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What is Indian Head Massage?
Indian Head Massage is a simple, safe and highly beneficial therapy which has been popular throughout the Indian sub-continent for over a thousand years. The receiver sits on a chair or stool, fully clothed, and the session normally lasts about 45 minutes.. Massage of the shoulders, neck, scalp and face, soothes, comforts and rebalances the energy flow to produce a feeling of peace and tranquillity. Additional benefit can be gained from the (optional) use of special oils to nourish the hair roots, promoting improvement in the texture of the hair and even reducing hair loss.
What Head Massage can do for you
The head - more than any other part of your body - most fully represents who you are. It is the centre of your nervous system, the seat of your intelligence and the repository of your identity. If your head feels good, YOU feel good. The skull is covered with a thin layer of muscle which tightens when we're tense, resulting in headaches and feelings of anxiety. By relaxing this muscle, a head massage can improve blood flow, alleviate anxiety and relax your whole body. Your scalp, face, neck and shoulders are all energy centres where tension can accumulate. A combination of rhythmic strokes will soothe and rebalance the energy flow, creating feelings of ease and peace.
The History of Indian Head Massage
Head massage has been practised for over a thousand years in India as a tradition of family grooming. Originally developed by women who used different oils according to the season to keep their hair strong, lustrous and in beautiful condition. Barbers practised many of the same skills when going to individual's houses to cut hair, they would often offer Champi as part of the treatment.
The technique is highly favoured among Indian women who believe that regular head massage with natural vegetable oils keeps their long hair strong and healthy.
The massage was developed by Narendra Mehta who, although blinded from the age of one, is an accomplished Osteopath, Physiotherapist and Massage Therapist. Mr Mehta came to London to study Physiotherapy during the 1970's and was dismayed to discover that massage treatments always stopped at the neck, even full body massage!
In 1978, he decided to return to India and research head massage wherever it was practised. During his journey, he found the methods used varied from person to person. The barbers would concentrate on his scalp, while his mother and her women friends focused on treating the hair. In addition, everyone who worked with him had his or her own individual technique, which had been handed down and developed through the generations. Mr Mehta decided to begin to formalise what he was experiencing and used the knowledge of his massage training to discover which part of his body reacted most positively to various moves. Because of his blindness his other senses are very finely tuned and he was able to concentrate with complete absorption on the effect the massage was having. By this means Narendra Mehta was able to devise a therapy that would bring the greatest relief to the multitude of problems concentrated in the head and soon concluded that the therapy would benefit by being extended to include not only the head but also the neck, shoulders and upper arms.
Narendra Mehta has continued to develop and expand his techniques over the years. One of the most important developments being the introduction of an Ayurvedic element of chakra energy balancing and the extension of the massage element to include massage of the face and ears to enhance the overall effect.
The Benefits of Head Massage
Indian head massage does not diagnose or cure, but promotes the mental and physical conditions necessary to foster positive good health and prevent ill health.
Physical Benefits |
Mental Benefits |
Significant improvement is noticed in the following conditions:
• Migraine
• Sinusitis
• Nightmares
• Insomnia and disturbed sleep
• Temporo-mandibular Joint Tension (TMJ syndrome), often caused by grinding or clenching the teeth
• Tinitus |
Indian Head Massage promotes:
• A sense of calmness, peace and tranquility
• A release from anxiety
• Relief from depression
• High levels of concentration
• Clearer thinking
• Sound sleep
• The release of stagnant energy
• Chakra balancing and energetic healing |
Contra-Indications
Indian head massage is one of the safest forms of therapy known. However, there are certain circumstances when massage should be avoided.
Fever/high temperature though illness |
Intoxication |
Suffering from food poisoning |
Very high or low blood pressure |
Recent surgery/injuries to the local area (swelling/bruising to local area) |
Painful cysts |
Psoriasis or weeping eczema |
Chronic arthritis of the upper spine |
Osteoporosis |
Epilepsy |
Severe Asthma |
Chronic fatigue |
Spondylitis or spondylosis in the neck |
Disorders of the nervous system |
History of thrombosis or embolism |
Aneurosa (localised dilation of the blood vessels) |
Any potential fatal condition, such as Cancer |
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