Hrid Basti involves placing Ayurvedic oils over your heart area to help nourish, strengthen, balance heart functions, and rejuvenate the heart. Warm, herbal oil or ghee is left on your chest for up to 30 minutes. This is also an effective therapy for asthma and other respiratory problems.
Benefits of Hrid Basti are:
- Nourishes and strengthens heart muscle
- Regulates cardiac functions
- Melt away stress and emotional grief
- Increases peace and happiness
Hrid Basti in Sanskrit refers to Hridaya, the heart and Basti, the container or retainer. This is also called as Urobasti (Uro=chest and basti=retaining something inside). So Hrid Basti is an oil bath on the heart. This suggests an Ayurvedic hot oil treatment where the medicated hot oil preparation or freshly prepared herbal decoction is poured over the heart region. Hridaya, the heart is considered as one among the trimarma(three vital areas) measuring about four fingers (four anguli pramana), covering heart, middle of sternum.
This procedure is bathing the heart region using warm medicated oils or herbal decoctions or medicated ghee depending on the condition.