Ayurveda is the science of life. It teaches us
to become aware of ourselves in relation to our
environment and the world around us. It teaches
us to be aware of our energetic constitution and
be in harmony with what we eat, hear, feel,
smells and more. It is a science that is not
just focused on extending the live live it fully
and in harmony with cosmos.
Ayurveda is based on reading the body by the
elements of nature and understanding which
elements (space, air fire, water, and earth)
have predominance in an individual's energetic
constitution. Dis-ease according to Ayurveda is
an imbalance of one's energetic constitution.
Ayurvedic assessment gives us understanding of
which elements are out of balance which then
helps to create a plan to bring the harmony back
into living being.
Ayurveda places great emphasis on prevention and
maintenance of health through close attention of
balance in one's life, right life-style, herbs,
bodywork therapies. The two very effective
bodywork therapies are
Abhyanga and Marma.
Marma are places in the body-mind where Purusha
(consciousness) is united with Prakritti (body)
to bring living being. Marams are the crossing
points of conciusness currents in our body-mind.
Marmas are places where mind, life-force (prana)
and consciousness (or awareness) interface and
crossover. There most common application is
healing bodywork. They are also very important
in Yoga, tantra and meditation.
Yogi
Yajnavalkya (1800 BC) was one the first
ancient yogi to talk about the 108 Marmas and
their use in healing and for enhancing the
consciousness.
Sushruta (6th BC) described in (Sushruta
Samhita) the detail of all the 108 Marmas
and their usage in surgery and healing.
I
have been fortunate to learn the art of Marma
healing in it's traditional form from a Nath
yogi (linage of
Yogi Gorakhnath), in my birth state of
Gujarat, and also from
Dr. Vasant Lad (preeminent Ayurvedic
Physician and Professor of Ayurveda, in
Albuquerque, NM) in the tradition of
Sushruta.
108 Marmas
Nadis and Marmas
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