My Ayurvedic spa in India – herbal massages, yoga, steam bath – and lifestyle changes it induced me to make

The ancient Indian holistic healing system of Ayurveda is based on a balance between mind, body and spirit

Pounded with hot linen bags full of medicated herbs, oil dripped on my forehead, I emerge after four days rejuvenated and resolved to change my diet and routine

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The Ayurvedic treatment package at Kairali in Kerala, India includes massages, yoga, vegetarian meals and meditation. Photo: Rathina Sankari

Published: 8:30pm, 12 Aug 2019Updated: 9:10pm, 12 Aug 2019

I felt like a kid playing in a puddle, just that it wasn’t a puddle of water, but oil. I tried to get up but skidded and slid on the wooden table on which I was lying.

My therapist, 47-year-old Satyabhama, extended her arms to steady me. I was in Kairali The Ayurvedic Healing Village in Palakkad, a town in the verdant, southern Indian state of Kerala.

Ayurveda translates as “the science of life” and its therapies are based on natural principles. Maintaining a balance of the three doshas, or vital forces of life – vata (space and air), pitta (fire and water) and kapha (earth and water) – is the crux of Ayurveda, which is said to be about 5,000 years old and has its roots in India.

I had long been contemplating a visit to Kerala to relax and rejuvenate through Ayurveda. I found the need to recuperate from stress, age and lifestyle-related issues. After a 30-minute consultation with Dr Chitra Menon, the in-house Ayurvedic doctor, I had a chart in hand, listing the therapies that I would undergo. The initial diagnosis found that kapha was the predominant dosha in my system.

A traditional ayurvedic oil massage is known as abhyangam.

That afternoon, Satyabhama, clad in the traditional Kerala garb, a white settu-mundu sari, started with a gentle head massage that made me drowsy. Then I lay on a table while she and Sarita worked in unison on my front and back with firm strokes, using warm herbal oils, for 30 minutes.