For any of the above reasons the constitution, or Prakruti, of the person must be determined, then the present state, or Vakruti, of the person must be determined. The purpose of giving a massage must then be defined according to a comparison of Prakruti and Vakruti. With this information an Ayurvedic therapy can be determined. Without understanding the therapeutic purpose you are not practicing Ayurveda. . With the above information in mind it is important to realize that for massage to really be considered a method of healing someone there are a number of factors to understand.
Ayurvedic massage is more advanced than Western massage therapeutically.
Western massage is strong in techniques and is very sophisticated in this respect. But, its actual medical effectiveness is far less than massage used in Ayurveda. This is primarily because it uses herbs, oils, and sents to balance the three doshas according to the individual s needs, and it understands fully the marma points and the nadi meridian system that control the pranas. Atreya's new's book on Ayurveda and Massage is coming out soon.