Many persons use oils for massage. This tutorial will show you how to properly prepare organic or vegetable oils to get the best effects from their use, according to Ayurvedic Medicine. By organic oils I mean oils from seeds, nuts fuits etc. not mineral oils.
What Type of oil is best
Organic oils are preferred for massage because they are prepared from edible food sources and contain the vitamins, antioxidants and other nutrients which would nourish our bodies if the foods were eaten.
The preferred oil is cold pressed sesama oil, other oils which are recommended are coconut oil and almond oil. Coconut oil is especially good for the hair and almond oil is good for softening the skin. Sesame oil has more of an overall nourishing value to the entire body.
There are many propriety blends available on the market sold for massage and toning the skin. I cannot comment on them so I leave them up to your discretion.
Preparation Of The Oil Otherwise Called Curing The Oil
Generally cold pressed oils are preferred because they retain more of the nutrients but we won’t debate that at this point.
Once you have chosen your oil it is important to prepare it for use as a massage oil. How the oil is prepared before using determines how penetrating it is and how much nutrients become available to us.
This method of preparing the oil is taken from Ayurved, a 5000 year old system of natural medicine which originated in India and is called curing the oil.. Curing the oil makes it penetrate deeper into the tissues where it provides more nourishment and also enables the flushing out of toxins.
Curing involves heating the oil to the boiling point of water for a short priod of time and letting it cool to a comfortable temperature before using or storing.
These instructions are for a pint or quart (1 litre) of oil. The instructions ae the same for other amounts with one caveat. The larger the amount of oil used the longer it takes to cure and you may get impatient and raise the temperature of the heat source too high and may scorch the oil.
Lets say we are curing one pint or half a litre of oil, then use a quart sized pot. Put the oil in the pot and put one drop of water in the pot. The water, being heavier than oil, will sink to the bottom of the pot. Put it on a medium heat and watch the pot, don’t go reading the newspapers or watching TV because as soon as the oil reaches the correct temperature the drop of water will boil off very quickly. It will pop up from the bottom of the pot with a popping or sizzling sound. At that point the oil is ready and the heat should be turned off and the oil allowed to cool.
CAUTION
If you put too much water in the pot the water can explode as it rises up and splatter hot oil all over. If the oil is heated too much, especially to the smoking point then the quality changes and makes it less suitable for human consumption. If you shouldn’t have it in your stomach it is better to not have it on your skin.
Storage Of The Cured Oil
When the oil is cooled to room temperature it can be stored in a plastic squeeze bottle and kept in a cool place until ready for use.
Using The Cured Oil
When you art ready to use the oil, first prepare a pot of warm water enough to almost cover the botthe. Put the bottle in the warm water for several minutes until the oil becomes warm. It should be a comfortable warmth, not luke warm or too hot.
It can be used for massage of the body, the hair and the teeth and gums. Massage of the teeth and gums is called oil pulling.
Later posts will give more instructions on doing the oil massage and oil pulling and their benefits.
Stay Tuned.