Discover the wonders of Shiro Dhara and how to maximize them in your spa!
The Shiro Dhara treatment is fast becoming the most talked-about and most-requested Ayurvedic treatment offered by leading-edge health spas and alternative health practitioners. Find out more about this incredible warm oil treatment, its benefits, and the equipment you need to offer this service to your clients.
The Royal Treatment
The word "Shiro" means head, and the word "Dhara" means stream. This beautiful, deeply relaxing treatment involves pouring a stream of warm herb-infused oil over the forehead. Shiro Dhara is a powerful treatment for relieving mental stress and nervous tension. Shiro Dhara works primarily on the mental sheath, or "manomaya kosha" as it is referred to in Ayurveda. It is here that the mind holds on to past impressions that create imbalanced desires and habitual patterns of behavior. These impressions are held captive in the limbic system of the emotional cortex of the brain. Source: The Encyclopedia of Ayurvedic Massage, Dr. John Douillard.
Benefits of Shiro Dhara
According to Ayurveda, Shiro Dhara deeply relaxes the nervous system, lowers metabolism, integrates brain function, and creates brain wave coherence and an alpha state. When the brain is under stress, cerebral circulation is compromised. As herb-infused oil is poured on the forehead, the nervous system is deeply stilled. The brain waves slow down and become coherent. Once the brain is quiet, more life energy, oxygen, and other nutrients flow freely to the brain. The result is better brain function, mood stability, and stress-handling ability. With each successive Shiro Dhara treatment, the mind systematically achieves an even deeper state of silence, and more healing takes place. Regular treatments are said to increase blood circulation to the brain, improve memory, nourish the hair and scalp, encourage sound sleep, and calm the body and mind.
Oils To Use
Herb-infused sesame oil is the traditional oil used for Shiro Dhara. Other oils or liquids, such as coconut oil, olive oil, milk, or even buttermilk, are sometimes used as well. For example, coconut oil has a more cooling effect than sesame oil. So, someone with a lot of pitta (excess heat) in their system might benefit more from a Shiro Dhara that uses coconut oil. Milk Shiro Dharas are also very cooling and are especially beneficial in the summer. If you do not have adequate training to determine which oil or liquid is most appropriate for a particular client, then we recommend using cold-pressed organic sesame oil or organic Shiro Dhara oil.
Practice Tips
- Provide adequate neck and back support for your clients
- Conduct the treatment in silence
- Make sure the room is warm and quiet.
- Maintain the oil temperature between 95- and 100-degrees Fahrenheit (98-99 are considered the ideal temperatures).
- The stream of oil should be thick and heavy, not thin and light
- Use a copper bowl, if available, to balance all three doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha (Copper is most effective for vata imbalances, which is the cause of imbalance for many Westerners.)
- Maintain a continuous stream of oil (Do not stop and start)
- Move the oil in the pattern indicated for the dosha imbalance (See Recommended Resources)
- Protect your floor, neck cradle, and massage table from oil splashes.
- Buy bulk organic oil to lower your costs since you may use up to two quarts of oil per treatment. However, instead of discarding the used oil, give it to the client for self-massage at home.
- Get hands-on training and practice with family and friends until you can perform the treatment seamlessly.
Recommended Resources
The Encyclopedia of Ayurvedic Massage, Dr. John Douillard
This is an excellent reference tool for learning Ayurvedic body treatments, including massage, Shiro Dhara, and Swedhana. It also shows the basic patterns a practitioner should use when pouring the oil on the forehead for Shiro Dhara. Its simple, easy-to-follow instructions with illustrations make this an invaluable reference for a beginning Ayurvedic practitioner. 310 pages.
Price: $25.00
Price: $25.00
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“The Steamy Wonder Spa™ exceeds the therapeutic effectiveness promised by the ancient science of Ayurveda with technological advancements that have taken ancient principles of "steam" to a new level of comfort and benefit. It is the only steam system I will use."— John Douilard
Swedhana is an individually herb-infused steam bath, during which the head and the heart are kept cool while the body is heated to remove mental, emotional, and physical toxins lodged deeply within the tissues. The cool head and heart provide a sense of calm and openness, while the therapeutic steam over the entire body can penetrate and cleanse deeply without the body becoming overheated and stressed.
John Douillard, D.C., Ph.D. is the author of The Encyclopedia of Ayurvedic Massage. He is also the director of LifeSpa, an Ayurvedic Panchakarma and Retreat Center in Boulder, Colorado. Visit www.LifeSpa.com to learn more about him.
Swedhana is an individually herb-infused steam bath, during which the head and the heart are kept cool while the body is heated to remove mental, emotional, and physical toxins lodged deeply within the tissues. The cool head and heart provide a sense of calm and openness, while the therapeutic steam over the entire body can penetrate and cleanse deeply without the body becoming overheated and stressed.
John Douillard, D.C., Ph.D. is the author of The Encyclopedia of Ayurvedic Massage. He is also the director of LifeSpa, an Ayurvedic Panchakarma and Retreat Center in Boulder, Colorado. Visit www.LifeSpa.com to learn more about him.