Shirodhara is an ancient Ayurvedic healing practice performed in India for over 5,000 years. The word shirodhara breaks down into two ideas: shiro, meaning head, and dhara which means flow. Together they form a concept that aims to bring physical and emotional balance by rejuvenating the spirit and preserving health. This is achieved through a relaxing technique in which warmed oil is poured over a client?s forehead for an extended period of time.

There are specialized forms of shirodhara called tailadhara, ksheeradhara, takradhara and jaladhara.

Shirodhara works primarily on the mental sheath or “manomaya kosha” as it is referred to in Ayurveda. Shirodhara is traditionally used to calm the nerves, harmonize vata constitutions, restore the nerves, release stored emotions, and purify the mind. In Ayurvedic Medicine, it is considered an important tool in the pursuit of higher states of consciousness. Shirodhara has been traditionally shown to help with fatigue, mental exhaustion, anxiety, insomnia, some mental disorders, headache, excessive thinking, nervousness, and many other conditions commonly affecting persons in today?s active lifestyle.

Shirodhara has been used to treat a variety of conditions including eye diseases, sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, greying of hair, neurological disorders, memory loss, insomnia, hearing impairment, tinnitus, vertigo, Ménière’s disease and certain types of skin diseases like psoriasis. It is also used non-medicinally at spas for its relaxing properties.

There are specialized forms of shirodhara called ksheeradhara, thakradhara, taildhara and jaladhara