MARMA
Om marmani jivana dharani. Marma is the seat of life.
Marmas are fundamental junction points (sandhis) of the physiology, which are actually the junction points between consciousness and matter. Although the junction point between consciousness and matter can be found at any location in the body, it is at the marma points that this conection is most readily available. Marmas are the cosmic switchboards in the human physiology. Marma is the seat of life. The result of the balanced enlivement of marmas is integration of consciousness and physiology, throughout the body, resulting in completely integrated physiological functioning. The chakras are the energy source for the marmas. Marmas give direction for projecting energy from the chakras. Marmas are sensitive regions that develop from the nadis. They distribute Prana from the chakras and the nadis throughout the body as a whole. The marmas are spread throughout the seven layers of the body. Marmas are the communication mechanism that unites the individual with the cosmos. Marmas are the seat of prana. There are 107 marmas classified in the following regions of the body: 44 in the upper and lower limbs, 3 in the abdomen, 9 in the thorax, 14 in the back and the trunk, and 37 in the head and neck. Structurally marmas are subdivided as follows: 10 are muscular, 23 are tendons/ligaments, 20 are joints, 9 are arteries, 37 are veins 37, and 8 are bones. Vagbhata Samhita (classical Ayurvedic text) defines that Marmas are those points which are painful, severely tender, and having abnormal pulsation. These points are considered the seats of life or the vital points. Marma points are positions on the body where flesh, veins, arteries, tendons, bones, and joints meet. They may be seen as the junctions where Vata, Pitta and Kapha meet, where Sattva, Rajas and Tamas meet, where the Absolute (consciousness) and relativity (body) meet, and where knower (Rishi), process of knowing (devata) and known (Chandas) meet in togetherness (Samhita). Marmas represent gaps in the physiology, they are the expressions of Samhita (wholeness of pure consciousness – the 108th marma which is omnipresent), the full value of Pure Intelligence that regulates life of the human body and the entire universe.
Courses on Marma therapy:
Basic course on marma
Course on marma massage
Course on marma treatment
Course on marmas and their application to the practice of asana and pranayama