I’ve had all sorts of massages in different parts of the world – I’ve been pummelled in Penang, pressed in Phuket, mauled in Manila, stretched in Sarawak and walked upon in Wakayama. However I consider Ayurveda to be the king of massages. This is mainly because Ayurveda is an entire health science concerning life balance and total well being. In the massage process itself, the main difference is the use of medicinal herbs in the massage oil.
The use of roots, bark, leaves and flowers of herbs and plants has been perfected in Ayurvedic medicine as a result of thousands of years of research.. There are over 1,000 different concoctions in use. Most of the ingredients have unpronounceable names that the majority of us have never heard of but some of the more familiar herbs are:
sacred basil – for fevers, colds and poisonous bites
mimosa pudica – for asthma, allergies
coleus amboinicus – for indigestion, coughs
peppermint – soothes aches, pains and sinusitis
coriandrum sativum – for prickly heat
plumbago rosea – for pimples.