Abhyanga is the Sanskrit word for self massage. It is often recommended as part of an Ayurvedic Dinacharya (daily routine). Sneha, by the way, is the Sanskrit word for oils and it also means love. So preforming self massage with oils is definitely a form of self love!
I have been using oils to massage my face and neck, and nasal oil to keep my nose from drying out, for over a year now.
I never could find the time to fit Abhyanga into my daily routine — until I started to massage my feet in the morning. It feels so good! Then I finally realized it didn’t have to take a lot of time, so I started to practice Abhyanga on my body before a shower, too.
I really look forward to all these massages now!
I’m linking up with My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Runs with Pugs, Zenaida and Run Laugh Eat Pie for Fit Five Friday. Today I’m sharing 5 reasons you might want to ditch the moisturizer in favor of oils.
1: It might be cheaper
At first look it seems as though oils are expensive. When you sit down and really look at how much you pay for your moisturizer — there may be little difference; or using oils might even save you money.
2: It might have pronounceable ingredients
This most likely depends on where you get your oils from. You can buy simple oils like almond, sesame, coconut, or even castor oil in most stores. In which case there’s just one ingredient! Even the best moisturizers tend to have a long list of ingredients. Your skin is your largest organ, so what you put on it matters.
3: It may keep your skin softer
My hands and feet can get terribly dry in the Winter. Even slathering on a healthy hand moisturizer never really seemed to help. This Winter, so far, my hands and feet are not scaly at all.
I’m not saying they’re not dryer than in Spring and Summer, but I’ve noticed a big difference in the skin on my hands this year. I rub the oil between my hands to massage my feet, which means that my hands are getting some massaging, too.
4: It will help you destress
Going for a regular massage, for many people (myself included) is super relaxing. I know it doesn’t relax everyone though, and usually that’s because they don’t want to be touched by anyone. Give yourself the time to massage yourself — it feels good. Super relaxing. It actually signals to your nervous system that you can relax, and that’s a good thing.
5: It may help you sleep
See point #4. I don’t generally practice my self massage in the evenings: I use it on my face and neck in the morning, and before I shower. If you shower at night, or practice self massage at night, you are definitely going to feel more relaxed, which may in turn help you to sleep better.
Final Thoughts
Self massage is a form of self care/love — with benefits. Not only can it help you destress and feel calmer, you may find that it keeps your skin a lot softer, too. Without a ton of unpronounceable ingredients.
As I mentioned in another post, I use Mahanarayan Oil, which you can buy from Amazon here (Amazon Affiliate link) to massage my feet. My feet are very happy with it. You can also try shea butter — for bonus points, add some lavender essential oil for even more relaxation.
Nothing beats getting a wonderful massage from someone who’s trained in massage, but being able to have a massage every day for nothing but your time? Priceless!
Do you ever do self massage?
Do you use oils already in your “beauty” routine?
Chocolaterunsjudy 
Nope on both.
Oddly my hands and feet don’t get dry. Even in the winter.
I’m pretty low maintenance I guess.
Occasionally I moisturize my face and neck.
But always my body after being in the sun.
Unfortunately genetics is the biggest factor on our skin. I guess you can do a little to look and feel better.
Thanks for sharing.
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Good thing you moisturize after being out in the sun. It can definitely age your skin.
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I have always had horribly dry & sensitive skin. I love coconut oil, though (oddly I don’t have any weird reactions to it). My poor feet are always a flaky mess in the winter… I really need to do more daily self care for them. I massage my arches, most every morning, for PF prevention… I really could easily add in some oil while I’m going that. Thanks for the tip!
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My feet do absorb the oil pretty quickly but just make sure you have socks to put over them if you do add some oil! Coconut oil has so many benefits.
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I like to use oil rather than regular moisturizer for the reasons you mentioned. I use coconut oil on my body and shea butter on my feet (when I need it- remember it’s very humid here.) But the coconut oil seems to clog the pores on my face- can you recommend a good facial oil? Thanks!
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I use some of the massage oil from bayanbotanicals.com (you can buy it on Amazon, too & I usually do). You need to know your constitution/dosha though (they have a quiz on their website, banyan botanicals.com.
I would hazard a guess that your constitution is Vata, but that’s just an educated guess.
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I don’t regularly do a self-massage, but I do love how moisturizing oils are – especially for my feet. I agree that I prefer them over a typical moisturizer. I did order the Mahanarayan Oil and can’t wait to try it!
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I hope the Mahanarayan oil helps you! I always hesitate a bit about recommending stuff like that but it has really worked for me.
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I’m a huge believer in using oils on my skin. I’ve used rosehip seed oil on my neck and chest for years and it definitely makes a difference in how my skin looks. I’ll sometimes put a little dab on the ends of my hair if it looks dry, especially in the winter, and that makes a big difference too.
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I use fractionated coconut oil (the kind that stays liquid) as moisturizer for my hair. It works really well, although nothing really helps much in humid weather — not that we’ve had any recently!
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Interesting. I do tend to use coconut oil for tough dry patches and it works better than anything else.
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Coconut oil has so, so many benefits & uses!
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Interesting post.
I have a dry and sensitive skin, moreover I am a cancer survivor, many years ago I got a surgery to remove a melanoma. For this reason I use oil on my skin (also shower-oil).
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Some oils can really help protect the skin (although they don’t replace sunscreen). Glad that you are a thriver!
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I don’t use oils, but a good moisturizer is essential. I did a Baby Feet peel earlier this winter and have been upping the moisturizing after.
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Interesting. I’ve never done a foot peel! My hands tend to get much drier than my feet — no doubt all that hand washing.
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Running and my being incessantly barefoot is as bad for my feet as the hand washing is for my hands. The peel was nice, but gross
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I disagree! I think being barefoot is actually great for your feet! We’re not meant to have our feet squished in shoes all the time.
However, I can’t stand cold feet in Winter — although I do workout barefoot (not run, obviously, although I have dabbled with that in the past).
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Oh I’m absolutely team barefoot, but bad in the sense of the dry skin. My apartmet is so hot, cold feet is not an issue
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I see! Well, I’ll be there with you while I’m at my moms. Her apartment is hot, too. Which is fine for her, since she’s always cold, not so great for the rest of us.
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