Abyhanga: The Ayurvedic Ritual That Softens Everything

There is an Ayurvedic practice that has super powers still overlooked in our culture. So much of what Ayurveda preaches is finally being picked up by our Western Science, but this one is not mainstream at all. With practical purpose and metaphorical might, it can be a game changer.

Abyhanga - the art of Ayurvedic Self Massage. 

At Sister Science we purposefully shift away from "Go, go, go", and honour the natural rhythms of nourishment, replenishment, and restoration. One of the most potent practices that supports this shift is Abhyanga.

Abhyanga invites us to slow down, listen inward, and reconnect with our bodies through the deeply grounding ritual of oleation. We intentionally step out of patterns of depletion and cultivate awarm, steady, and deeply resourced relationship with ourselves.

In the winter it activates a superpower - grounded energy. The rich layer of oil, coating your body, gives you protection from negative energy, triggering people, and abrasive situations. Oil's medicated balm will build your Ojas, capacity, to walk through this cold dry season with juiciness.

Oleation: Hydration, But with Oil

Oleation is hydration - except with oil instead of water. We need internal hydration (water) and internal oleation (often from ghee or healthy oils). But we also need external oleation, which is where Abhyanga becomes a daily or weekly form of nourishment.

Hydration feeds our tissues with moisture, and oleation feeds the tissues with lubrication - helping the body stay supple, resilient, and balanced. Hydration cools and soothes, oleation warms and softens. Together they create the foundation of a well-nourished physiology.

Oleation is not just about the oil itself. It’s about the way oil supports the nervous system, steadies the mind, and coaxes the body back toward a sense of wholeness.

Why Abhyanga Matters

Abhyanga is a ritual. When practiced with intention we connect to ourselves, present to pieces of us often ignored. When we apply oil with attention and care we communicate safety to our nervous system and offer ourselves a practice of longevity, resilience and nourishment.

It softens what has become rigid. It steadies what has become scattered. It warms what has become cold. It reminds us that healing is a return to innate knowledge, an inner wisdom that already know what needs to be done. It is not something we have to chase, it is something our body knows what to do when we give it time and space, and a little support.

Choosing Your Oil

Oil is the medium that helps you give your body what it has often been asking for: attention, warmth, and care.

Choosing that oil is simple - what does your body need?

Think warmth or cooling. In our climate most of us need warmth this season. But a few with highly allergic and reactive skin, and a body temp that runs warm may want cooling.

• Ghee is deeply sattvic, nourishing, and supportive for the tissues.
• Sesame oil is warming and grounding, ideal for Vata imbalance and cold seasons (Sunistanai Body Oil is my locally created, small batch, blessed oil)
• Coconut oil is cooling, soothing, and supportive for excess heat.
• I also love Apricot, Almond, Argon, Sunflower. You can make your own by blending with Grapeseed Oil and adding your own essential oils. 

The point is to choose and oil, and then apply with intention, presence and love.

Abhyanga is a gateway to our Shift in Consciousness

Abhyanga interrupts any narrative of urgency. It invites us past the surface into a true knowing of ourselves. We are shift from a paradigm of taking care of everyone else first to a paradigm of sustainable, embodied energy.

When we take the time to oil the body, we send a quiet but powerful message to the mind:

My time is valuable. My energy is precious. I deserve care that is slow and intentional.

 A Simple Abhyanga Practice

• Warm your oil until it’s gently comforting to the touch. Some people use baby bottle warmers in their bathroom. It is a great hack. 
• Move down the body with long strokes on the limbs and circular motions on the joints.
• Take your time around the abdomen, moving in clockwise circles to support digestion.
• Let the oil absorb for 10–20 minutes, allowing the nervous system to settle and receive.
• Shower, the oil was your soap, pulling toxins, dirt, sweat away, as it nourished your skin; let a thin layer remain. Pat dry. Alternately, you can also shower first, oil, and leave it on... in our 0% humidity climate it soaks in fast - it is not the ancient practice but it is mine, and it works well). 
• Be present, connect to your body, your hands on your skin is a powerful healer. 

This is one way we "listen to our body"

Abhyanga is ultimately about relationship - not routine. It’s about how we relate to time, to our energy, and to ourselves. We need to re-enforce that nourishment is not indulgent; it is foundational.

Through oleation, we soften the barriers between us and our own vitality. We become more attuned, more receptive, more grounded. And we build a life that honours the rhythms of our bodies rather than overrides them. As this practice softens our edges we feel the layer of protection and grounding that replaces our sharp corners and heavy armour.

Creating time and space for this slow intentional ritual shift our entire way of being. Abhyanga is one of Ayurveda’s most beautiful invitations into self love.

It is a superpower you can develop, access, build - all on your own. YOU with YOU. Give it a month and let me know how you feel your new superpower.

 I promise, it is worth it.

xoxo

Jill