Oil massage

• Hair is the index of the health of an individual. The head is to be oiled daily with seasame or coconut oil. This prevents hair fall, greying, balding, headache, drying of scalp etc. Oiling strengthens the head, forehead, eyes, ears and other sensory organs. The quality of hair and the quality of sleep gets improved.
• One more simple way to keep the hair healthy is to rub their roots at the time of taking bath. The process is to pour some water on the head and rub with finger tips at the roots of the hair till a warming up effect is felt. After rubbing for a minute or so, pour plenty of water on the head. Then dry the water from the head with a clean and dry towel. Comb the hair. Stand in the tender sun for 10 minutes. Hair will grow thick.
• Comb the hair twice or thrice a day by giving a pull to the opposite, i.e., from top to down, down to top, left to right, right to left. By this combing process, the hair would be stronger and would be prevented from falling. New hair would soon begin to grow.
• Ayurveda talks highly about the oil massage to the body. Vayu is one of the pancha maha bhootas. Being light and mobile, vayu is all over the world and within the body through respiration. Vayu is responsible for movements of the body as well as movements in the body.
• Vayu is called Prana,udana,samana,apana and vyana as per its location and function in the body. All sense organs and motor organs work efficiently through vayu.
• When vayu gets aggravated, it leads to dryness, roughness and stiff body organs and causes pain.
• Skin is the organ where vayu is accumulated. So oiling the body is considered to be the best mode of pacifying vayu diseases.
• Just as water poured at the roots of the tree helps the tree to grow strong with thick foliage, flowers and fruits and gives happiness to all, like wise, oil massage on the body helps the tissue to be strong with the warmth of theoil massage. At least once a week oil massage of the body is good.
• Oil massage of the feet and putting few drops of oil in the nose and ears helps many disorders to get cured.
• Nose is considered to be entrance to the head. All medicinal preparations poured into the nostrils can reach every nook and corner of the head.
• The head should be hungback on a chair and a few drops of warm oil should be put into each nostril using a dropper and then to be inhaled. This is called nasya. While pouring drops of oil into one nostril, close the other one. Any secretion during 'nasya' should be spat out. Then the other nostril should be oiled. After nasya one must lie on the back till the count of 100 without falling asleep.
• This should be done daily or once in a week atleast, after cleaning of bowels and bathing.

Nasya cures all ailments that are caused above the neck. Ghee,olive oil or seasame oil would be good for nasya. illnesses like torticollis, paralysis, headache, migrane, swelling of the nose, shivering of the head, locked jaw and snoring are cured. Sings of ageing dissappear and greying of hair is prevented.

• Putting oil in the ears prevents ailments like deafness, defective hearing and torticollis. Ears should be oiled daily or at least once a week. In a healthy ear,oil should be retained for 5 minutes and when suffering from earache, oil should be retained in the ear till the pain is relieved. This can be done by pressing at the base of the ear to prevent oil from flowing out.
• Oiling feet everyday is very beneficial. It cures roughness, drying, fatigue,lethrargy,chapping,shrinking of blood vessels and muscles,sciatica and other vayu ailments. This also improves eyesight. This practice should be performed daily before bathing.
• Oil massage on the body provides manifold benefits. The skin gets a glow and the muscles get elasticity and strength. After smearing oil over the body, a light massage is to be carried out and bath is taken after 10 minutes. Gram flour is very useful to clean the body.
• Oil massage enhances the beauty of the complexion and provides excellent health by pacifying vitiated vayu.

References

The above mentioned information is added from the book called "MUDRAS & HEALTH PERSPECTIVES" by "SUMAN.K.CHIPLUNKAR".