Fight Off Winter Skin with Ayurvedic Oil Massage

If you live anywhere with a winter climate, I'm sure your skin is starting to feel the effects of the dry, cold weather. Seems like no matter how much lotion you put on, your skin just gets drier and drier. I've had it on my to do list for weeks, but I finally broke down and deliberately drove to the store yesterday to get some oil for my Ayurvedic oil massage. Nothing I've tried works better to help alleviate dry, irritated winter skin.


Ayurvedic oil massage or Abhyanga, is a daily application of oil to the body that you do before you shower or bathe. You rub the oil in small circles all over your skin, from neck to toes (don't do the face, the oil will clog those sensitive pores), massaging it into the skin. You then shower as usual. Once out of the shower you won't even need to apply lotion. The heat from the shower helps the oil to absorb into the skin, leaving you with soft happy skin.

Benefits:

• Improves the color of your skin, nourished skin looks more vibrant.
• Decreases the effects of aging, moist skin is young skin.
• Nourishes the body and imparts tone and vigor. Our bodies love to be touched, it has a healing affect, even if we're the ones doing the massaging.
• Increases circulation, which is great for our immunity.
• Pacifies vata and pitta. These two doshas commonly get out of balance this time of year.

Not only does my skin feel great after doing this, but it is a nice way to start my day. I'm not losing any time adding this to my morning routine, as I don't have to put lotion on after my shower. I find the massage invigorating and some studies show that it helps boost your immune system and in winter we need all the help we can get.

The most common used oil is sesame oil. Since it's being absorbed by your skin you'll want to buy organic. Non organic will have impurities, I don't know about you, but I don't want those in my body. I have sensitive skin and have found with prolonged use (about a month) that the oil can start to irritate my skin. I take a week off and start up again and just do it every other day. Different dosha's use different oils. Find the right oil for your dosha here.

Technique:

The first few times you do this go slow and enjoy the process. Even once you get the hang of it, try not to rush through it, enjoy the process. Put a small amount of oil in the palm of your hand (room temp or warm is best) and begin to rub the oil onto your neck in small firm circles. Don't overdo it with the oil. Put on just enough so it will absorb into the skin. You shouldn't be dripping oil. Follow the list below till you get to your toes.

• Neck
• Right shoulder
• Right arms, hands and fingers
• Left shoulder
• Left arms, hands and fingers
• Chest
• Stomach
• Upper, mid and lower back (You'll get a good stretch while trying to get this area.)
• Butt
• Right leg
• Left leg
• Tops of feet (I don't recommend doing the bottoms of your feet as you will slip in the shower. You can do the bottoms, but make sure that you can sit while washing them and put socks on right away.)
• Carefully get into the shower and go about your usual routine. If you get out of the shower and have a lot of oil on you, you've used too much. Wipe off the excess oil with an old towel. Your skin should feel moist, not oily.

When not to do the oil massage:

If you have any area of the body with broken or cracked skin, do not do the massage there. Same goes for any swollen or painful parts of the body. It's also not recommended to do it if you have a fever or chills due to an illness. If you have any serious medical conditions, check with your doctor before doing this massage. I know it sounds so simple, but even an application of oil to the skin has an affect on the body.

Check out this article on applying oil. There's a video you can watch, details about the technique, when you should and shouldn't do it (according to Ayurvedic tradition), and how to adapt it to your dosha (which is important). It sometimes take a little trial and error to get it just right, but when you do it feels so great you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.