Ayurvedic magic

For every bad travel experience there are many more wonderful ones that make it all worth while.

All of Kerela is known for its Ayurverdic treatments and philosophy. This is actually the birthplace of Ayurveda. Dreamman and I were just waiting to find a spot that we felt good about to get a treatment and consultation. One of the biggest scams in Kerela is people claiming to offer Ayurvedic treatments, there is no regulation on this, so anyone can put up a sign, and have no training at all. Ayurveda is based on prevention, and a way of life, using all natural oils and elements. Ayurveda promotes harmony within oneself, and treatments are guided by a true doctor, and not just someone claiming to be able to do massage.

We were lucky in Kovalam, and just sort of stumbled past an Ayurvedic clinic that I immediately had a good feeling about. We went in and asked if there was a doctor that we could obtain consultations from, and to see if they had any massages that suited us. This place was legit, and we went ahead and booked both consults and massages for the following afternoon.

First we went and met with the doctor who was a warm Indian woman who has been in the practice for the last 15 years. She was wonderful, very thorough and a kind communicator. I was enthralled with her, and could just imagine my acupuncturist Jill, in San Francisco, and her sitting around and sharing ideas. She asked us to share any ailment and concerns and then she took our pulses and diagnosed us in the terms of Vata Pitta and Kapha. These are the 3 doshas that create harmony in oneself. The whole thing was so interesting, and remarkably enough she was right on in pointing out things about both Jonathan and I. After our informative talk, lover and I got shuffled off to our separate rooms for our massages.

The massages we received were for us to relax, and not considered treatments. In Ayurveda, treatments are at least week long practices, this was just to have a good feeling of relaxation and mellow out. The experience was like no other massage I have ever had, and was really quite bizarre. I was told to lie on this very hard wooden table, with little leather matts placed under my head, wrists, forearms, hips, and heels. My practitioner was a little, older Indian woman dressed in a sari. She poured a hot oil on me and briskly rubbed the oil in a mostly upwards motion. This is to stimulate lymph and blood flow. This process repeated itself over my whole body with me face up, face down, and lying on both sides. This is not the sort of treatment you are falling asleep to, but the constant rhythmic motion of her quick hand and hot oil was calming non the less. One thing I found strange was that this woman really did not have soft smooth hands, as you you find someone else who constantly had their hands in soothing oil. She had actually quite rough hands. Hands of a woman who has worked hard with those fingers and palms doing work other than massage. The pressure was also not a hard pressure. It was very mild, and very different from what you would expect.

After the whole massage part was through she guided me to a little steam box on the otehr side of the room. It had a door that I entered, and sat on the small stool {which I was too tall for so I had to sit awkwardly} then she slid the top on, around my neck. I felt as if I was going to be beheaded at any moment by a swift and fast slice!!! So here I was in box a little too small for me, closed in except for my neck and head, sweating it out. I found this actually quite wild.

After a short and very steamy steam, I then went into the shower room where the woman told me to rub this strange brown, nice smelling paste all over me, and then rinse it off in very hot water. This paste help to loosen all the oil and leave my skin so soft and smooth feeling.

Overall I think we both had very positive and strange experiences!! I am certainly interested in learning more about Ayurveda and even seeking out a practitioner in San Francisco!

xoxoxo
Alicia Claire