Question:
I have a question for you re sesame oil. I am using your regular organic “premiere pression à froid” for cooking and for Abhyanga. I have been told by an Ayurvedic massage therapist here in Nice that it is not a good idea to use this for massages and that one should use the cosmetic ( and organic) version which you can buy on some web sites and which is twice the price.
Alex’s answer:
I do not entirely agree, however, the oil when used for massage should ideally first be “cracked” or “broken” or “cured” which means heated on low temperature in a clean saucepan for a few minutes to make the oil easier for the skin to digest.
The term “cracking” is used to describe any type of splitting of molecules under the influence of heat, catalysts and solvents. In Ayurveda we use low heat. The oil should not exceed 100 degrees C, however, a lower heat is better, i.e. around 60-70 degrees.
This procedure is dangerous (for obvious reasons) so be careful. Ideally you need a cooking thermometer or one of those fancy pants infra-red ones. Since I mainly use homemade Ayurvedic medicated oils, they are automatically cracked during the process. See The Yoga of Herbs by Dr Lad and Dr Frawley for details on how yo prepare meicated Ayurvedic oils.
The Ayurvedic logic is that by heating the oil it adds Agni. This Agni then supports Rasa Dhatu Agni in the digestion of that oil. Otherwise, raw oils used on the skin in large quantities can overwhelm Rasa Dhatu Agni which might then produce some Ama in Rasa.
This heating is the cracking referred to above. Do not confuse this with the gentle warming of the oil prior to each massage. Applying warm oil to the skin causes the Srotas (channels) to dilate helping more oil enter more quickly into the skin (Rasa Dhatu) and preventing congestion in those Srotas.
Ayurvedic massage oilsare never simply made from raw cold pressed oils, they have undergone a gentle heating process. This approach may not necessarily be applied by other contemporary methods.
