Raindrop Technique
Healing Essential Oil Massage for Health, Relief of Back Pain & More
An essential oil massage technique based on Lakota Native healing, Raindrop Therapy is the application of powerful antibacterial, antiviral oils along the spine.
When it comes to treating back pain – as well as knee pain, tight shoulders, and digestive system discomfort – it can be hard to find something that will bring the body’s systems into alignment. One aid to solving these problems and more is a relatively new therapy called Raindrop Treatment, using essential oils that have been clinically tested to have antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Raindrop has helped bring relief to chronic pain sufferers and has been known to cause visible improvement in scoliosis. It has also been used successfully on horses and other animals.
Raindrop Technique
Raindrop was developed by D. Gary Young, founder of Young Living Essential Oils, based on techniques taught to him by a Lakota medicine man named Wallace Black Elk. In Lakota Native American healing practices, healers sweep a feather upwards along the spine in imitation of the Northern Lights, which are revered for their healing energy.
9 essential oils are used in raindrop: 7 single oils and 2 therapeutic blends. A person receiving raindrop lays facedown as oils are dropped up their back from a height of 6-12 inches. The oils are gently massaged in with the Lakota “feathering” motion. After the essential oils have been applied, a towel soaked in hot water is applied to the back to drive the oils further into the body.
Vitaflex, a foot reflexology technique, is used to apply the same oils to the spine reflexology points at the beginning of the raindrop.
The usual Raindrop oils are:
- Valor – a blend that integrates the body’s energies and can help align the spine and muscles of the back
- Oregano*
- Thyme*
- Basil*
- Wintergreen (originally birch, when pure birch oil was available)
- Cypress
- Marjoram
- Peppermint
- Aroma Siez – a blend that helps ease cramping and muscle soreness/pain
The Power of the Oils
Raindrop requires almost no knowledge of, or skill in, massage. Most of the efficacy of the technique is due to the oils. In fact, practitioners are discouraged from using other techniques at the same time as raindrop. It is the profound natural “intelligence” of the oils which can heal where healing is needed.
The oils used in raindrop flush out toxins and kill dormant viruses and bacteria along the spine, restoring health to the entire system.
Raindrop Cautions
- Raindrop technique was designed to optimize the power of real healing oils. Raindrop is only safe, and should only be performed, with the highest quality, pure, organic, therapeutic-grade oils.
- Several of the oils used in raindrop*, including oregano, thyme and basil, are considered hot oils. These oils can cause skin irritation. Use sparingly, particularly on sensitive skin.
- Keep a bottle of pure, natural massage oil base handy. If any of the hot oils* cause irritation, which is perfectly normal, simply apply massage oil liberally to soothe the heat.
- Raindrop has been effective in bringing relief and healing to those suffering from chronic or “terminal” illness. However, changes to the protocol are sometimes necessary. Patients with MS, for instance, need to have a cold towel applied instead of a hot towel.
- Both patient and therapist should drink plenty of water before and after a raindrop session. Therapeutic grade oils naturally stimulate the body to begin releasing toxins.
The Raindrop Controversy
Aromatherapy licensing boards, including the U.S. National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), have been reluctant to accept raindrop. They believe that direct application of essential oils on the body can cause toxic reactions. (This paradigm appears to originate in tandem with the use of cheaper, perfume-grade oils.)
There is no evidence to suggest that raindrop technique, done with high quality oils, is dangerous, and a great deal to suggest that it heals. Raindrop clients as well as several medical doctors have publicized their positive experiences with raindrop technique, yet raindrop continues to be a source of contention between different schools of aromatherapy within North America.
To Learn More:
- Young Living Essential Oils review
- the real quality of essential oils
- origins of back pain
- pain relief using essential oils
Reference: The Essential Oils Desk Reference, Second Edition. Essential Science Publishing, 2001.
