The Yin/Yang of Head Massage

            by Laurie English

Indian Head Massage is a misnomer. 

And like its name, there are many things about Indian head massage that aren’t readily apparent. Experiencing head massage firsthand in India and being a national trainer for Champissage, I’d like to share with you a new perspective on the ancient Indian head massage tradition. 

The course of my massage career has been dramatically altered by Indian head massage and perhaps yours will change too.  I invite you to join me on a Head Trip!

In the 1980s London-based, Bombay-born Narendra Mehta, created a 30 minute seated and clothed Indian head massage  routine.  He called it Champissage^TM.  Champi, the root word for ‘shampoo’ means “head massage” in Hindi.  Champissage is Mr. Mehta’s choreographed selection of massage techniques culled from the mélange of moves practiced by Indian barbers, therapists and women. 

THE YANG SIDE

Indian head massage is practiced in India’s bustling barbershops, crowded beaches, street corners, cafes and villages.  Imagine the bustling cacophony: honking horns, top 40s radio music, pedestrian traffic, conversations…. Some of the techniques are called:  “Chicken Off The Bone,” ”Hacking,” “Windscreen Wiper” and “Hair Tugging”.

Have you ever wanted more oomph to your massage?  On one side of the Indian head massage arc, you’ll find the showman, pizzazz, and spice  –  hand gesticulations, quick movements, dramatic weight shifts.   If your brochures, business cards and websites haven’t increased your clientele the way you’d like.  Try getting out there with Indian head massage. I went from behind the scenes hoping for clients to actively engaging clients with champi sessions as short as 2 minutes at onsite events and then getting booked for my table massages. 

THE YIN SIDE

On the other side of the Indian head massage arc is the deep meditative state that face and head massage seem to induce (much like a good foot massage).  Indian women gather to oil their hair: grandmothers, mothers and daughters.   “Head Holding,” “Stroking,” “Featherlight Strokes,” and “Gentle Hand Placing” – these sublime moves can induce profound relaxation. 

Even sitting up in a chair, the majority of Champissage clients will fall asleep. I’d like to tell you about my  first Champissage session with a trainer except…zzzzzzz…. I can’t. I was knocked out! If you can sleep sitting up in a chair, imagine the possibilities of Indian head massage as the perfect finale to a table massage. If I include Indian head massage techniques at the end of my table massage, my clients will invariably start snoring as if on cue.

Yet, how is it that head thwacking, hair tugging, and ear twiddling fails to rouse? Why is the simple act of stroking the head so alleviating?  And why does the melding of these two extremes work so well?

There’s something to be said for the breadth/variety of Indian head massage.

Indian Head Massage Techniques

You learn over fifty-nine massage techniques during the three-day Champissage training.  Adding in the various hand placement changes, that number reaches ninety-five unique movements.

 This plethora of easily assimilated moves can dramatically change how you do massage. Sure, we can still classify Champissage massage techniques into the five basic categories plus one:  (1) effleurage/stroking; (2) friction; (3) petrissage; (4) tapotement/percussion; (5) pressure points; and (6) chakra balancing.  Yet, it’s the way the techniques are applied and mixed that makes the world of difference.  There are spices and then there’s curry.  There’s tea and then there’s Chai.

Indian Head Massage Benefits

Clients from New York to California call me.  Yes, they want the physical benefits of Indian head massage:  relief from chronic neck tension, shoulder stiffness, headaches, eye-strain, sinusitis, fibrous adhesions, insomnia, joint immobility and hair loss.  But whether they voice it or not they also want the mental and subtle benefits: peace, clarity, tranquility, heightened energy levels and healing.

In the end, you’ll see Indian head massage videos with clients getting their head pummeled with tapping fists or see “cosmic energy” being funneled toward a client and the net result will be the same.

The result of this wider arc of expressive massage at your fingertips?  Indian Head Massage points to and captures one thing – bliss.

Laurie English, LMT, RPP, LCICI, NCBTMB teaches 3-day Champissage courses nationwide including Seattle, Washington (bi-annually) and offers one -day Indian Head Massage classes adaptable to the massage table.  She also offers one-day Indian Head Massage classes in Santa Fe.  A practicing therapist and owner of SpaNomad an international training and traveling spa, you can find her 21 hour NCBTMB CE Champissage class schedule at www.ChampissageUSA.com  (plus dvds, cds, books and posters) and her 7 hour NCBTMB CE Indian Head Massage class schedule at www.SpaNomad.com.  She can be contacted at 505-490-0591.