Learn the Art of Ayurvedic Yoga Massage: A Journey of Healing, Movement, and Self-Care
Embark on a transformative journey into the ancient practice of Ayurvedic Yoga Massage (AYM), a therapeutic fusion of deep oil massage, yoga-based stretches, and holistic bodywork. This 90-minute massage technique, developed by the renowned Kusum Modak in Pune, India, combines the wisdom of Ayurvedic traditions with the alignment principles of B.K.S. Iyengar yoga. Through this course, you will learn not only how to give a deeply rejuvenating massage but also how to care for yourself, cultivate body awareness, and discover the art of healing from within.
What You’ll Learn
1. The Essence of AYM
Master the unique blend of deep tissue massage and yoga-inspired assisted stretches to open and realign the body’s structure. The rhythmic flow of movements and passive asanas will transform your massage into a profound therapeutic experience—both for the giver and the receiver.
2. Beyond Massage—Self-Care and Awareness
True healing begins with the healer. This training focuses on helping you understand your own body, correct your posture, and alleviate common issues like lower back and shoulder pain. By cultivating self-care practices and body awareness, you’ll not only improve your technique but also your well-being, ensuring you can share your skills with energy and mindfulness.
3. Feel, Flow, and Heal
Drawing on his expertise in contemporary dance and contact improvisation, Naseem teaches you how to read and respond to the possibilities and limits of each body. You’ll learn to move with fluidity, rhythm, and intention, creating a massage experience that feels like an artistic dance—a seamless dialogue between hands, fingers, and the body.
4. Release and Reconnect
Learn techniques to consciously relax deep-seated tension, release emotional blocks, and dissolve stress. These skills not only benefit the person receiving the massage but also empower you to reconnect with your own emotional and physical well-being, creating a healing space where both souls can shine.
5. The Art of Giving and Receiving
A great therapist understands that healing is a two-way process. Through this training, you’ll experience the power of balancing care for others with care for yourself, discovering how to channel energy, compassion, and creativity into every touch.
This training is more than a massage course—it’s a holistic journey that nurtures your body, mind, and spirit while teaching you the unique art of AYM. By combining ancient wisdom with modern movement practices, you’ll gain the skills to help others heal while fostering your own self-awareness, self-healing, and inner strength.
Step into this beautiful practice and learn how to give a massage that is not just a technique but an expression of care, art, and connection. Let your journey to healing—yours and others’—begin.
Meditation
Meditation moments and meditation techniques are also essential in the training and in Naseem’s approach to bodywork and therapeutic gestures, in order to share and pass on the knowledge that the more fundamental aspects of a therapeutic gesture are a meditative state, total presence, and dedication, combined with a sense of the sacredness of the moment and the fundamental connection with the heart.
It is this state of ‘loving presence’ that is the carrier pillar on which the whole learning process and further therapeutic practice can lean on and develop to give oneself (and receive) care and healing.
Topics of the course
Level 1: Introductory Course (30 hours)
Back and shoulders, legs and feet
You will learn:
⋆The fundamentals and essence of Ayurvedic Yoga Massage
⋆How to empower and align yourself through body and soul training based on yoga, contemporary dance, and contact improvisation
⋆The fundamental strokes for massaging the back and shoulders, legs, and feet
⋆How to perform the AYM technique on the floor, as it was originally created, and how to apply the same technique on a massage table
⋆How to provide massage in a meditative state of total presence and dedication
⋆How to choose comfortable positions to perform fluid and safe movements starting from the center-core-hara, using your body weight to move with the economy of effort and in harmony with your breathing
⋆How to properly apply essential oils to lubricate and enhance stimulation
⋆A special technique for using healing Ayurvedic Calamus powder (Vakhand) to increase friction and enhance the receiver’s healing process
⋆Self-massage techniques to feel, recognize and release tension points
Level 2: Intensive Course (30 hours)
Chest and belly, neck and face + specific stretching
You will learn:
⋆The basic anatomy of the human body’s structure and systems
⋆The fundamental strokes for massaging the chest and belly, the neck and the face
⋆A yoga-based series of assisted stretching for all joints and the spine to enhance mobility and realign the body’s structure
⋆How to use the power of your hands and fingers efficiently and safely, without causing stress or side effects to your joints and shoulders
⋆How to use your feet to release tension in the deeper muscles of the back and legs
⋆How to perceive the body’s energy flows and recognize muscular and energy blockages
⋆How to feel the needs of the receiver to calibrate pressure and determine the best strategy for action
⋆How to apply a holistic method to sense the interconnection between body, mind, and spirit-soul
⋆How to empower and protect yourself energetically while treating others
⋆How to promote yourself professionally and how to build a loyal clientele
A typical day
The massage training takes place from 10:00 to 18:30 with a lunch break (7.5 hours per day, for 8 days of training, so 60 hours in total)