5 Benefits of Body Oiling

For thousands of years, people around the world have steeped petals and leaves into oils, extracting the beneficial constituents from plants to apply to their bodies. These herb-infused fats are massaged into the skin, which drinks in the lipids and the plant compounds within them. This is herbal body oiling.

Pre-dating the written word and referenced in many of the earliest medical texts, it’s one of the oldest known practices for supporting full-body wellness.

In ancient India, the Ayurvedic tradition used herbal oils for relaxation, rejuvenation, and as medicine. Ayurvedic texts describe the benefits of daily oil massage, “abhyanga,” as increasing resilience to stress, improving the function of vital organs, slowing the effects of age, and supporting sleep.

In ancient Egypt herbal oils were deeply revered and in ancient Greece, botanical oils were used in the practice of Hippocratic medicine for their therapeutic benefits, and the Greek physician Dioscorides documented the use of herbs and aromatic oils to support a variety of conditions.

Today, there’s a renewed grassroots interest in herbal body oiling as a practice that centers and relaxes the body, supports the immune and lymphatic systems, nourishes the skin, and promotes restful sleep. And as my students in Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils can attest, when you make your own herbal body oil recipes and herbal oil for the skin, you can use them as much and as often as you like without having to worry about which chemicals, dyes, or synthetic fragrances you’re putting on your skin (none!).

5 Benefits of Body Oiling

1. Tame Anxiety and Tension

Our skin, the boundary between our inner and outer worlds, is packed with nerve endings. And the nervous system has a deep influence over how we perceive and respond to the world around us. If we nourish this system by oiling our lipid-loving skin, we increase resiliency in periods of anxiety and tension. In addition, the act of massaging oil into the skin promotes relaxation and reduces stress. And depending on the oil, the scent and compounds in it may also increase the calming effect on the mind and body.

2. Support Immunity

Massaging the oil onto the skin can help to stimulate circulation and move lymphatic fluid, supporting the body’s innate healing mechanisms. Because the lymphatic system is part of the immune system – filtering viruses, bacteria, and fungi from the body – when we support our lymph, we also support overall immunity. Moreover, oiling puts the body in a relaxed, parasympathetic state, fostering the processes of rest, digestion, and repair.

3. Improve Sleep Quality

By now, you’re probably beginning to see how all of these body oiling benefits are intertwined. The same relaxing effects of herbal body oiling that bring the nervous system into balance and support immunity can also ready our bodies for nighttime rest, allowing us to transition more quickly into deep and restorative sleep.

4. Nourish and Moisturize Skin

Herbal oils are rich in fats and plant compounds that nourish and hydrate the skin from lips to toes. These lipids in the oil carry the chemical constituents of the herbs into the deeper layers of the skin, helping to improve skin texture, tone, and elasticity.

5. Heightened Attunement to Your Body

Body oiling brings us into connection with our bodies any time we do it, and it’s available to us any time of the day. For some, that might mean full-body oiling after a bath or shower. For others, it might be a foot massage before bed. I find that taking short breaks throughout the day to massage a bit of oil or salve onto my hands and wrists keeps me grounded, centered, and in touch with my body and inner knowing.

Bringing the Benefits Home

Body oiling may feel like luxurious self-care, but in these overstimulating times, it’s one of the wisest investments we can make in our health. Whether processing the stress of an intense day or creating a nighttime ritual to invite deeper sleep, body oiling is a simple yet effective way to lay the groundwork for restoration and well-being.

I oil my feet pretty much every night. If I wake in the night with a worried mind, I oil my feet. I keep a towel by my bed and lay it on my sheet. Then I oil up my feet, wrap my feet in the towel and drift back to sleep. It works like a charm!

This is one herbal home remedy that can easily be used every day. If you aren’t taking advantage of the profound benefits of herbal oiling – I encourage you to check it out!

Body oiling offers layers of healing that will enhance your ability to care for yourself at home, create the conditions for good health, and help minimize the need for medical interventions – all foundational reasons I’ve made teaching herbalism my life’s work.

If you’re ready to make potent, long-lasting, affordable herbal oils that are free of preservatives, dyes, and synthetic fragrances and too many, drying essential oils, join me in class: Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils.