a chair. Shanti then adorned me with what I can only describe as a small cloth to protect my modesty, and tied it around my hips with ribbons. It was a bit like your mum getting you dressed when you were little. She then led me round to the large marble plinth in the centre of the room - I was relieved to see that on the other side there were steps leading up to it, as it was quite high and I had been wondering if I was spry enough to leap onto it with a single bound. Not to worry - Shanti took my hand, led me carefully up the steps and placed me in a seated position on the edge of the table with my feet on the steps.
She then asked if I was happy for Bala to enter. When I nodded yes, she unlocked the door and let him in. He went to stand behind me. Shanti began the treatment with a small ritual that involved touching my feet, my hands, and my forehead. Then they began massaging me together while I was still sitting. Up my arms, along my shoulders, down my legs, and along each vertebra of my spine..
After a while, Shanti guided me to lie down. The marble was not heated, and it was a little cold. But I gradually reached a better temperature as they poured warmed oil over my limbs and began a synchronised massage. In the west, we are used to massages being quite slow and relaxing, with emphasis on specific parts of the body at a time. This was quicker and in many ways reminiscent of lomi lomi, the Hawaiian massage that goes from head to foot in an uninterrupted flow. With four hands working on your body, you soon become oblivious to which hand is which, and how many there are - it just feels like a very graceful dance.
Shanti took the lead, and as she shifted from one movement to another - say, from massaging the soles of my feet to the calves, Bala, a micro-second later, followed. And then they were working in perfect synchronicity again in a well-practised and co-ordinated pattern.
When my front was "done", they helped me turn over onto my back. I needed help as I was now awash with oil and the marble was very slippery. Again, there was that sense of being in someone else's hands completely, and this aided the letting go of any responsibility, stresses or cares.
Shanti and Bala then turned me onto my back again and moved me up the plinth so that my head was underneath the shirodhara oil dropper. Shanti tied a bandage over my eyes so that the oil didn't get into and irritate them, and covered the rest of my body with cotton towels. The oil, as it fell in a continuous stream over my forehead, was extremely soothing. At one point there were whispered words between them in Hindi -- something about the oil being possibly too hot as Shanti asked if I was comfortable with the temperature -- but apart from that there was nothing to do or to think about except the sensation of the smoothness of the oil.
The treatment was two hours long, although it seemed much shorter. The rhythm of it all, the smoothness of it all with the oil, the sense of being in the care of people who knew what they were doing was very reassuring and relaxing. After what seemed like minutes but was indeed hours, it was time for me to leave the marble and start my return to the real world.
Bala left the room and Shanti guided me to a small steam chamber in the corner of the room. I sat in the steam for ten minutes, letting the scent of the oils soothe and rouse me a little to the real world. Then Shanti came in and scrubbed me with lemon powder and I showered to remove the oils. And now I was ready to get dressed. It felt like a wrench to leave the candle-lit room and return to the bright lights of the spa reception. But I did.
How did you feel afterwards?
Calm. Collected. Carefree.
Would you have it again?
Now that I know what to expect from an ayurvedic massage, I am a convert. I would like to be able to report that the treatment cured every ache and pain I had, but I suspect that there are some larger adjustments needed to my lifestyle to achieve that. Or several more ayurvedic massages. Still, now that I know what to expect from one, I will be trying more in the future. Forget your shyness, I say - it's worth it.
See also:
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