Deva Paksha organizes and directs Ayurveda therapy workshops in Spain and has developed the Abhyanga-yoga massage technique
This is the technique of Abhyanga-Yoga
This is the technique of Abhyanga-Yoga - The method combines traditional Abhyanga Ayurvedic massage with a sequence of deep and vigorous movements and stretches that help re-align the muscular bone structure, relieving tension
Our body has its own language, it speaks to us and expresses itself through emotions or cries for help that usually end up in contractures or physical pain. If we have reached this point, it is very likely that the main reason is that we have not known how to stop on time or, perhaps more importantly, that we have not been able to listen to our body while speaking to us. Therapist Deva Paksha understood this particular relationship with our body at age 13, thanks to dance first, and yoga later. His own experience made him realize that the body expresses itself through emotions and, since then, began to observe the language of the body and connect with it through the hands. Currently, his life is completely dedicated to the Abhyanga-yoga method and the development of training programs in Ayurveda. This technique (see video) combines traditional Abhyanga Ayurvedic massage with a sequence of deep and vigorous movements and stretches that help to re-align the muscular bone structure, relieving all tensions - including chronic ones - strengthening the immune system and detoxifying the body.
-Are we far from our own body?
-Yes, and each time we are more because of the way we live. We start the day in a hurry, we run everywhere and we allow ourselves to listen.
-When did you realize that this could change your life?
-At the age of 13 I began to observe my own body, something that had always attracted my attention. I thought all the possibilities that the body could offer us were very interesting. With the dance it was how I became much more aware of these potentials that our body has and I began to realize that I could change some postures of my daily life to be more and more comfortable with him. Our body speaks to us and has its own language that we unfortunately do not understand.
-How does the body speak to us?
- It communicates in many ways: through our posture, balance, the emergence of diseases ... With a simple contracture, many times what you are saying is "look at me!". The problem is that we do not stop to listen, but we take a palliative or a pill to remove pain, without observing what is happening or how I can use that call so that the pain is not there all the time. If you observe or hear a contracture, you may have a perception of what needs to be done to stop being there.
-It seems that Western society is more concerned with taking care of its external image than responding to internal calls for help ...
-It is true that Western society is the one that is furthest from its body. In India, for example, the idea of massage is already beginning to work as a habit since childhood. If you observe their posture with the body, you will see that they use their hands and feet much more in balance, and also when working. In the West, we only remember the body at an aesthetic level.
-Where could this good communication with our body take us?
-There are many possibilities, but the most basic is to maintain a balance and keep diseases away from your life. Then there would be tranquility, peace; You can do the same thing you were doing so far but with much more peace and simplicity. When we listen to our body, time lengthens more and stress disappears because we become more aware of everything.
-So, are we talking about a matter of body or mental awareness?
-I think the key is listening. If you stop a minute to breathe and close your eyes you will see how the body and mental awareness changes. Through the body we can change our perception of things, that's for sure.
-If, on an individual basis, we all stop to make that listening you propose, what social consequences would there be?
-Inbound, more peace and quiet. There would not be so much impatience, the other would not bother me so much, everything would be much simpler.
-The perception is contradictory, it seems that the more we evolve as human beings, the less perception we have of what may be important to ourselves ...
-That shouldn't happen, but it happens. What I do observe is that, unlike other times, now everything happens very fast. Evolution exists and is necessary, of course, but we should maintain contact with oneself and be able to share that evolution with tranquility. Basically, it is a decision. I can work 12 hours at a computer, but first I decide to stretch my body, eat healthy, work in a quiet space, stop to rest, etc. It's about deciding to maintain a quality of life within your own intensity.
-It is a life lesson that we are not taught in school. Numbers and letters still prevail ...
-Not yet, but I hope, and I say it as a mother, that although the world is so contradictory, one day we realize that we can change that and continue to evolve, and that children can learn as soon as possible to maintain this human quality, and understand that they must stop from time to time to listen to their bodies.
- Are we talking about a change on an individual basis, or do you think that education has many things to say in this regard?
-I think education is the basis of everything. I can make a decision because I have had a hard time, or it has gone wrong at work, or my partner has left me, and ask for outside help. But if as a child I learn that I can stop, breathe differently, listen to myself, stretch my body, everything will be much easier. When people start caring and listening to their body, I always tell them that they are privileged because there are people who leave this life without ever having heard. Education is the basis because this is everyone's right, and if they taught it in schools, everything would be very different.
- Is prevention key in the long run away from chemistry?
-This work is based on Ayurvedic medicine, which is an ancient medicine of India that is based on three very important pillars: the first is prevention, the second is to promote health, and the Third is to treat imbalances. Prevention would be the key. Through education one could become aware of the importance of good prevention, but unfortunately everything is set up so that this prevention does not exist. Doing basic stretching in the morning before starting the day is already a way to prevent. In the West, we only seek massages when we have pain, when we should no longer have reached this state. It is important that, even if you have no pain, you have a massage once a month. It is important that one can stop an hour or 90 minutes for someone to do a massage and eliminate all tension.
- When we have pain is that we have failed to maintain our body?
-I don't like to use the word failure. When we feel pain it is because the body is being very generous to us and is reminding us that we are not listening well. It is a cry for help before which we have two possible solutions: either take a pain pill, or listen to it and seek help from people who can advise us. Logically, there are pathologies that are already advanced and have to be treated by a doctor, but the job we can do is to investigate what has generated us this disease or pain We can ask ourselves, what is the emotion that I have not expressed?
- Is a life without chemistry possible?
-It is very complex because we are at a rather complicated point. It is possible, yes. I always say that if Ayurvedic medicine had not had a stage in which it fell into oblivion, we would now have a life of much higher quality. Every time we worry less about what we eat, for example. Do we stop to think if there is something that does not contain so many toxics? We return to what was before, it is a matter of being educated for it and to recover the balance.
-You were trained in Brazil and in India. Did he have to break down many barriers in our country?
-I always say that I am a citizen of the world and try not to make comparisons between cultures. When you feel this way, there is nothing new for you. What I have noticed is that body therapy was not associated with massage. Massage was associated with contractures, for example. People began to realize that behind the massage there was a much deeper therapy. Nor have I had much difficulty beyond this that I explain, I think people really want to expand their knowledge and experiment. I have never had to fight to be heard.
-What is the most common problem of the people who come to you?
-The contractures: neck, lumbar, scapula ... If you have a hernia in the neck I will not be able to reverse it, but I can help you to become more aware of your body so that you gain in quality of life and understand what has led you to have this contracture.
-What is the body telling us when it is contracted?
-It is a denial of listening to yourself. It is true that there are people who, because of the type of work they do, are more conducive to having this type of contract. But there are many people who spend the same amount of hours at the computer and do not have that contracted area. Each body expresses itself differently.
-Please give me an example.
-There are people who come to me with the same symptom: the trapezium is very heavy or the neck is very rigid. Normally they are people who have a hard time looking at things from different points of view, in delegating things. It may also be that this person has difficulty expressing what he really feels.
Source: La Vanguardia
