Ayurveda lays a great stress on prevention of disease along with offering solutions for the same. One of the procedures mentioned as a part of daily regimen which helps in ensuring an healthy life is called as abhyang. Abhyang means the application of a oleating substance to the body by smearing or rubbing.
The oleating substance which can be used is oil or ghee (clarified butter). But most of the time oil is used for this purpose. Hence in general terms abhyang refers to the process of application of oil to the body. When this is performed daily as a part of daily regimen the benefits of abhyanga are as follows.
Panchakarma is a form of treatment in ayurveda where instead of oral medication, treatment is done by using various procedures like massage, steam, medicated enemas etc. This treatment constitutes of five basic forms of treatment each of which is called as a karma, hence the name pancha-karma where pancha indicates five.
Ayurveda states that diseases are formed as a result of accumulation of harmful bodily substances which may present themselves in various forms (for ex. liquid form, solid form etc) and in different parts of the body. Panchakarma is a process in which these accumulated substances are removed from the body by direct intervention.
Due to improper food habits like excessive eating, eating too much cold foods, hard to digest foods, remaining in a cold environment for a long time without proper precaution etc leads to accumulation of excessive phlegm in the body. This is called as kapha in ayurveda. The process by which this excessive phlegm is removed is called as vaman.
Due to eating of excessive sour or bitter foods, too much hot foods, traveling in the sun or remaining in the sun for a longer period of time leads to accumulation of pitta (acidic substance). The process by which this excessive pitta is removed is called as virechan. Due to excessive traveling, excessive physical work, eating foods which are dry or non-nutritious leads to accumulation of vata (gases) in the body.
The process by which this excessive vata is removed is called as basti. When either of these substances get accumulated in the head region it is easier to remove them via the nasal cavity. The process which is used for this purpose is called as nasya.