Ah, but I don’t massage your feet, I use my feet to give your body a gentle work-out with oils. I hold a rope suspended from the ceiling and you lie on the floor. I use one foot at a time to give an appropriate pressure to realign and massage your whole body.
Who can have this massage?
It’s different for everyone. I have treated boxers to ballet dancers, film camera crew to musicians and teachers. I find it helpful for physical workers as well as the desk bound caught up in the epidemic of back pain in our offices. My oldest patient was an 83 year old former cricketer and Doctor. He told me that 90% of the massages he had in his life, were not deep enough, but that mine was one of the strongest he had ever experienced.
This massage is an intense treatment that accesses and gives an even pressure to the parts that an elbow, thumb or hand may not reach. It is a deep tissue experience in reality and this technique is practised in Southern India, where I learnt from my Grandfather at the age of 11, though I was not allowed to practice until I had done a University degree in chemistry; my parents wanted me to be an engineer. But I had a passion for bodywork and though I completed University I took up Ayurvedic therapy as a career.
What are the origins of chavutti thirumal?
Its origins are from ‘Kalari’ (the martial arts of Kerala) which mix these martial arts with dance and yoga. I combined this with more full time training in Ayurvedic massage and subsequently gave treatments when I worked for 8 years with local Ayurvedic doctors from the renowned College Hospital in Trivandrum South India. I really understand the flow and injuries in the bodies I work with.
A much loved ashtanga yoga teacher, Debbie Blunden told me, ‘somehow, my back feels longer, lighter – this massage irons out all my tension and my stress. However much exercise you do, you can’t always manage alone, at times you need some outside help to keep the circulation, and all your systems in complete harmony.’
I also give table massage, a good introduction to Ayurvedic treatments which are fast being recognised in the West for holistic well-being. In short, a healthy erect spine contributes to longevity. Look after your back, keep it supple and you have the key to a happy life!
Ramu has been practicing the art of massage professionally for the past 14 years, 7 of which he has spent living and treating clients in London. His practical training includes study of Panchakarma at the Jayabharath Institute of Panchakarma Therapy and at the Dhanwantari Institute of Ayurveda , Wayanad, Kerala for over 2 years. In 2006 Ramu trained to teach yoga with Swami Samarpanananda Saraswati of the International Samarpan Yoga Awareness Foundation (in the lineage of the Bihar School of yoga) in the Himalayas. In addition to deepening his own spiritual path, it gave him a greater sensitivity of understanding his clients’ needs.
Ramu works at triyoga Camden. For his schedule and more information, please click here.
