Marma Points

The word 'marma' is of Sanskrit origins and it means 'hidden', or 'secret'.

In Ayurvedic practice, the definition of a marma point is somewhat different: it refers to the junctures in the human body where muscles, veins, ligaments, bones or joints intersect.

Nevertheless, marma points are not mere points of intersection: they are where the three life forces -- collectively referred to as the dosha -- reside. These life forces are what determines a person's constitution, and which gives him his body condition (prakriti).

Marma point procedures operate by inducing the flow of vital energy (prana) along the right energy channels (nadi). They employ the application of pressure or the insertion of needles (bhedana) to do this. It is thus not surprising that point-based therapies, such as acupuncture, acupressure and reflexology, are believed to have been derived from the science of marma. Similarly, Ayurvedic massages use clockwise and anti-clockwise massaging movements to 'unclog' energies blocked in the joints, which restores the dosha and allows them to flow naturally throughout the body.

Knowledge of the human body, and its vital areas, was an important aspect of military science during ancient Vedic times; this knowledge was applied simultaneously in the fields of war, medicine, and surgery. Physicians and surgeons of the same period used Ayurvedic knowledge to treat people and prevent death: for example, in ancient India, knowledge of marma points was converted into massage techniques, used to treat the injuries of soldier.

The human body has about 107 marma points – and, including the human mind, 108 – which vary considerably in size, from one to six inches in diameter.

These points were mapped out in detail many centuries ago in the classic Ayurvedic text of 'Sushruta Samhita'. All these points cover both the front and back body, and they include the 22 on the body's lower extremities, another 22 on the arms, 12 on the chest and stomach, 14 on the back, and 37 on the head and neck.

Most marma points are relatively large in size, and therefore easy to find. This is unlike the miniscule points that other point-based therapies, such as acupuncture, focus on. 

Massage therapists are very familiar with these marma points, which often happen to be naturally sensitive areas, such as the the temple on the head, the base of the skull, and the backs of the knees. Some other important marmas include the muscle marma, the blood vessel marma, the bone marma and the joint marma.

Marma-point massages are done by Ayurvedic doctors in this way: clockwise and anti-clockwise movements of the light touch of fingers, the former stimulating a marma point, the latter breaking up blocked energy held within.