Massage

In 1977, I lived for half a year in a small yoga ashram in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala. The guru of the ashram was a doctor of Sidhi medicine, a branch of ayurveda that focuses specifically on massage (it also includes a martial arts form).

Dr. Pillai used a great many different forms of massage. The one I had on two separate occasions is prescribed for general well-being and improved circulation and runs for an hour each day for ten consecutive days. The patient lies on a long wooden table. The masseur holds onto a rope suspended from the ceiling and uses his or her feet to massage, running them up and down the length of the patient’s body (which has been oiled with ayurvedic herbal oils), half an hour on the front and half an hour on the back, never stopping. It is pure pleasure for the patient, but, better still, it brings an incredible sense of well-being, of suppleness, of energy. And for ten days, the patient has an appetite that knows no bounds, ideal for Kerala.