How to Give a Shirodhara Part 6: Traditional Shirodhara Technique

A Quick Note About Me:
My name is Rhett Hatfield and in addition to being the owner and Director of Education for the Body Wisdom Massage Therapy School I am am indigenous therapies researcher in Asia and South East Asia and normally spend several months there every year. You can read more about me and my travels in the Blog section Body Wisdom Global

Section 6 Overview:
Having covered all the preparations for Shirodhara in sections 1-5 we are now ready to perform the actual technique itself in the traditional way.  In truth the proper preparations for giving Shirodhara are just as important if  not more important than the actual treatment itself.  If you have not followed these posts up until now you might want to take a few minutes to review the background and preparations that have brought us to where we are now.

Links to sections 1-5
Link to How to Give a Shirodhara Part #1: “Intro.”
Link to How to Give a Shirodhara Part #2: “The Droni (table)”
Link to How to Give a Shirodhara Part #3 “Shirodhara Pot and Stand”
Link to How to Give a Shirodhara Part #4 “Preparations of Medicines”
Link to How to Give a Shirodhara Part #5 “Final Preparations for Treatment”

Aromatic Massage Oil Blends for the Chinese 5 Elements

The Five Element Theory utilized in Chinese Medicine stems from ancient Chinese philosophy. The five elements are symbolic for the different phases, or primal forces within the universe, nature, and our bodies. Each element is also attributed to a certain personality archetype. Knowing which element(s) predominates our personalities can help further insight into our lives and relationships.

The massage blends below were formulated with TCM 5 Element Theory in mind.  As you may know essential oils have a direct effect on the limbic system thereby altering the emotional and mental qualities of the body mind. In TCM it is believed that emotions relate to different organs in the body and through herbs, oils, color and scents (in addition to acupuncture and other bodywork modalities) we are able to help rebalance.

Prepare the blends below and either choose your scent intuitively (works very well) or take the 5 elements questionnaire online listed at the end of this article.

Enjoy!!

How to Give an Awesome Neck Massage

In our modern world of stress and tension any massage therapist can tell you it mostly comes down to neck, shoulders and lower back.  Most people are either “neck and shoulders” OR “lower back” and a few are both (sorry for those guys).

In the videos that follow you will find a basic neck massage routine (Video #1)  followed by a somewhat more advanced approach (Video #2) from our Therapeutic Massage Series at Body Wisdom School.  Both videos are basic entry level techniques that should be within the capability of any trained massage therapist and are offered as a review and for informational purposes and not to replace safe, qualified instruction in a classroom environment.

Hope the videos below will help to make the world a more relaxing place .. heaven knows we all could use a little more relaxation …   Enjoy!!

Video #1: Superficial Layer Neck Massage Techniques

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Video #2: Second Layer Neck Massage Techniques

Please let me know what you are thinking by commenting on this post

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Rhett Hatfield, Owner/Director of Education Body Wisdom School
“750-1600 Massage Therapist Certification Programs, 5 Different Career Tracks.” Create your “custom massage certification program” of anywhere from 750-1600 hours of World Class Massage and Bodywork Education.  CEU Programs available

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How to Give a Shirodhara Part 5: Final Preparations for Treatment

Overview:
For those of you coming into this 7 part series a little later, allow me to provide a little context.  I am owner of the Body Wisdom Massage School here in Des Moines, Iowa and I have also operated as a global spa trainer and indigenous researcher in South East Asia for a few months out of each of the past few years.  An up and coming spa treatment which you may not have heard of but is very, very popular in today’s destination spas in both the US and abroad is called Shirodhara.  Shirodhara is the pouring of warm oil on the forehead for an extended period of time.  Although is may seem quite odd to the uninitiated it is one of the most relaxing experiences that can be had along with a massage or other spa treatment.  The purpose of this 7 part series is to report on my documentation of this traditional Ayurvedic treatment during my trips to India and in parts 6 and 7 still to come to describe the traditional approach as well as recommended adaptions of the original for today’s spa community.  Part of my work in documenting this treatment is as the current Chair of the Asia Pacific Spa and Wellness Task Force on Indigenous Therapies dedicated to documenting and preserving traditional therapies in South East Asia.  See Body Wisdom Global

Thai Massage and Shiatsu Techniques Update #3

Link to Update #1
Link to Update #2

The Thai-Shiatsu Research Project Rhett Hatfield, Director of Education at Body Wisdom and two Body Wisdom Grads, Bridgett Ryan and James Kozuki are engaged in a long term project they are currently calling the “Thai Massage, Shiatsu Research Project”. The purpose of the project is to document all possible Thai Massage techniques from all forms of Thai Massage; Southern, Northern, Jap Sen, Village Barefoot Style and look for parallels to Traditional Shiatsu. The over all intention is to explore ways that Thai Massage and Shiatsu complement one another and to combine the strengths of each into a unified bodywork system for both mat and table. An in-depth look at meridian systems and acupressure points from both systems will be researched as it relates to the treatment of common complaints and conditions found in the average massage and bodywork client.

Body Wisdom Traditional Thai Massage 100 hours
Body Wisdom Shiatsu with Shinzo Fukimaki 100 hours

Seven trips to Thailand and study with a lot of different schools and teachers (by Rhett Hatfield) plus our own experimentation is the basis from which we are working.

In this most recent meeting we explored ways to efficiently and effectively work on the meridians and Thai Sen line of the lateral leg along with a few extras thrown in for good measure.

How to Create a Killer Elevator Speech in Minutes 10-SECOND INTRODUCTIONS

One of the exercises from our 58 Hour Business and Marketing Course for Massage Therapists

Everyone knows they need one, but how to come up with one? Here are three easy to do and FUN exercises.

An “Elevator Speech” is good for brief introductions such as when networking or meeting someone for the first time.  Answers the question “what do you do?”

How to Get a Great Testimonial

Written testimonials can be a powerful way to spotlight your product, business or service.  The only problem seems to be that seemingly you need to rely on luck to get just the right relevant content.  This article discusses some of the traditional and non traditional ways of mining for testimonial gold

One of the exercises from our 58 Hour Business and Marketing Course for Massage Therapists

How to Give a Shirodhara Part #4 Types of Shirodhara and The Traditional Preparation of Medicines

We teach the basics of “How to Give a Shirodhara” in the Body Wisdom Best of Asia Spa Course.

Introduction to the Preparation of Medicines and Liquids for Shirodhara:
One of the most unique aspects of Shirodhara is the wide variety of liquids that can be used to treat the various conditions of the patient.  I refer to patient here rather than client or guest because in the traditional sense there neither was nor is the aspect of Shirodhara as a relaxing “spa-like” treatment.  In ancient India right up to today Shirodhara is prescribed by an Ayurvedic physician as a series of treatments for a specific illness or imbalance in the patient. On the other hand of all of the Ayurvedic treatments the spa industry as adopted Shirodhara is the one most in use and enjoyed by thousands of spa-goers world wide.

Thai Massage, Shiatsu Research Project Update #2 Link to Update #1

The Thai-Shiatsu Research Project Rhett Hatfield, Director of Education at Body Wisdom and two Body Wisdom Grads, Bridgett Ryan and James Kozuki are engaged in a long term project they are currently calling the “Thai Massage, Shiatsu Research Project”. The purpose of the project is to document all possible Thai Massage techniques from all forms of Thai Massage; Southern, Northern, Jap Sen, Village Barefoot Style and look for parallels to Traditional Shiatsu. The over all intention is to explore ways that Thai Massage and Shiatsu complement one another and to combine the strengths of each into a unified bodywork system for both mat and table. An in-depth look at meridian systems and acupressure points from both systems will be researched as it relates to the treatment of common complaints and conditions found in the average massage and bodywork client.

Body Wisdom Traditional Thai Massage 100 hours
Body Wisdom Shiatsu with Shinzo Fukimaki 100 hours

Three videos to follow

How to Give a Shirodhara Part #3 “The Traditional Shirodhara Vessel and Shirodhara Stand”

Composition of the Traditional Shirodhara Pot
One of the most important aspects of a traditional Shirodhara is the Shirodhara pot which needs to be made with great care and understanding.  I am amazed when I see articles on the internet that suggest that a squeeze tube used for basting is an adequate delivery system for Shirodhara instead of a specially designed Shirodhara pot. The traditional Shirodhara pot is actually made of clay much to the surprise of most practitioners.  Yes, a very good pot can be made of copper, brass, silver and even gold but it is said that some liquids used for Shirodhara may not agree with the metals.  This is why many of the most authentic clinics in India still use the clay pots.  However these days many clinics and spas in India have switched to copper or brass or even stainless steel. I myself use both copper and brass and find them both to be very functional and without any problems.

Pictures and text to follow ….