THERAPEUTIC BENEFITS OF MASSAGE USING EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Olive oil plays an important part of a healthy lifestyle, especially if it's pure extra virgin olive oil which offers amazing health benefits with maximum capability. It has been used since the ancient times and little has changed in the ways we use it today, in the modern world. Known for its variety of applications in diet, medicine, machinery and lighting, it has also been widely used in cosmetics and wellness.
Extra virgin olive oil is most commonly used in our diet, but is also valuable when used externally as a massage application as well. Since it is a very common household item, it’s easy to take advantage of the benefits it offers to our skin as well as our muscles.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Dating Back in History
Ancient Greeks used various techniques for massaging the bodies of their athletes, either as prevention from injuries or as post-exercise treatment. Extra virgin olive oil was used to increase temperature in local body parts through friction, as it helped relax the muscles and increase blood flow. The increased blood would then treat sore muscles and help flexibility. Preventing body injuries from sports was as important and olive oil was a major factor in this.
Athletes who competed in wrestling and similar sports, had their bodies massaged beforehand in order to avoid dangerous holds by their opponents through increased slipperiness and flexibility. In addition, attacks were more likely to miss or at least have reduced force applied to the skin, thus preventing severe injuries.
Massage Benefits with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Extra virgin olive oil also improves circulation, lymphatic drainage and reduces stressful and depressive conditions. The analgesic properties of massage are widely known but combining deep friction massage techniques with the application on the skin, has even greater benefits.
Extra virgin olive oil nourishes and moisturizes the skin, while increasing its flexibility. In combination with deep friction massage, it increases even more the local blood flow and prevents burns and other injuries to the skin and muscles.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Massage Recipe
Ingredients
- 30 ml of pure extra virgin olive oil, which acts as the carrier oil.
- 18 drops of your favorite essential oil (such as lavender, rosemary, pine, juniper, lemon, tea tree, sandalwood, jasmine, ylang ylang) You can even mix essential oils to create unique sensual aromas by adding 6 drops from 3 different ones)
Directions
Pour 30 ml of olive oil into an empty bottle, add a total of 18 drops of the essential oils of your preference (about 2%) and mix together by shaking the bottle. Here, you now have created your own organic massage oil. Be careful with essential oils though and research their properties individually, as some of them react differently to sun exposure and may damage the skin. However, keep in mind that using extra pure essential oils, requires even less drops, less than 3 in total, so read the instructions of each one carefully!
Additionally, you need to carefully choose your extra virgin olive oil, as low quality olive oil may have adverse effects on your skin, due to its high acidity.
Try it for yourself! Grab the extra virgin olive oil in your kitchen or visit our shop and add it to your daily skin and massage routine.