Chapter 5 Looking After Your Hair
Preparing Yourself for Massage
Chapter 7 Muscular Strains and Headaches
Easing Muscle Strain or Injury
Rounded or Raised Shoulders, Concave Chests and Impaired Breathing
Headaches Associated with Fever
Chapter 8 When to Use Head Massage
Epilogue: Indian Head Massage and the Future
CHAPTER 1 The Art of Indian Head Massage
One treatment that is guaranteed to lift you out of the stresses of daily life and provide you with a real cure for those aching, tense neck and shoulder muscles is the ancient art of Indian head massage. Sounds different? It is. This book will teach you how to give superb massages to your partners, friends and work colleagues – and to yourself.
You are a very special person if you can boast immunity to the pressures of modern-day living. Those who fall prey to stress often complain that tension is stored in the shoulder, neck and head areas. Indian head massage is guaranteed to relieve these feelings. The technique has been practised in India for over a thousand years, originally by women who believed that massaging their heads with natural vegetable oils kept their long hair healthy and strong. They were right. Massaging the scalp stimulates the flow of blood to the follicles, improving the supply of nutrients needed for healthy hair growth. Nowadays the most common cause of poor blood flow is stress-generated muscle tension. By helping to dispel such tension, head massage not only improves the condition of your hair, but also provides an invaluable treatment for stress-linked problems like headaches and eyestrain.
The traditional Indian head massage practised by women in India was restricted to the head and hair. However, I have extended the techniques to include the neck, shoulders and upper arms. Indian head massage is a safe, simple, yet effective therapy that not only promotes hair growth, but also provides relief from aches and pains. It is renowned for relieving symptoms of stress. Now you can learn these new techniques, which combine an ancient cultural tradition with the demands of modern living, to use at home.
The head, neck and shoulders are important energy centres within your body. If you are feeling stressed or angry, tension tends to accumulate. This tension can later show up as a stiff neck and shoulders, eye strain and sometimes even hair loss. Indian head massage involves working with a firm and gentle rhythm to help unknot