John Douillard - The Encyclopedia of Ayurvedic Massage

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Copyright 2004 by John Douillard. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Although anyone may find the suggestions in this book useful and beneficial, they are not intended as a diagnosis, prescription, recommended treatment or cure for any specific problem, whether medical, emotional, psychological, social or spiritual. This book was written for educational purposes only and not designed to replace therapy or consultation with a qualified professional.

The Encyclopedia of Ayurvedic Massage is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Douillard, John.

The encyclopedia of ayurvedic massage / by John Douillard.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58394-694-7
1. MassageEncyclopedias. 2. Medicine, AyurvedicEncyclopedias. DNLM: 1. MassagemethodsEncyclopediasEnglish. 2. Medicine, AyurvedicEncyclopediasEnglish. WB 13 D737e 2004] I. Title.

RA780.5.D68 2004
615.822-dc22

2004004873

v3.1

I n the eighteen years it has taken to write this book there are many to thank. First are all the Ayurvedic therapists I have worked with over the years who have put their heart and soul to every stroke year after year.

There are a few people I would like to thank whose efforts made this book a reality. Without them this book could still be years away.

Samara Frame for overseeing this entire project, orchestrating the layout, selecting the photos, merging photos with text, and for modeling.

Kate Fotopoulos for being the editor second to none. To edit this book Kate became an expert in the field of Ayurvedic massage. Her attention to perfected detail has made this book into the encyclopedia that it is.

Cathy Poole, who started practicing Ayurvedic massage in 1984, has brought twenty years of experience into the creation of this book. Cathy made certain that the incredible treatment experience we offer at LifeSpa was translated precisely into this work.

Thank you to Matt Safarik for his photo-shoot modeling.

Thank you to everyone at North Atlantic Books, especially Brooke Warner for her patience and personal tender loving care that was needed to make this book happen.

And last but by no means least, thank you to my family for motivating me to continue to write these books.

I n the West we are just beginning to appreciate the hidden pearls of wisdom sewn in the 5,000year-old fabric of Ayurvedic medicine. To understand the difference between Eastern and Western mindsets, consider the fact that Ayurvedic massage practices, for example, are as much a part of daily life in India as is shampooing your hair in the United States. There are millions of elders in India who have had a massage or have massaged themselves since the day they were born. Imagine being eighty years old and having had a massage every day of your lifethat comes to nearly 30,000 massages! This is commonplace in India.

Not only have these practices been time tested and proven throughout the ages, they were also developed based on principles that have only recently come into vogue in the West. Thousands of years ago the entire system of health care called Ayurveda evolved around the premise that mind, body, and spirit were one. Rather than thinking of them separately as we do in the West, Ayurveda has been treating them holistically, and Ayurvedic massage is just one element of the fabric that directly addresses the inseparable nature of mind, body, and spirit.

While I will elucidate the many pathways and mechanisms through which Ayurvedic massage attains these results, remember that Ayurveda has been practiced for thousands of years as one fabricnot three. As a result, experiencing the Ayurvedic massage techniques produces an integration of mind, body, and spirit unknown to most Westerners. I have been administering these treatments since 1986 and hear patients say every day that they have never felt so calm, gone so deep, been so still, or sensed such rejuvenation as when they finished an Ayurvedic massage.

This is the first time, to my knowledge, that these extremely detailed and coveted Ayurvedic massage descriptions have been published in such explicit detail. This encyclopedia is designed for massage or spa therapists and interested health care practitioners to instruct them in (not merely introduce them to) the world of Ayurvedic treatments. While each therapy is described step by step, with accompanying photographs, the information in this volume can never take the place of direct, hands-on, supervised instruction. At LifeSpa, we use this encyclopedia as our training manual for certifying practitioners in Ayurvedic massage.

I feel very honored to be able to present this therapeutic system in its fullness to the reader and have done so in the hopes of protecting the integrity of this very precious knowledge. These techniques were passed down from father to son for thousands of years, never leaving the trust of the family or tribe. I have been fortunate to have been privy to this knowledge for the past eighteen years. While Ayurveda is becoming more popular in the West, particularly in the spa and massage industries, I feel it is important that practitioners in these fields have an authentic body of knowledge to work from. These treatments as I describe them have a precise effect that will or will not be realized based on the intention and consciousness with which the therapies are offered. To insure that these therapies last another 5,000 years it is important that we in the West offer the treatments in the name of Ayurveda in the authentic nature in which they were passed on to us. Please use these Ayurvedic massage therapies with the gratitude and respect that a 5,000year-old tradition deserves. It is that tradition that has made this encyclopedia possible.