Anita Kaushal is the founder of Mauli Rituals, which creates all-natural and organic Ayurvedic beauty blends for the hair, skin and soul. I absolutely love their products and ethos. In our Chai Time chat, Anita spoke about the benefits of the marma points on the face, how to do a marma face massage and the benefits of each point – deeper than the skin!
I’ve actually written about marma points in my book Prajna – here’s the extract: Marma comes from the Sanskrit word mru, to kill. Years, ago, warriors had knowledge of these points in order to kill their enemies, but this knowledge was also utilised by physicians for healing the wounded. The focus of marma point massage is to manipulate the prana (energy), and on a physical level, to alleviate still muscles and boost circulation. There are said to be 107 marma points on the body, with the mind as the 108th. Massage of these points, called marma therapy, removes blockages and opens up the energy channels in the body. I first did marma therapy in an Ayurvedic resort in Kerala and felt an intense relief throughout the process. The therapy was strong and quite painful, but the good kind of pain. Afterwards I had a feeling of utter lightness, a new sense of freedom and movement.
The actual marma points are given on a diagram on page189 of Prajna and each one is explained.
What are marma points?
Marma points are anatomical points in the body, where two tissues meet. Stress – or even the food we eat – can cause these points to become blocked, which in turn prevents the flow of prana (vital life energy) in the body, leaving us feeling sluggish. When you practice marma therapy on your face you’re able to unblock these points and activate different areas of the body.
How to practice marma therapy on yourself?
You start by adding 3-4 drops of oil into the palm of your hands and gently tapping this over your face. Remember to do your neck but avoid the middle section as this is where your thyroid gland is, and you don’t want to disturb it. After this, take a moment to inhale the divine smell of the oil, be grateful, breath and commit to being present in this healing experience.
To find marma points, look at all the hollow points in your body, for example under your collar bone, or on your chin. Use your index and middle finger to massage the marma points anticlockwise, which detoxifies the body, followed by clockwise, which energises the body.
When do you do this?
If you do this healing ritual for around 5 minutes each morning, you will see results within a week, it really is an all-natural facelift.
Watch the video here – and don’t forget to comment if you love it – and share with friends or anyone you think might benefit from it.
You can use any natural oil for this massage but I really do love Mauli’s face oils – find them here