Assisted yoga and massage

Ever heard of Ayurvedic yoga? It’s based on 2,500-year-old science that many people now rely on as their main form of exercise, especially in India.

Ayurvedic yoga (or assisted yoga) is a gentle, low impact way to stretch and move the joints. It’s also popular with the elderly or less mobile as the joints and muscles are exercised without strenuous activity. A popular way to incorporate Ayurvedic yoga into your life is through massage, such as the Hard Days Night treatment offered at Lush Spas.

Where meditation meets massage

One form of massage that makes use of Ayurvedic yoga techniques is Vedic-Thai massage. This can also be referred to as assisted yoga and is all about gentle stretch and release.

During this unique hybrid of massage and yoga treatment, a spa therapist gently places your body into traditional yoga positions while applying a light pressure to enhance the stretch. As well as being beneficial to your joints and relieving any pressure build up, Vedic-Thai massage is intensely relaxing.

Vedic-Thai massage can help to release muscular tension, improve circulation, relieve stress, and boost your immune system. This can also decrease back and neck pain, improve your range of motion, and even boost your circulation.

The low down on the slow down

Before you try assisted yoga, there are a few things you should bear in mind. Your massage therapist will be stretching out parts of your body you didn’t even know you wanted stretched. The idea is that you allow your body to remain relaxed and let any tension ebb away. That way, your therapist will recognise the resistance in your stretched muscle, challenge it slightly and then release.

As your therapist eases you into a new position, there is a moment of pressure, and then the release - a very distinct “ahh” moment. If you ever feel stiff, cramped or tied into knots, passive stretching could be your liberation.

This type of lighter exercise is ideal for those sat at desks all day every day and equally for those who have a physically demanding job, allowing yourself to stretch out your muscles, release lactic acid, rest and reset.

You will leave your session of passive stretching feeling floaty and content, at ease and relaxed. Any muscle tension is released and you’ve found a new spring in your step.

For those wanting to give it a try, the Lush Spa Hard Days Night treatment combines pressure-relieving massage with assisted yoga, enabling clients to relax and stretch out their muscles to a soundscape of reworked Beatles classics.