"Marma-point therapy is a mind/body/spirit massage," explains Elaine Molloy, an instructor of Ayurvedic medicine in Salem, massachusetts. "It goes way beyond the physical to penetrate the body on a deeper level. It's on that level that true healing takes place."

Marma is a Sanskrit word meaning hidden , or secret. By definition, a marma point is a juncture on the body where two or more types of tissue meet, such as muscles, veins, ligaments, bones or joints. Yet marma points are much more than a casual connection of tissue and fluids; they ar intersections of the vital life force and prana, or breath.