According to Ayurveda, marma is a Sanskrit word that means “hidden” or “secret”. It refers to the anatomical locations on the body marmani where muscles, veins, ligaments, bones, and joints meet. These points are known as marma points, and are considered to be the seats of life energy, or prana. The Susruta Samhita records that there are 107 marma points in the human body, located in five groups: upper limb, lower limb, trunk, back, and head and neck. Marma therapy is an ancient touch therapy dating to at least the 2nd century BC that involves stimulating marma points through light touch, massage, or pressure to clear energetic channels in the body and allowing for life force or Prana to flow freely through them. The speed of the massage should match the touch, with a slower cadence for gentler massages and a faster pace for more rigorous ones.

 

This training is designed so that it can be taken in parts but is best taken as a whole. All tools and oils will be provided. Participants will both learn and receive treatments from fellow participants. You may choose to sign up with a partner or friend to do sessions with, but this is not necessary.

 

According to both Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, the hands and feet are like a map of the entire human body. Pressure points on the soles of the feet and palms of the hand connect to all the major organs, glands and parts of the body. By applying pressure on specific points of the hands and feet, practitioners activate regeneration and vitality in corresponding parts of the body. For the first week of the Marma immersion we'll learn how to give a full foot and hand marma massage.

 

Akhada massage is a full body light oil massage used for and by the warriors of ancient South Asia. It involves the application of slow and deep pressure across the front and back of the body, focusing on the nadis, or energetic lines of the body. In ayurveda the source of all ailments in the body can be connected to the stomach. Reigniting the digestive fire through healing pressure is a powerful practice of marma. We will be learning how to give a belly massage to ignite the digestive agni and foster deep healing.

 

Similar to Thai massage, in the body walk section we'll learn how to safely walk on the human body, vary our pressure and release tension along the main marma points in the legs, arms and back. We'll end this session by covering the especially powerful marma points on the face, head and chest. Recipients enter a deeply relaxing and healing state of mind, followed by savasana and a wake up sequence of bodywork to sensitively bring the recipient to consciousness.

 

For the final session, we will begin by learning how to position another person's body into yoga positions as they lay on their fronts and backs, in order to get the Prana flowing, passively before entering into a Prana Vidya practice. During Prana Vidya - we will learn how to psychically circulate the energy in our own bodies & guide the energy in the others body through their energy vortexes & pathways in each of the body's major systems. In this practice, we will tap into a subtler attunement to ourselves & our partners' presence, resulting in most easeful & profoundly connecting experience of a healing exchange.

 

The last learning workshop leaves participants with both the knowledge of offering body work & being a conduit of subtle healing.

 

$245/Session (or day of series)

$777 for entire training

 

Early bird: $650 before February 15

 

This series will be co-lead by Prema and Manjari who each have over 200 hours of Ayurvedic Marma bodywork training. Prema has been offering Marma therapy in the Washington DC area for over two years, and Manjari has been practicing in NYC. Both of them have their 200 hr YTT certification and have spent many years studying yoga philosophy from traditional ancient texts.