(caption: when you’ve thoroughly oiled your head and still want to get out for an afternoon walk…)
self-massage, also known as Abhyanga, is an ancient Ayurvedic practice with impressive benefits. it’s worth nothing that the Sanskrit word for oil, sneha, is also one of the words for love.
oil (well-sourced, organic) applied to the skin is phenomenally nourishing, on many levels. as part of my own self-massage practice, i’ve incorporated oiling my scalp one or two times a week. it’s something i used to resist a lot, even when every Ayurvedic practitioner I saw suggested it to help with migraines.
if you can believe this ~ i even had a dream once in which i was having a one-on-one visit with a world-renowned Ayurvedic physician, a man with extraordinary, powerful healing knowledge and wisdom. in the visit, he explicitly instructed me to do this practice, and i had just washed my hair, so i rejected the advice. oof.
but over time, i could hear my intuition speaking more and more clearly, guiding me to the practice… allowing me to embrace it from a place of love. my head literally wanted to be doused in oils.
Ayurveda teaches us to observe qualities: dry, wet; rough, smooth; hot, cold, etc. this ancient science promotes an elegant yet simple principle for working with these qualities: like increases like, and opposites bring balance. living in the desert brings the experience of dryness to a new level, and in the end, it’s hard to escape the common-sense wisdom of using the lubricating qualities of oil to balance those qualities! so i started to comply.
i use bhringraj oil ~ especially supportive for my pitta-type migraines. (incidentally, it’s also useful for hair loss). i apply it liberally to my scalp. i massage it in. and i leave it on for 20 minutes to several hours. i’ve even been known to leave it in overnight, bandana on, with an old towel on my pillow.
it is a LOVELY practice. nourishing on so many levels. done regularly, along with the simple habits of self-care that have become a part of my life over the past few years, it has made a big difference with my headaches.
what we put on our scalps ~ and skin, of course ~ makes its way into our system. what we put on our bodies matters, just as much as what we put in them. hair follicles are particularly efficient at absorbing substances that are topically applied. studies have found that compounds applied to the scalp show up swiftly in the bloodstream of the central nervous system. amazing. it feels so good to give myself medicine in this way.
those who know me are aware that my hair can be a little… unpredictable. i never quite know how it will behave. but it has calmed down a good deal with this practice. it is visibly happier and healthier.
want to give it a try? i hope you will!
pro tip:
whenever you do wash the oil out, don’t get your head wet before applying the shampoo. or just get a teeny bit of water on there, then lather up. you may need two shampooings. BUT you won’t need conditioner. at all. i kid you not. it’s a bit counterintuitive to do things in this order… oil first, then shampoo, skip the conditioner. but it works like a charm. at least for me.
and i love it so much, i will venture out rocking a bandana over my oily hairs as needed at this point. i think of it as my axl-rose-meets-Ayurveda kind of a look 
pro tip #2:
buy some cheap bandanas. dedicate them to the cause. wash (with borax if desired) with your abhyanga towels/ pjs. bam.
ok. that’s my public service announcement for today.
give it a whirl. let me know how it goes…
happy oiling!
