Massage: an ancient healing technique
Massage is one of the oldest body therapies recorded across many ancient civilizations including China, Egypt, Greece, India, Japan and Mesopotamia. Perhaps that’s because it doesn’t require much, only the hands of someone else. Its aim is to relax the body and rebalance the flow of energy. Some theories point to its roots coming from the social grooming practices of animals. Inscriptions at the Tomb of Akmanthor (also known as “The Tomb of the Physician”) in Saqqara, Egypt dating back to 2330 BCE depict two men having presumably massaging one another’s hands and feet. There are even primitive drawings of acupuncture points and meridians from the Neolithic (stone) Age of prehistoric China.
Drawings of acupressure points on Sen lines at Wat Pho temple in Thailand (Image:Source)
Particularly here in Egypt, massage practices go back to 2,400 BCE. Depictions and records can be found in many tombs and pyramids built centuries later as well. These showed a variety of massage practices such as hand and foot massage (known today as reflexology), oil massage, hydrotherapy, and aromatherapy. Egyptian therapeutic massage was based on manipulating certain energy pathways with the aim of correcting imbalances, removing blockages and restoring Life Energy circulation. Ka was the Egyptian concept of Vital Essence, Life Force, or Life Energy. It shows apparent similarities with traditional Asian massage modalities where Ki, Qi, or Prana Vital Energy is thought to penetrate the body running through Energy Channels, named, for instance, Meridians (China), Sen (Thailand), or Nadis (India).
Regardless of where and how it came to us, massage appears to have been as widespread in the past as it is today. As a therapy, today massage is defined as the manual use of hands on the body to manipulate, stroke, rub and knead the soft tissues of the body with the aim of enhancing wellbeing, releasing stress and relieving pain.
There are many variations of massage with over 80 different types. According to the American Massage Association, people opt for the use of massage as a therapy for a variety of issues:
Fatigue or pain caused by cancer
Back pain and stiffness
Osteoarthritis in the knee
Post-operative recovery and pain
Carpal tunnel syndrome relief
Fibromyalgia
Boosting immune system function
Decreasing frequency of headaches
Blood pressure
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms
Not only do modern healers advocate for this simple yet effective healing technique. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, wrote, “The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing”. He used to stroke the extremities upward towards the heart to increase circulation.
You needn’t go too far to get a massage in Maadi. Here at CSA, we are home to Aroka Healing Center which uses traditional healing methodologies for sports and muscle injury, office ergonomic stress and fatigue, or just for a nice relaxing massage. Open all week from 10am to 10pm, you can call or make your booking via WhatsApp 01002411255 or email arokahealing@gmail.com .