Healthy Wealthy Wise – Page 3 – Ayurveda adventures in body, mind, soul and senses

Virecana day

April 14, 2017 by Rose

Now I have completed the preparatory procedures (Purvakarma) for stage one, I’m ready for the main procedure (Pradhanakarma) which is called Virecana.

The main objective of this is to expel morbid substances, dissolve systemic physiological and emotional toxins (amas) from the circulating channels (srotas). It creates a healthy environment for the subtle transformation and nourishment and also provides the best healing opportunity.

Virecana is a therapeutic purging which helps to expel toxins from the central part of the body (liver, gallbladder, pancreas and intestines – the Pitta system). It is very effective for releasing digestive and metabolic load produced by different forms of food, emotional impulses or reaction.

I am told to welcome this awakening phenomenon!

The evening prior to Virecana, I am given a prepared herbal powder to take with a glass of warm water just before I go to bed. It tastes pretty foul so I drink it quickly then brush my teeth before hopping into bed – not quite sure what to expect.

I awake around 5am and perform my daily routines. At 7am I meet Dr Rumee who shows me into a therapy room where she takes my blood pressure (now down to 100/60) and pulse as well as asking me a few questions on how I slept and how I’m feeling and so on.

She then gives me a stomach massage and Paru, one of my regular therapists, gives me a foot massage – so far so good I’m thinking! After the stomach massage I have a couple of hot water bottles placed on my abdomen (hot fomentation) then I am shown some special exercises to perform. Next I am given a rather nasty tasting herbal concoction to drink, worse than the night before. Shortly after downing two glasses of this it certainly had the desired effect!

I am told to rest for much of the day which is easy as I’m feeling quite drained. A thermos of cumin tea is sent up to my room for me to sip on along with hot water. I am supposed to have breakfast at 10am but I fall asleep in my room so I’m woken around 11am with a bowl of of very watery and plain rice soup (congee). I’m not particularly hungry but they encourage me to eat some. I snooze on and off then lunch is sent up around 1pm which is not so watery rice soup.

For the next three days, my diet of rice soup gets thicker and thicker and gradually spices are added then finally on the third day, there are vegetables added then at dinner, lentils (kitchari). I also have a bowl of boiled apples each afternoon which I find very enjoyable.

That evening there is a huge thunder storm which feels quite fitting somehow to how I’m feeling after quite a grueling day. I feel very cosy and snuggled up listening to the wonderful sounds of thunder rolling in over the mountains and at times it was difficult to tell the difference between the lightning and the New Year’s Day fireworks going off down by the lake.

New Year’s Eve

April 13, 2017 by Rose

Day 4 and final medicated ghee day. This time I get two cups of hot ginger tea to mix my ghee concoction with making it a bit easier to get the increased dose of 60ml down.

I head back to my room to finish off my morning routine activities then meet Dr Kristina downstairs for my morning breathing practices and neti. I’m feeling a bit dizzy today so she takes my blood pressure which has dropped slightly from 120/80 on my arrival to 110/80. Nothing to be concerned about but she said Dr Rumee would take it again tomorrow morning.

Time for breakfast which is the usual yummy porridge and steamed apples. I so love this being cooked for at every meal and knowing that all the food they are lovingly preparing for me is exactly what my body needs. I enquire about cooking classes during my stay but unfortunately they don’t offer this however I’m welcome to hang out in the kitchen whenever I want to observe. The ‘homeladies’, as they are called are all very nice as are all the staff here. The homeladies take care of all the cooking and cleaning, then there are a number of office staff who look after our schedules and anything we need during our stay, there are many therapists both female and male. Female guests only get treated by the female therapists and the male guests the male therapists. They are all highly skilled in the Ayurvedic therapies and I’ve had some of the best massages here I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot!

There are four doctors – Dr Rumee, Dr Kristina and Dr Samichha who are based here in Pokhara permanently and Dr Rishi who co-founded the Ayurveda Health Home, first in Kathmandu almost two decades ago and later the Pokhara center in 2009. I have not yet met Dr Rishi but have spoken on the phone and Skype twice since my arrival and he will be here on Saturday when I get to meet him in person for a long consultation.

I don’t have a private yoga session today so I do my own practice. The yoga room is busy so the office staff prepare the roof top room for me which is very pleasant and there’s an even better view of the lake up there. It’s directly above my bedroom and slightly above the new building that blocks a lot of my view. By the look of it up there they’re putting in another floor on which is a shame.

Lunch is another delicious delight – tasty pigeon pea soup followed by extremely yummy vegetable burgers, sweet carrots, fried cauliflower and onions and a beautiful green tomato chutney. I think I’m finding food particularly exciting lately as I know today is my last ‘real food’ for a few days before I embark on Virecana – the main procedure of the first stage in my Panchakarma. More on that later.

My afternoon therapy today is another goodie. A full body scrub by two therapists then immersion into a hot steam tub. Nothing like a good detox to get me further prepared for the big purge.

I have another wander down to the lakeside and check out the New Year’s Eve scene going on down there. Tomorrow begins a new year in the Nepalese calendar and the year date is 2074. Dr Rumee explains to me that their calendar started 57 years before ours so I’m wondering if that makes me 110 years old? Or am I still 38? Either way I know this Panchakarma will do wonders for my longevity.

That evening as I drift off to sleep, I hear the wonderful sounds of Nepalese music and chanting, in fact this started quite early in the day. At one stage the chanting then turned into a huge group singing ‘Wonderwall’ – not what I was expecting! There is the usual chorus of dogs barking in the night too, not such a pleasant sound.

More ghee

April 12, 2017 by Rose

Day 3 is much the same, I begin my day with the medicated ghee at the increased dose of 50ml. I perform my daily routines that I was shown the day before including eye exercises and eye wash, oil pulling and mouth washing, pelvic exercises, breath awareness, yoga, breathing practices, meditation and neti – phew, how will I find time to fit all of this in when I’m back in the real world! Some of this I do alone and some I have the guidance of Dr Rumee again.

In between these routines and breakfast I wander down to the lakeside for a pleasant walk and to check out the surroundings.

Pokhara is a naturally beautiful city, the second biggest in Nepal after Kathmandu and most probably ten times more peaceful and clean. It has a prime position beside the deep green lake Fewa, nestling among forested hills with a picture-postcard backdrop of gleaming Himalayan peaks. I have yet to see these peaks as since I’ve been here they’ve been covered in misty clouds so I’m hoping for at least one clear day so I can head up to Sarangkot for sunrise which is supposed to be spectacular.

The scene at Lakeside Pokhara, which is a short 5 minute walk from the “Happy Home”, is very chilled out. I notice lots of funky cafes and restaurants as well as some pretty interesting shops that I will definitely need to return to. There are plenty of yoga schools and adventure sports shops abound. I read somewhere that Pokhara has the best paragliding venue on the globe. No wonder I see so many every day from my room or whenever I’m down at lakeside.

One thing I notice the first time I head out for a walk is my shortness of breath on the most gentle of hills. I Google the altitude of Pokhara and discover it’s 827m so quite different to the 46m I’m used to in Noosa.

Also on the agenda for today is another wonderful 90 minutes massage and a Picu treatment – ahh, another relaxing day.

Medicated Ghee

April 11, 2017 by Rose

The day after I arrive I’m straight into the medicated ghee to start my day. I meet Doctor Rumee downstairs at 6.10am for my prepared morning delight! This specialized procedure of Panchakarma falls under the category of Snehana (Oleation) Karma. This internal Snehana is done by drinking ghee and oils cooked with herbs specifically prepared for me.

The objective of taking this medicated ghee is to circulate the properties of the herbs into the cellular level, to soften internal residual toxins, to open circulating channels and to help the toxins to flow through these channels and reach the digestive system. Basically this ghee acts as a vehicle to take all my toxins to the digestive system or the intestines where they will later be purged.

I am to take the ghee for three days, increasing the amount each day. The first day I take 40ml, the second 50ml and the final day 60ml. This is traditionally mixed with warm milk however as I don’t particularly like milk they make a nice ginger tea for me to mix mine with.

So on this first day of taking it, the doctor sits with me to make sure I mix it and drink it correctly and the following two days I’m on my own. The initial taste is hard to describe, slightly pungent and the sensation of drinking oil is a bit odd. All in all it’s not too bad and I down it fairly quick smart followed by a refreshing cup of hot water. I’m then told to head back to my room to rest and meditate then I’m to meet the doctor again in an hour for an hour long consultation.

Dr Rumee takes me into a treatment room and asks me various questions about my health, past and present, my childhood, major issues I want to get out of my Panchakarma treatment and so on. She already has all of this information along with my medical reports from various bone density scans, back scans and others but we go through all of this together. She then takes my blood pressure (120/80), performs percussion on my internal organs, examines my pelvic and back area and other parts of my body in great detail.

She then shows me how to perform daily pelvic exercises that will balance my hormones and strengthen my internal pelvic area, in turn helping to deal with my back pain – these are to be done every morning for the duration of my stay and to be continued when I return home.

Collection of daily goodies for my Dinachara — Collection of daily goodies to perform my Dinachara

The next treatment followed immediately after, I am shown how to perform daily eye exercises followed by eye washing. The benefits are to improve eye function, give strength to my eye muscles, give relaxation to the eyes and to improve vision difficulties. I am then shown how to perform oil pulling and mouth gargling which I am also to add to my daily routine (Dinachara).

Ayurveda advises oil pulling to purify the taste buds and the entire system. The tongue is the mirror of the whole digestive and metabolic system, that is, each section of the tongue is connected to the kidneys, lungs, spleen, liver, heart, pancreas, small intestines, stomach, colon and spine.

Thus, an oil-mouth-massage soothes and stimulates the key meridians where taste meets organ. Simultaneously, as in any skin massage, the inner skin and lining of the mouth, palate and tongue become warm and supple and the lubrication prevents dryness. The specialised herb oil used here is Pitta (one of the three dosas/constitutions) predominant energy, which means bodily fire. This is involved in the whole metabolic transformation process. So it helps to digest or metabolise ama (undigested or un-metabolised food or stress).

At last I am allowed breakfast shortly after 9am. My food plan for the next three days while I’m on the ghee is a light to normal diet which I actually find very substantial. Breakfast is porridge cooked in ghee, brown sugar and spices and cooked apples with various spices including cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Lunch and dinner varies, always starting with a Dahl soup, some sort of grain such as rice or couscous, chapati, vegetable momos and a selection of steamed or fried vegetables usually cooked in very tasty spices plus there is always a fresh chutney to finish it off.

Later that morning I have my first yoga session also with Dr Rumee. We start with breath awareness, followed by what they call foundation 1 yoga poses, pranayama breath work and ending with Bhramari (deep humming bee sound) and OM chanting. At the end of this session the doctor then guides me in using a neti pot to cleanse my nasal passages. The first seven days I am to use a warm milk concoction, not the most pleasant activity I have done so far but I’m sure there will be worse to come. This practice detoxes the nasal passages and sinus area and is the quickest route in the body to the brain helping clarity of thought.

After a yummy lunch I have the most amazing massage treatment – a whole body synchronized Abhyanga cleansing massage that is performed by two therapists. This is just amazing, being massaged by two hands is wonderful enough but four hands is simply divine.

After the massage I have my first Picu treatment. Another oleation practice, this process involves submerging cotton cloths in warm oil to heat them, compressing the cloths and then applying them to the specific body parts to treat those areas. Mine concentrates on my lower back, neck, shoulders and knees. It provides nourishment to muscles and tissues, releases stress, increases flexibility and restores muscle and joint movement by penetrating into the deep tissue level. It is excellent for joint pain and swelling, joint and muscle stiffness or deformity, muscle and tendon cramps, twists, and tears, spondylosis and backache. It improves the lymphatic system and general circulation. It also feels damn good!

The Arrival

April 10, 2017 by Rose

Ayurveda Health Home - Pokhara — Ayurveda Health Home – Pokhara

It was wonderful to finally be at the Ayurvedic Health Home after such a long and tiring journey. The short taxi ride had us at the center within about 15 minutes of my touching down at the airport. I was greeted at the door by another lovely staff member who presented me with my ‘indoor shoes’ and asked to remove my trainers which I could leave in the neatly organized cupboard of guest and staff shoes at the door. I was taken to the waiting area and offered a cup of refreshing Tulsi tea and a bowl of fresh fruit both of which were very welcome.

After eating my refreshments I was taken into the office where they had set up a Skype call with Dr Rishi who was still in the Kathmandu center. Dr Rumee sat in also and took notes while Dr Rishi welcomed me to the center and explained that Dr Rumee would take good care of me and I was to sit down with her for an initial consultation the next morning and she would share this with him so he could make any further refinements to my 24 day Panchakarma program.

Panchakarma is a specialised Ayurveda therapy which consists of five intensive treatment procedures – Vaman, Virecana, Morning and Evening Basti and Sirovirecana. These procedures help with:

Cleansing and detoxification
Balancing and harmonising
Immune enhancing and rejuvenation of the whole system-body, senses, mind and soul.

Dr Rishi designed my program after receiving my notes from Dr Pradeep in Brisbane and studying my various health reports. The Panchakarma steps I would be undertaking during my time here will be Virecana, both Bastis and Sirovirecana. I am told that during this process, I may feel various physiological and psycho-emotional changes within myself.

Each of these main procedures has specific pre and post-procedure therapies which are called Purvakarma and Paschatkarma respectively. The Purvakarma will initiate the cleansing and detoxifying with different kinds of oil and powder massages (external oleation) as well as the intake of medicated ghee/ghrita (internal oleation). I will also get a whole body steam, private yoga tuition, neti, oil pulling and eye wash instruction to enhance the cleansing process.

Purvakarmas are basically designed to circulate the properties of the herbs up to the subtle cellular level as a friendly component and to dissolve and liquefy the accumulated toxins (ama) in the system and facilitate the expulsion of these ama components through the main circulating channels (srota).

Bring it on I say!

My call with Dr Rishi was fairly brief and he said I could talk to him at any time I wished via Skype until he arrives to the Pokhara center on Saturday when we would sit down together with Dr Rumee for a long consultation.

Finally I was shown to my room and other various areas along the way including the dining room, library and rooftop. All of the guest accommodation was situated on the 2nd floor and consisted of 4 double bedrooms and 1 single bedroom, I had the single room, known as Ganesh – the elephant God of good luck and wisdom. It was fairly small but had a comfortable double bed, desk, chair, cupboard and a small attached bathroom. Being on a corner I had two windows with wonderful views to Lake Fewa, Peace Stupa and green fields and jungle. It’s a pretty stunning view even though it’s interrupted with construction. After a quick well-needed shower I was ready for my first massage.

How wonderful after my long journey to relax into a 90 minute Whole Body Cleansing Abhyanga – if this is what the next few weeks will be like I’ll certainly fit in well. Feeling ten times better I drift back to my room in the provided robe which I will come to live in much of each day, then I chill out briefly before dinner. I pop downstairs around 6pm and meet the other current guests staying – first Petra and Helga from Germany then Kim and Jonas from Vietnam and Sweden/Chiang Mai. All very nice and interesting people. Dinner is delicious and I enjoy getting to know my fellow guests.

Sleep comes quite quickly that night despite the party going on in the building site next door and the extremely hard mattress. Nothing is a problem here though so when asked how I slept the next morning, I mentioned the mattress and before I knew it they had replaced it with a much more comfortable one.

Journey of the shrinking planes

April 10, 2017 by Rose

The epic journey to my final destination Pokhara, Nepal begins on Sunday evening the 10th April. We leave home for Brisbane airport before 8pm, arriving not long after 10pm after encountering countless roadworks along the way. A popular time for road construction it seems.

Paul and I say our fond farewells as I head to the Singapore Airlines check-in counter. This would be the longest time we’ve been apart since before we got married, I’ll miss him loads along with our kittie cats. I’m swiftly checked-in, the attendant at the counter not quite believing I had such a small carry-on bag for almost a month.

A pretty uneventful hour and a half while I waited to board my flight. I got plenty of exercise to counteract the long sit in the car as well as the upcoming flight by walking the length of the departure lounge and back numerous times. Once onboard, I was very happy with my seat that I had paid a bit extra for, plenty of leg room and only one ‘seat mate’. Not quite business class but it could have been worse.

I was pleasantly surprised when the captain informed us the original 8½ hour flight would now be only 7½ hours. We landed in Sinagpore, around 5am and I wandered around for a while a bit dazed from lack of sleep and made my way from terminal 3 to 2 on the Skytrain. I found my gate and although my wait was now about 3 hours due to the early arrival, I managed to find things to do including getting the wifi password and making contact with home, checking out the sunflower gardens on the rooftop, and almost getting a coffee. I really felt like one and even got in the queue but at the last minute went to Boost Juice instead and so glad I did. Why ruin 3 months of abstaining and the juice gave me the boost I was needing!

The next flight on Silk Air was on a considerably smaller plane that felt very cramped but I was lucky to have an empty seat next to me on a row of three and again the captain announced the 5½ flight would now be less than 5 hours. I was very pleased about this as my connection in Kathmandu to Pokhara was a bit tight.

We ended up arriving only about 20 minutes early then there was great confusion with buses which we had to take to the terminal. When we finally got on a bus to drop us at the terminal I zoomed off and got through customs very quickly and was very pleased I’d got my visa in advance as that queue was huge. The baggage area looked a nightmare too so I was super pleased I had carry on luggage only. There was a bit of a queue going through the security bag screening but once through that I was out of there.

I got outside to discover the directions I was given from the Brisbane Ayurvedic Centre were very totally wrong. I was told to keep walking straight ahead for about 10 minutes and the domestic terminal was in the same building. Well I got outside and there was no sign whatsoever of a domestic terminal nor any signs to indicate where it might be. I asked a policeman (who looked quite annoyed as well as confused whilst holding his gun closer) and he pointed in the general direction. I had to walk half on the road amongst cars as either the footpath disappeared, there were bars across it or it was full of people. I kept walking hoping to see a sign yet nothing so asked another policeman who said to keep going and pointed to a hill, so I went up this hill and into a big carpark where I had to dodge scooters, cars and vans and people. Finally saw a sign on a daggy old building, I had reached the Domestic terminal at last.

I waited about an hour to board my next flight and took in the very interesting surrounds, I’m not quite sure how to explain it but suffice to say it was more like a run down old bus terminal and quite a culture shock. Boarding was announced about 10 mins before take-off and we were ushered onto what could be described as a bus. This bus fit the whole flight and subsequently dropped us at a tiny propeller plane with steps so small I couldn’t even carry my hand luggage onto so it had to go in the hold.

The flight was very pleasant with beautiful views of the mountains. The guy sitting next to me struck up conversation after take-off and was very chatty. He was from Pokhara and lives and works in Lithuania as a sushi chef and was going home for vacation. He told me about the Himalayas that we could see from the right side of the plane, luckily I was on that side with a window seat, it was truly a beautiful site. He also told me the Pokhara flight used to take only 20 minutes but after some accidents they changed it to 25 minutes. I was pleased about this. Although it’s only 200km west of Kathmandu the large tourist buses take around 7 hours due to the many mountain roads, smaller buses however can take 3-4 hours.

So after a very short and pleasant flight, we arrived at Pokhara airport which was basically a tiny tin shed, how different could it be from Changi! At least it was clean and well maintained unlike Kathmandu.

I was met by Kamala from the Ayurveda Health Home and we were driven by a taxi driver just a short distance to my final destination – now the real adventure was about to begin.