This second
day of massage was much, much stronger for me, my therapist Ramesh was probably
going easy on me on the first day and figured I could take it – not sure he
thought the same after today as I did do a bit of screaming - hope the poor
person in the next room was not new to this as they would have thought I was
being tortured. This is not the case for
everyone, and I think it’s because of my disorder where my nerve endings are
more sensitive so I feel it more.
Having said that, I did just
put my back out only 5 months ago so bad that I was bedridden, chewing down
heavy duty drugs for two weeks and even had to get friends help to care for my
son as I couldn’t move from the pain.
And only three weeks ago a MD recommended I have Cortisone injections
for my right knee after damaging it on the “cross country skiing machine” at
the Gym in my attempt to “get fit”.
Ramesh also agreed that my left
knee pain is probably early arthritis and I should do some stretches and
exercise in the morning. My body thwarts
me every time I attempt to “get fit”, which is why I need to balance my Dosha’s
and remove this inflammation so I can do just that.
It is a kind of torture for me
though, and I was laughing to myself how funny it is that I thank Ramesh at the
end of the session, when I’m literally thanking someone who has just inflected
a great deal of pain on me.
(PHOTO: This Turkey neck is going to go)
Earlier when I apologised for
my cries of pain he said that if he took it easy and gave me a normal massage I
would not get the benefits and I know it’s true. I said yes keep going as I want the results. During the Udvartana powder massage I can
visualise my inner skinnier self, I can feel it through his hands. The real me is in there. I found this massage so much more relaxing today.
I’ve just been through so many
painful treatments that I come at them gingerly and expecting pain now. Thankfully this is not. Can’t say the same for the Abhyangam
massage. This is the meat and potatoes.
This is the massage that is going to change my life. This one is not for pussies I reckon. Well, it’s not the same for everyone but a
strong massage really is painful for my inflamed body. But as Ramesh says, wait a week and it will
change.
So I can hardly wait for the
second week. This is where I know I can
relax and my body gets stronger, healthier and quite frankly, I care less about
the weight loss goal today and more about having my sore body fixed. I’m 45 years old next Sunday and I want to be
able to chase after my 4 year old darling boy.
I also want to show him that
even after my terrible time with my back, that I can do something about it and
I can get well. It broke my heart to see
him try to help me get up off the couch like I was an invalid when I was in so
much pain. My heart goes out to the
parents who suffer from terminal illnesses in front of their children. It must have a long-term impact. Watson now complains of a bad back and I
think it’s pretend, sympathy pain, but really it’s setting him up for using
those words and having that feeling that disturbs me – hence my wanting to get
stronger and healthier.
(PHOTO: Enjoying some morning tea at the Swiss Cafe overlooking Kovalam Beach)
The process of the treatment
follows that of a Panchakarma treatment.
According to Ayurveda there are
of 2 types of treatments:
1.
Suppressive treatment - by using medicines for short term diseases such as a
cough, fever or pain.
2.
Purification treatment - each human body is prone to diseases according to our
fast life. We live in a world where we experience stress, polluted
environments, unhealthy food, and also use of medicines. Some people are more
genetically prone to diseases.
So due to the consumption of the
above, the toxins are accumulated in the body from birth onwards.
We may even experience toxins as
early as through our mother's milk due to her consumption of chemical
medicines.
According to Ayurveda, there are
many channels in the body and these channels accumulate toxins which will block
the flow of the body tissue. Certain parts of the body may not get enough
circulation so there will be less flow. Some parts of the body may need more
nutritive factors for the tissues to function, and as a result they become over
functioning or less functioning.
This happens over a long period
of time. The symptoms will appear in or on the body as diseases; we can cure it
by Ayurvedic medicines and also by eliminating the toxins to make the channels
more clear to support the flow of different nutritive tissues.
Toxins are in different parts of
body and to eliminate that first we do different massages according to the
patient’s needs. By this the vessels are dilated and the warming and oiling
effect through massage and using special massage oils, create the flow of
nutrition throughout the body.
After several days of treatment
the toxins are eliminated out by the purification techniques, i.e. Panchakarma.
The correct purification technique is chosen according to the disease and the
nature of the body type.
The following days of the 14 day
treatment is used to heal where the channels of the body are purified and the
tissues are getting more nutrition so they start to function in a healthy way.
Medicines are continued after the
treatment to keep the process for longer. Therefore one of the concepts of
Ayurveda is that after minimum 14 days, the body gets its energy back to
restore its nutrition and health, and then the healing process continues.
Read more about The Six Stages of
Disease at www.pranahealingholidays.com or keep following the Blog.
(PHOTO: Beautiful fresh food we bought from the market cost us about aud$2)