The Warm Compress

When I first learned Raindrop Technique in 2000 with its founder D. Gary Young, there was an extra step performed on the back after all of the oils had been administered and massaged in. In those days, we’d apply a warm, moist towel to the back as a compress, to help open the pores of the skin, and allow the penetrating effects of the essential oils to be felt.

I even used this step (the warm compress) on dogs and horses after completing the other moves on the back….and as you will see from this pic below, Tammy (who was an elderly Labrador) loved it and really benefited a lot from receiving Raindrop Technique. 

Receiving this compress was often a very intense experience – the warmth and moisture in the towel would accelerate the heating effects of the Oregano and Thyme oil and the cooling effects of the Peppermint oil, and very quickly the back would feel like it was on fire and ice!

To some, this was an amazing sensation, however for many people it was simply too intense an experience to be enjoyable. The towel would need to be quickly removed once the sensations became too strong, and this would leave the back icy cold from the Peppermint oil.

I’d ask recipients to bring a jumper/sweater with them, even if it was a hot day – that’s how cooling the Peppermint oil becomes, once it has the warm compress applied!

Then I learned a great tip, which was to put a dry towel on the back first, then apply the warm, moist towel, then place another dry towel on top.

The moist towel would be run under warm water (as warm as we could comfortably hold our hands under – not to the point of scalding our hands). Then it would be wrung out as thoroughly as possible so that it was moist only, and not dripping wet, and it would be applied on top of the dry towel.

By doing this, less of the moisture would reach and penetrate the back. This in turn reduced the intensity of the compress, and even though hot and cold sensations could still be felt on the back, it was rare that someone needed the compress removed. The recipient would sink into a lovely deep relaxation for 10 minutes, before being rolled over for the final step of Raindrop Technique.

In 2007, when I attended a teacher training with Gary Young in Ecuador, he made the decision to remove this step from Raindrop Technique. His reasons were two-fold:

In Ecuador, Gary was giving a lot of Raindrop Techniques. Some days he’d perform up to 15 or 20 Raindrop Techniques in a day! He was looking at how to streamline the technique, and for practical reasons he’d removed this step and not found any change in efficacy. In his own words:

I’ve done more Raindrop Techniques without any towel than I ever did with a towel, and I’ve found no difference at all in the results.

 

– Gary Young

Secondly, in many countries in the world the application of a hot or cold towel is considered a therapy. Raindrop Technique is such an amazing modality, we want it to be accessible to everyone and not just qualified massage therapists and bodyworkers. This is the second reason that Gary made the decision to remove this step from Raindrop Technique.

The Leg Stretch

After the back moves of Raindrop Technique are completed, the recipient turns again to be face up.

Up until 2007, we were using and teaching a very simple leg stretch as the final step of Raindrop Technique. We’d have the recipient lying on their back, and we’d stand at their feet and gently hold around the back of their ankles (as shown in this pic). Then we’d use the weight of our body to slowly rock backwards and forwards, 10 times.

This gives a beautiful stretch to the back, and is a very gentle, nurturing way to complete the session.

If you’re simply learning Raindrop Technique to perform on family and friends, this is a lovely, easy step to perform.

The Finger Pull

However, in 2007 Gary introduced a new step to replace the Leg Stretch. The Finger Pull is a Lymphatic Pump technique, performed at the occipital area of the neck (where the neck joins the skull), with the recipient lying face-up.

The giver’s hands are cupped underneath the head, or on either side of the head. I prefer my hands on either side of the head, as for me that positioning gives greater stability to the head as I perform this step.

The giver’s fingers curl so that they rest on the occipital area, behind the sternocleidomastoid muscles – these are the muscles that run from the sternum and clavicle up to the mastoid area (just under the ear).

This means that both sets of fingers are sitting either side of the spine, running along the occipital area, and the thumbs lay along the sides of the recipient’s head to give some further stability to the head during this movement.

The fingers are bent (like pulling a trigger with all 4 fingers), then relaxed, then bent again. This is done as a firm movement, in quick succession, and it causes a vigorous rocking of the body.

Because the fingers are anchored at the base of the skull, this relatively small movement causes the entire body to rock, including the toes!

If the toes aren’t rocking, then either the movement is too small to have a ripple effect to the toes, or your hands are positioned too far down the neck, so that you are moving the neck muscles only, instead of the entire body. The success of this movement is all about the precision of where the hands are sitting.

It took me a while to fall in love with this step, and a lot of practice to master it. Some people “get it” straight away, whilst others (like me) take some time to get the hang of doing it, which is why I can highly recommend that you attend a class in Raindrop Technique to learn this step (rather than trying to follow along from a written description).

Once I mastered it, I absolutely loved it – both giving and receiving. It’s the perfect way to end this amazing technique, and being a lymphatic pump it gives the body a complete “wake up”, leaving it tingling and revitalized and cleansed.

This movement is done for 30 seconds to a minute, then we wait for a minute, repeat the movement, wait for another minute, and repeat again.

Many aspects of Raindrop Technique are done in groups of three, this being a powerful number in many traditions (thus bringing an additional spiritual intention to the application of Raindrop Technique).

What Raindrop Technique Does

Now that you know the 4 steps of modern Raindrop Technique – Valor Balance, VitaFlex, Back Moves and the Finger Pull – I’m sure you’d LOVE to know what it all does.

Make sure you do your own research online and in good reference books on the benefits of the individual oils used in Raindrop Technique.

Here are just some of the many benefits that Raindrop Technique brings to us, and why it is truly a Master Technique:

The Valor Balance is a great thing to do before stepping out of your comfort zone, whether that’s running your first Young Living class (or any other type of public speaking), first day in a new job or first day at school, etc. It’s also great to have anytime you are feeling emotionally “fractured”.

I performed Raindrop Technique on a woman who had been struck by a car at slow speed. It had given her a huge scare, and she was feeling highly emotional and very vulnerable and fragile, yet she walked away from the Raindrop Technique with her head held high. She was like a completely different woman!

2. Deeply, deeply relaxing
The deeply calming effects of the Valor Balance followed by the rhythmic VitaFlex roll up the spine of the feet will cause most recipients to fall asleep….or at the very least, to enter into a state of profound relaxation.

I like to enhance these 2 steps with the application of an additional one or two emotional oil blends from Young Living….whatever I’m drawn to for that person.

However, sometimes I’ll encounter a recipient who is so highly strung and always running at a million miles an hour in their life.

These people often have trouble switching off, even with the first 2 steps of Raindrop Technique. So for them, I’ll either put Peace & Calming oil on their shoulders, or a drop of Valerian oil under their nose, or I’ll even use some Cedarwood or Lavender oil on a tissue near their head (so they are breathing it in).

I still remember a male client I worked on almost 15 years ago. He was a complete “stress head” at work, and because he wasn’t settling during the Valor Balance, I brought out the “big guns” and put a drop of Valerian oil under his nose to help him let go.

Boy, did it work! He fell asleep during the session, which normally never happened for him. And the calming effects that he experienced from this letting go was so noticeable, even his staff were commenting in the next week on how relaxed he was at work!

I’ve also noticed that after Raindrop Technique, most people sleep extremely well, thanks to the very calming effects of the essential oils.

3. Energising and Exhilarating
Let’s think about essential oils for a moment. They are often described as the life force of the plant.

When we cook with herbs (Eg. lemongrass, peppermint, ginger, coriander seed, oregano, thyme, basil, and marjoram), these herbs are essential oil mixed with plant fiber (cellulose). So essential oils are like food for the body. Applying them to the skin is like delivering nutrition in the form of energy!!!

Their powerful and uplifting frequency transfers to our body as they are dripped onto our skin. Then we have the feathering movement that creates tingles up our spine, and moves the energy and frequency of the oils along our spine and to the skin that sits above all of our important organs.

And some of the essential oils used in Raindrop Technique are by their own nature very energizing. For example, there are many studies into Peppermint oil, and how good it is for waking us up, helping us focus, and energizing the body.

It’s been used in a study on athletes, where a drop of Peppermint oil was placed on a plaster strip that was under the athlete’s nose (meaning the oil was breathed in, and didn’t even penetrate the skin). These athletes were found to run the 400 metre dash faster, have increased hand grip strength, and were able to perform more pushups before reaching exhaustion.

It’s therefore no wonder that receiving Raindrop Technique feels like having a wonderful energy pill….yes, you are relaxed, but you are also revitalized.

For this reason, I love giving Raindrop Technique to anyone who is feeling over-tired, or in the midst of any intense work regime. 

My mum (who works very hard, despite being retired) went through a period of several weeks of extreme tiredness. She was just taking on too much, and trying to fit it all into a 24 hour period! In response to the tiredness, she was heading to bed at 9pm each night, instead of her usual 11pm to midnight. So I gave her a Raindrop Technique, and she sat up after receiving it and said “I feel great!” And that night she stayed up until midnight doing work around her property. It was wonderful to see how energizing it was for her.

4. Emotionally Transformative
Cypress oil is one of the oils used in Raindrop Technique. According to Gabriel Mojay in his book “Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit”:

Cypress oil helps us to unearth the fears that block change. It’s great for people who are seeking a new direction, but held back by a powerful and often-hidden sense of self-doubt. Cypress oil allows these obstructive feelings to emerge to arise into our consciousness so they can be unlocked. It also helps us cope with and accept change on both external and internal levels.

Thyme oil is both fortifying and uplifting. It’s been used for centuries to instil courage, and can be used to inspire heightened self-confidence, spiritual determination, and a powerful sense of motivation. It’s particularly useful when someone is feeling withdrawn, pessimistic and full of self-doubt.

Marjoram is traditionally known as the Herb of Happiness. It was often used at funerals, and can assist us in accepting any type of deep loss, restoring our power to give. It replaces grief with joy, helping us to feel both balanced and loved. It’s therefore perfect for anyone who is feeling lonely and unsupported.

Peppermint oil helps us to digest new ideas, becoming more receptive to the many doorways that exist around us. It therefore not only enhances concentration and energy, it also stimulates us to accept and embrace change in our life.

5. Powerfully relaxing to the back muscles

Our spine and back support us as we journey through life, so we want them to always remain strong and healthy, enabling us to live our dreams to their fullest potential.

The VitaFlex Technique performed on the spine of the feet combines beautifully with the massage steps on the back, to relax and release tension held up the spine and back.

Yet it’s exponentially enhanced by the powerful muscle-relaxing qualities of the essential oils used in Raindrop Technique.

As this tension is released, our spine can sit in a natural straight position, with proper space between the vertebrae (rather than the compression that is the result of tight muscles in the back).

It’s no wonder that when we measure a recipient’s height before and after Raindrop Technique, they have often grown by anywhere from several millimetres to several centimetres from a single Raindrop Technique, and this expansion is simply due to the relaxation of the muscles along the spine that were creating artificial compression.

If you want to keep your spine healthy for the long term, regular (Eg. fortnightly or monthly) Raindrop Techniques are one of the magic ingredients.

6. Helps us to maintain optimum health and flexibility

Essential oils are fortifying to our body, just as they are in the plant. They help to keep us healthy, and with anywhere from 100 to 140 drops of Young Living essential oil being used in a single Raindrop Technique, you can guess just how vibrant and strong you’ll be feeling at the end of the session.

I therefore love to use Raindrop Technique as a way of staying in peak health through the winter months, and when I’m around lots of other people.

It’s one of the most wonderful and extraordinary modalities on our planet, and I know that you will love both giving and receiving it.
Make sure you give yourself the gift of learning how to perform this modality, as you never know when you’re going to really need it for a loved one.

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