It is with great pleasure that I am bringing back the guest blog series that I started last year!
Every other Saturday I will be releasing a beautifully written post by someone in my life who has a ritual, experience, gift to share with us. My aim is to open my space to include others’ insights and inspiration. A reminder that we all have something to share.
This week we have the lovely Sarah Martin, one of my dearest girlfriends who brings joy, support, and nourishment to my life. I thank the stars for her each and everyday.
She’ll be touching on Ayurvedic practices and talking about the importance of warm oil massages and how she uses Earthbody to create this ritual. This post is for all humans looking to create loving rituals in their lives.
Grab a cup of tea and enjoy,
MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE self-care practice for the dry and brittle seasons of Fall and Winter is giving myself a luxurious Abhyanga warm oil massage with the Earthbody oil by Root Rise Farm Apothecary. In India and in Ayurvedic tradition, the word for oil, sneha, translates into love. Isn't that just divine! Oil is infused in every daily practice in Ayurvedic traditions, as it is how love is carried into our bodies and nourishes our spirit. Ayurveda also explains that Fall and early Winter are vata inducing seasons of the year, which means we are more susceptible to experiencing vata-like conditions in the body. When vata is dominant, we experience joint tension, digestive stress, dry skin, coldness, headaches, lymph stagnation, flighty attitudes, shortness of breath, and and an overall un-grounded feeling. I commonly lean towards a vata dominance in my dosha, especially in the Fall, so it is crucial for my entire well-being to keep up with my vata pacifying self-care practices, and all of these practices involve as much beneficial warm oils as possible.
Other than adding extra olive oil on top of all my foods and dosing up on fatty bone broth, an Abhyanga massage deeply pacifies vata and induces a feeling of being beautifully connected to the heat of the earth once again. After my self-massage, I feel incredibly warm, lubricated and grounded to my core. Using Root Rise's Earthbody oil is PERFECT for this practice because it is the most amazing combination of herbs to bring my energy back into my truest essence and remind me where I came from. Not only are all of these herbs so beneficial for repairing our skin surface, these herbs work synergistically to align my energy centers into harmony: Yarrow closes my aura to all but my higher self, Queen Anne's Lace reminds me that I am a true Queen of light, and Tulsi sweetly carries me back into the soils of my truth. It is the perfect combination of herbs for anyone experiencing vata dominance, and really for anyone who wants to lather Earth love into their being.
How To:
To begin my Abhyanga self-massage, I start by boiling water and pouring it into a short and wide mug/bowl. I then create a simplified double-broiler by placing a smaller cup/jar into the cup of boiling water, and pour my Earth Body oil into that jar. This ensures that the oil warms but does not boil. Before beginning my massage, I allow myself to be naked in a warm room and place a towel underneath me so I do not stain oil on my belongings. I would also recommend beginning by dry brushing your skin to exfoliate and open up the lymphatic system. I will also add that setting the mood is half the magic! I love to massage myself in candle light listening to sweet hymns to accompany my journey. Then begins the massage.
I begin at my ever-so-important feet, as my feet keep me moving forward and grounded with each step. I make sure to get in between each toe, around my ankle bones, and dig into the bottoms of my feet. I hope to allow myself extra time here, as we all know the deliciousness of a good foot massage. I work up to my calves, which is where we experience balance and strength in our step. Then I give a lot of attention to my knees, as this is a place that tends to feel the first signs of vata dominance. I thank spirit for my knees, as they keep us moving forward and flexible in our pursuits. I then work up my quadriceps and my pelvic region. As a woman, I focus on my womb space, clearing away any appearance of stagnation and tightness with downward strokes. I then massage my buttocks and lower back in upwards strokes, moving the lymph and easing any tension in my back that I commonly experience when in a vata-dominant state. Then I move to my belly, my favorite place to love up on! Vata dominance can really show its head in the way we digest the world. By creating clockwise circles on my stomach, I help ease any digestive stress and infuse my belly with so much love. I then move to my breasts. This is where so much of our lymph lives and wishes to be moved. I work from my underarms towards my heart, working through any tightness and pain. By massaging our breasts we open the portals of our hearts to the warmth of love once again. I then move to my hands and wrists, working between each of the fingers. Each of our fingers can relate to all functions of the body, and by loving our fingers we synchronistically love all parts of us. I work up my arms, loving my forearms, loving my elbows, and loving my beautiful biceps. Once I am at my shoulders, I make sure to focus on the tops of the shoulder ridge. This is where we carry the weight of the world, and by loving this area I slowly release my tensions of the day. Once I have worked my way up my neck, I put oil in and around my ears. I am reminded of the many different traditions in the world that show us of the harmonic power that lie in the pressure points of our ears. Some would say that it is also important to massage oil into your scalp as well. I tend to partake in this only when I know I will have a home day, or when I am menstruating, as oil on the top of your head deeply energizes your spleen meridian, providing us warm nourishment in times of releasing. I lastly nourish the cells of my beautiful face. This is a place, for me personally because of past injuries, where I am triggered most potently in tension and holding. My jaw is my friend in that when it is in pain, it is always there to guide me into divine right action for the betterment of my ease and grace. I love to massage care-fully into the muscles in my jaw, and usually end up using my gua sha tool to really get into the flow of releasing. Mmmmhhhmm, this is the most glorious feeling, I urge you to really spend the time to love your jaw muscles on a day-to-basis. To top it off, I always make sure to oil the inside of my nose, where breath enters the body and carries the essence of each moment within. Then, I sit still. I go inwards. I thank the heavens for the life that lives me. This is a sacred sarahmony; a precious gift to myself that connects me to the God within me because the God within me wishes to feel nourished and held. This is one way I give back to myself, always receiving exactly the gift of balance and harmony I was deeply calling for.
After about 15-30 minutes, I take a short warm shower, followed by a short burst of freezing cold water all over me. This hydrotherapy technique really allows the oil to fully penetrate the skin on a deeper level, and then lock it in with a closure of our pores with cold water. OoOoOo am I usually feeling so alive now! I slowly end my sensual session by patting my skin dry, spritzing with a hydrosol, slipping into something cozy and melt like honey into the rest of my evening. I wish I had an endless supply of this DIVINE Earthbody oil, because I would love to truly swim in it every day if I could. For now, enacting this practice 1-2 times a week is a blessed life. In times of illness, stagnation, or deep healing, I would recommend an Abhyanga warm oil massage every day, as it moves and nourishes so much of our lymphatic and nervous system. I most notably know about this massage as a cross-cultural practice for really accelerating all aspects of the healing process for postpartum mothers.
I wish you well on your journey of healing and discovery, and I hope that I have inspired a deeper exploration within the care of the self. Lots of love <3.
Thank you sweet Sarah for sharing your practice with us!
If you want to be in connection with this sweet gal, find her @sacred.sarahmony
She is a Jin Shin Practitioner, Post Partum Doula, among many many other gifts and practices!
Please leave any questions or comments below!