Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In European countries, a person professionally trained to give massages is traditionally known as a masseur (male) or masseuse (female). In the United States, these individuals are often referred to as "massage therapists". In some provinces of Canada, they are called "registered massage therapists."
Ayurveda is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayurveda is pseudoscientific.
Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (MVAH) is a form of alternative medicine founded in the mid-1980s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who developed the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM). Distinct from traditional ayurveda, it emphasizes the role of consciousness, and gives importance to positive emotions. Maharishi Ayur-Veda has been variously characterized as emerging from, and consistently reflecting, the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, representing the entirety of the ayurvedic tradition.
Charaka was one of the principal contributors to Ayurveda, a system of medicine and lifestyle developed in ancient India. He is known as a physician who edited the medical treatise entitled Charaka Samhita, one of the foundational texts of classical Indian medicine and Ayurveda, included under Brhat-Trayi.
Deepak Chopra is an Indian-American author and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternative medicine. His discussions of quantum healing have been characterised as technobabble – "incoherent babbling strewn with scientific terms" derided by those proficient in physics.
Herbal medicine is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedies, such as the anti-malarial group of drugs called artemisinin isolated from Artemisia annua, a herb that was known in Chinese medicine to treat fever. There is limited scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of many plants used in 21st-century herbalism, which generally does not provide standards for purity or dosage. The scope of herbal medicine sometimes include fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts.
Traditional Thai massage or Thai yoga massage is a traditional therapy combining acupressure, Indian Ayurvedic principles, and assisted yoga postures. In the Thai language, it is usually called nuat phaen thai or nuat phaen boran, though its formal name is nuat thai according to the Traditional Thai Medical Professions Act, BE 2556 (2013).
Hilot (/HEE-lot/) is an ancient Filipino art of healing. It uses manipulation and massage to achieve the treatment outcome, although techniques differ from one practitioner to another. It emerged from the shamanic tradition of the ancient Filipinos with healers considering their practice as derived from their calling from visions or from having been born by breech.
Dosha is a central term in Ayurveda originating from Sanskrit, which can be translated as "that which can cause problems", and which refers to three categories or types of substances that are believed to be present conceptually in a person's body and mind. These Dosha are assigned specific qualities and functions. These qualities and functions are affected by external and internal stimuli received by the body. Beginning with twentieth-century Ayurvedic literature, the "three-dosha theory" has described how the quantities and qualities of three fundamental types of substances called wind, bile, and phlegm fluctuate in the body according to the seasons, time of day, process of digestion, and several other factors and thereby determine changing conditions of growth, aging, health, and disease.
Pulse diagnosis is a diagnostic technique used in Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Mongolian medicine, Siddha medicine, traditional Tibetan medicine, and Unani. Although it once showed many positive results, it no longer has scientific legitimacy, but research continues and is ill-defined in some derived text, and is subjective.
A samskara is a process in ayurvedic medicine said to detoxify heavy metals and toxic herbs.
The Charaka Samhita is a Sanskrit text on Ayurveda. Along with the Sushruta Samhita, it is one of the two foundational texts of this field that have survived from ancient India. It is one of the three works that constitute the Brhat Trayi.
Sattvic diet refers to a type of plant-based diet within Ayurveda where food is divided into what is defined as three yogic qualities (guna) known as sattva. In this system of dietary classification, foods that decrease the energy of the body are considered tamasic, while those that increase the energy of the body are considered rajasic. A sattvic diet is sometimes referred to as a yogic diet in modern literature.
Traditional Thai medicine is a system of methods and practices, such as herbal medicine, bodywork practices, and spiritual healing that is indigenous to the region currently known as Thailand. While not all Buddhist medicine is Thai, Thai medicine is considered Buddhist medicine.
The Sambhavna Trust Clinic, or Bhopal People's Health and Documentation Clinic, is a charitable trust run by a group of doctors, scientists, writers and social workers who have been involved with various aspects of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India, ever since its occurrence in December 1984.
Infant massage is a type of complementary and alternative treatment that uses massage therapy for babies. Evidence is insufficient to support its use in either full term or preterm babies to achieve physical growth.
Drakshasava is a traditional Ayurvedic tonic made from grapes. Drakshasava is a weak wine because the grape juice is usually only partially fermented. It is also sometimes prepared by using raisin concentrate. The tonic is claimed to be beneficial for maladies such as lethargy, weakness and heat exhaustion. Drakshasava is believed to address health imbalances arising from an excess of the Vata-Vayu Dosha and is said to be useful in curing cardiac disorders and hemorrhoids in the Ayurvedic system.
Zero balancing is a type of manual therapy devised by American osteopathic doctor Frederick "Fritz" Smith in the 1970s. Drawing from principles of osteopathy, Chinese medicine and Structural Integration, Smith proposed that the energy field within the human body could be affected by manual manipulations, thus bringing health benefits. The practice teaches that currents of energy are stored within the human skeleton, and that these affect both physical and mental wellbeing.
Nasya is a Panchakarma treatment for body cleansing used in Ayurvedic medicine. Administration of drugs by the route of nasal cavity is termed as nasya, nāvana, nasya karma, etcetera are synonymous to nasya. Randomized controlled clinical trials have shown reduction in the signs and symptoms of cervical spondylosis by nasya. Clinical trials of nasya have been carried out for myopia. Pradhamana nasya is used by ayurvedic physicians and have been found useful to treat chronic sinusitis. Nasya is a sanskrit word, which means " related to nose". So in this Nasya therapy, ayurveda treatment is performed through the nostril. Ayurvedic medicine either in the oil or smoke forms is infused into the nostrils. Nasya panchakarma therapy is very useful to address the disease related to head region, e.g. insomnia, stress, anxiety, early greying of hair, allergies.
Pancha Bhuta or Pancha Maha-Bhuta, five great elements, also five physical elements, is a group of five basic elements, which, according to Hinduism, is the basis of all cosmic creation. These elements are: Prithvi, Apas, Agni, Vayu, Akasha. These elements have different characteristics and these also account for different faculties of human experience. In Ayurveda and Hindu philosophy, the human body is considered to be made of these five elements. However, Charvaka did not accept Akasha as basic element as it is not tangible and according to them, there are only four basic elements. Hinduism influenced Buddhism, which accepts only four Mahābhūtas, viewing Akasha as a derived (upādā) element. These five elements of Indian cosmological system are similar but not same as the five element theory used in Chinese folk religion.
