Benefits of Warm Oil Massage

All of us deserve to feel nourished and satisfied. Sometimes in the busy pace of our lives and the striving towards success the feeling of contentment and satisfaction feels far away. Abhyanga (ayurvedic self massage) while simple can be a remarkable help in this regard. How is this possible you may ask? The answer is twofold. Abhyanga puts us in touch with our body and helps us to integrate body and mind. By doing this it facilitates self confidence and breeds self awareness. As this daily ritual becomes a steady part of our lives we can anticipate some of the following benefits. 

• Improved strength and stamina (Gupta et al 2000)
• Toning of the muscles and the physiology (Gupta et al 2000)
• Improved sleep quality and calm nerves (Gupta et al 2000)
• Improved cellular nutrition (Fernandez et al 1987)
• Improved softness and smoothness of the skin (Pabst, 1999)
• Improved fluid delivery and lubrication of the joints (Pabst, 1999)
• Reduced bacterial colonization (Pabst, 1999)
• Decreased bloodstream infection rates (Wallace, 1998)
• Improved circulation and thermo-regulation (Iyengar, 1991)
• Improved mood and mental alertness (Sherman, et al 2010)
• Balanced blood pressure (Sook Ju et al, 2013)
  

Sesame oil used for warm oil massage has been shown to have anti carcinogenic, anti-melanomic and anti colon cancer effects (Salerna and Smith 1991 1992). That is why the base of most Ayurvedic oils is sesame. Oil massage has shown to have pervasive antioxidant effects and to reduce oxidative stress that accompanies arthritis (Kang et al 1998) (Sotnikova et al 2009) as well. Most of the research on warm oil massage has been done on infants, but the benefits still apply to the adult body.

These benefits are able to accrue within the physiology because the skin is the largest organ in the body and the trans-dermal absorption of the medicinal compounds in the oil are brought directly into the bloodstream where they create positive systemic changes.

There are a multitude of high quality herbalized oils on the market. My favorite companies are:

Banyan Botanicals – If you order from Banyan use promotional code NVSC13 for 15% off all products

MAPI – If you order from MAPI use promotional code noahvolz10 to receive 10% off

TriHealth- High quality traditionally made oils

Please integrate a warm oil self massage into your daily routine and experience the benefits of this time honored tradition.

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2. Darmstadt GL, Badrawi N, Law PA, et alTopical therapy with sunflower seed oil prevents nosocomial infections and mortality in premature babies in Egypt: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. Pediatr Infect Dis J (submitted). [PubMed]
3. Fernandez A, Patkar S, Chawla C, Taskar T, Prabhu SV. Oil application in preterm babies, a source of warmth and nutrition. Indian Pediatr. 1987;24:1111–17. [PubMed]
4. Iyengar SD, Bhakoo ON. Prevention of neonatal hypothermia in Himalayan villages. Role of the domiciliary caretaker. Trop Geogr Med. 1991;43:293–96. [PubMed]
5. Kang. M. H. Nait, M., Sakai, K, Uchida, K, and Osawa, T (2000) “Mode of action of sesame lignans in protecting low-density lipoprotein against oxidative damae in vitro.” Lie Sciences 66, 2. 161-171.
6. Kang, MH, Naito, M, Tsujihara, N, and Osawa T (1998) “Sesamolin inhibits lipid peroxidation in rat liver and kidney” Journal of Nutrition 128, 6, 1018-1022
7. Myeong-Sook Ju, 1 Sahng Lee, 2 Ikyul Bae, 3 Myung-Haeng Hur, 4 ,* Kayeon Seong, 4 and Myeong Soo Lee 5 Effects of Aroma Massage on Home Blood Pressure, Ambulatory Blood Pressure, and Sleep Quality in Middle-Aged Women with Hypertension Pabst RC, Starr KP, Qaiyumi S, Schwalbe RS, Gewolb IH. The effect of application of Aquaphor on skin condition, fluid requirements, and bacterial colonization in very low birth weight infants. J Perinatol.1999;19:278–83. [PubMed]
8. Sherman, Karen J. PhD, MPH,1,2 Evette J. Ludman, PhD,1,3 Andrea J. Cook, PhD,1,4 Rene J. Hawkes, BS,1 Peter P. Roy-Byrne, MD,3 Susan Bentley, DO,3 Marissa Z. Brooks, MPH, LMP,6 and Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD1,5 Effectiveness of Therapeutic Massage for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial Smith, DE and Salerno JW 1992) Selective growth inhibition of a human malignant melanoma cell line by sesame oil in vitro.” Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential fatty acids 46, 146-150.
9. Sotnikova, R, Ponist, S, Navarova, J, Mihalova, D, et al (2009) “Effects of sesame oil in the model of adjuvant arthritis.” Neuroendocrinology Letters 30, Suppl. 1, 22-24.
10. Wallace M, Lindado S, Bedrick A, Moravec C, Nieto S. Decreasing bloodstream infection rates in very low birth weight infants with topical ointment therapy [abstract] Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol.1998;19:689.