Cool Hunting

Largely unknown in the West, Ayurvedic Massage combines deep tissue massage with coordinated breathing and yoga stretching. Brad Teasdale and James Winstanley have spent much of their lives traveling through Asia, studying the art of Ayurvedic Yoga Massage.Teasdale and Winstanley recently returned from Asia with the intention of sharing AYM with the West and to begin they founded the Ayurvedic Yoga Massage Guild. A typical session is a practice for both the client and the practitioner and yields deeper, more lasting benefits than only relaxation. Teasdale talked to CH about the practice.

"In the simplest way, the goal of this work is to bring the physical body of the recipient back to a place of harmony. I have been a student of forms for all of my adult life, and this is the most comprehensive and intelligent way to approach the body. It weaves many disparate elements together into a comprehensive and practical form. As with the martial arts, when one studies and closely adheres to a form, there is freedom. Freedom within form."

The Ayurvedic Yoga Massage Guild offers courses to become certified to practice the entire first AYM series. If that's not for you, the guild offers a seven-day AYM certification retreat brings the participants to a treetop pavilion in Nosara, Costa Rica to learn the skills and framework for immediate professional practice. The retreat is in partnership with Nosara Yoga Institute and is applicable to all forms of holistic healing and spiritual practice, making this immersion an enriching experience for any type of student.

Teasdale and Winstanley have created a program that strives to heal from the ground up. Teasdale explains, "When the breath and body are in harmony, the mind is at ease. When the body and mind are in harmony, the energy or 'spirit' flows naturally. The goal of the Ayurvedic Massage practitioner is to create and hold that sacred space for the recipient to heal themselves."