Imagine that all it takes is a ten-second gentle touch to set off or cure ailments like headaches. “It’s possible,” says Ayurvedic doctor Nisha Manikantan in conversation with Agnieszka Rostkowska.
Ayurveda, the art of healthy living from India, is gaining more and more adherents around the world. It’s a small wonder: this holistic system presupposes that we ourselves have the greatest impact on our health, and by using simple techniques we can improve our well-being. These include marma therapy, which involves putting delicate pressure on certain points on the body, setting in motion natural mechanisms to restore both physical and mental balance.
Agnieszka Rostkowska: Every fall sees the celebration of Ayurveda Day. This holiday was established seven years ago in India, and gains traction with every passing year. What’s it like?
Nisha Manikantan: Ayurveda Day is celebrated around the anniversary of the god of medicine, Dhanvantari; this year it falls on November 11. The biggest ceremonies take place in New Delhi, where the All India Institute of Ayurveda was first established in 2016, on the day the holiday was created, to develop and popularize this system. They publish the Journal of Ayurveda Case Reports, a quarterly describing clinical cases that have been cured with Ayurveda. A medical conference is held in the capital every year, during which doctors share their experiences and their research. The greatest specialists are given prizes, such as the National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Award. For a week, the whole country hosts premieres of Ayurvedic books and products, as well as workshops, lectures, and numerous initiatives to promote Ayurveda. And indeed, there are more and more every time: last year, we had the first chance to participate in an India-wide competition for Ayurveda knowledge. At that time, I was in Argentina promoting a Spanish-language edition of my book, Ayurveda Simplified. The popularity of this medical system is growing around the world because the internet has so greatly facilitated the spread of knowledge—heaps of workshops and lectures are open and held online. Numerous schools and institutions teaching Ayurveda have been opened in many countries, particularly those in Europe.
Yet one might get the feeling that Ayurveda is only taking its first baby steps in the West, while in India it is mainstream medicine.
Ayurveda was born on the Indian subcontinent where it was used as the basic medical system for centuries, applied in every facet of life. In recent years, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it proved itself useful and effective once more—it was widely used both in prevention and in easing the course of the illness. Today, India has over 250 schools educating future Ayurvedic doctors, and over one thousand Ayurvedic hospitals. I work in one of them, the Sri Sri College of Ayurvedic Science and Research Hospital, founded in 2004 in Bengaluru, in the south of the country. This is a multi-specialist unit with several divisions, including gynecology and pediatrics, and over two hundred beds. Our mission is a holistic approach to wellness, integrating Ayurveda with modern medicine. I direct the Cancer Care Department, where patients are seen by a staff that includes oncologists and Ayurvedic doctors. On the one hand, we have a modern diagnostic laboratory, X-ray and ultrasound labs, and an emergency ward with its own fleet of ambulances. On the other, we have naturopath departments, therapeutic yoga, and Panchakarma, a therapy that cleanses the body with methods like vamana (curative vomiting), virechana (cleansing through the intestines), basti (enema cure), nasya (nasal medicine), and rakta mokshana (blood cleansing). Ayurveda is largely based on herbal cures, which is why our hospital produces its own herbal medicines, and the Sri Sri Tattva research team develops special prescriptions, such as those for improving immunity or for the respiratory system. All together, we use over one hundred different herbs.
Herbs in hospital treatment? The common opinion is that their effect is negligible, and that they take a long time to work.
That’s not entirely true. There are herbs with powerful properties: antibacterial, antiviral, and febrifugal, which work in treating illnesses such as malaria or typhoid fever. We also know of herbs that strengthen certain internal organs; for example, bhumyamalaki is used for hepatic steatosis, or even hepatitis.
Some of them even work instantly. Using tulsi for a cold automatically eliminates symptoms such as a fever and cough, regardless of whether it is taken as a tablet, a tea, or in drops of concentrate. We can swiftly help our digestive system with hingwashtak churna—dissolve half a teaspoon of powder in warm water and drink it to relieve stomach problems. These herbs are widely available in Europe.
But we also have herbs whose effects are felt only after a few weeks, or even months. This is because, apart from combating the symptoms of the illness, they also target its causes. In one person, a cough is a symptom of a failing respiratory system, in another, the immune system, and in a third, the result of ailments picked up in childhood. This is why the time and course of therapy in patients complaining of the same affliction can differ significantly. In Ayurveda, we do not treat the illness, we treat the person.
One of your specialties is the marma method. What does that involve?
It assumes that every person has vital, or life energy inside of them, which Ayurveda calls prana shakti, or simply prana. This energy is in constant motion, it flows throughout the body in energy channels, or nadis. These have points, or marma, that serve as energy centers, and each of them—there are 107 in total—is closely tied to a certain gland, organ, tissue, or system. This is why stimulating these points through touch allows us to affect certain organs and systems, through which the body’s natural self-healing mechanisms are engaged.
That sounds quite reminiscent of acupressure and reflexology.
Yes, all those techniques are based on stimulating similar points on the body, though not quite the same ones. In marma we use several kinds of stimulation, sketched in detail in the specialist publications—the crux is a delicate touch, but when it comes to certain states and illnesses we will also use rotating movements, massage, pressure, or tapping.
How long does it take to learn to heal through touch?
The basics of marma can be picked up in a two-month theory and practice course. This only qualifies you for self-treatment, however; only Ayurvedic doctors are qualified to treat patients. It seems like a simple technique, yet the marma points are remarkably sensitive. Sometimes it takes just a few seconds of a precise touch to get the desired effect. Yet there are also points that require a longer stimulation, of up to five minutes. Treatment can be intensified using oils like essential oils. For instance, on points that are stimulated to help you fall asleep, you put chamomile oil, and on those that cool the body to lower a fever, you put sandalwood oil. Marma points can also be heated, rubbed with herbal ointments, and stimulated by practicing yoga, meditation, or mantras.
How many points on the body are stimulated through this procedure?
It depends on the ailment. For a headache, one touch to two points on the temples will do: we make a circular movement seven times clockwise, then we keep our eyes closed for a moment, our hands in a mudra with our fingers set a particular way. With chronic problems we may need to work systematically on many points at once, for a month, perhaps. Marma is also a typical relaxation technique, specifically recommended for those who are always in a hurry or stressed. Professional treatments are already available in Poland. A single session lasts around forty minutes, after which the patient keeps lying down for around ten minutes to integrate the experience. Although the treatment itself is quite gentle, its effects are quite profound.
The power of marma is in its delicacy. How could you explain this?
Ayurveda assumes that, in addition to our physical body, we have a subtle body. Although we cannot see it, we can feel it; for instance, during meditation we may sense our aura expanding. Marma works on the subtle body. That is why marma therapists should practice regular meditation and pranayama, or breathing exercises. The treatment has a curative effect only when it is done in a meditative state of mind.
Do we need quiet and concentration? Is it all right to massage those points while watching television?
Sure, but then the effect is not so strong. There are also situations and ailments that make it hard to enter a meditative state—for instance, when we have a strong headache. This does not mean that it makes no sense to do marma at this stage—on the contrary!
And what is a meditative state of mind, or meditation as such?
Meditation is about turning inward. It can involve observing your thoughts, breathing, or repeating special sounds—that is, mantras. All these techniques help us calm our mind, which by nature is in constant motion. If you just sit and close your eyes, you probably will not immediately be able to enter a state of meditation, of peace and concentration, in which you can look deep inside yourself. You need the tools to help you, such as those from the yogic teachings of pranayama. You might notice that when you’re stressed, your breathing is sharp and shallow, and when you feel relaxed, it is deeper and more drawn out. If you consciously slow it down, you activate the parasympathetic part of the nervous system responsible for relaxing and soothing the body. In this way, your breathing has an immediate effect on your emotional and mental state—it can change your frame of mind. According to Ayurveda, your health depends not only on a properly functioning body, but also a calm and focused mind. Ayurveda plainly says: you are the master of your own health.
Nisha Manikantan: Ayurvedic Doctor, Chief Consultant for the Cancer and Diabetes Care Program at the Sri Sri College of Ayurvedic Science and Research Hospital; dietetics and wellness expert.
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