DAY 2 - post treatment:

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)

Day 2 of Treatment - Meditation techniques

Yesterday with my first treatment, it was also more of a battle of the mind.  How can I be in my body and really experience this healing treatment and shut off the chitter chatter. I felt grateful to be a meditation teacher and to have lots of tricks up my sleeve.  I tried them all and I think it was the combination of them that worked.  But it was hard work and I hope today will be easier.

My favourite meditation technique is the focus your attention on the back of your brain meditation.  Its where you imagine what your brain looks like, your hair, your neck, it’s so easy you can even do it for just 30 seconds at any time and it will change your focus especially if you are experiencing stress.  I like it because it’s a reminder that we are the ones in control of our brain.  It’s designed to take the focus away from  your frontal lobe which is where you mind runs around with your to-do lists, etc etc, etc.

I also try the Chakra re-energising meditation where you visualise different coloured flowers or gemstones at the 7 different Chakra points of your body, starting with the root Chakra – just don’t forget to close them down by coming back down from the crown chakra and visualising a golden light at each chakra point coming back down to your root chakra at the base of your spine. 

As you probably know that scientific research into meditation has proven that it will increase the production in your brain of many vital neuro-chemicals, which will slow down ageing and enhance your ability to fight illness.

·   It will also dramatically reduce any stress and help you to overcome any anxiety and depression.

·   Meditation creates remarkable emotional changes and will enhance your emotional health.

·   By meditating you will also heighten your creativity and problem solving abilities.

·   You will experience more restful sleep and it will increase your motivation and confidence.

·   Meditation is known to boost your intelligence and enhance your memory.

·   And it will help you to increase your focus, concentration and learning ability.

And overall by meditating you will experience more happiness and "flow" in your life.

You can check out www.brightlife.me for more information on my Meditation For Busy Minds CD.

(PHOTO: I attended Catholic Church with my family - it was so lovely and I got many sweet comments on my Sari.  I love it here how they really embrace you wearing their local dress)

DAY 1 in the pm: Post first day's treatment

Post treatment and post 1 hour relaxing in my oils (its best to try and sit in your oils for at least an hour after treatment).

Gee where to start.  I feel spent, scrubbed, wrung out and newborn.  It was so emotional.  It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten the parts of me that hurt with a deep ache and acute sharp stabs when touched.  But thankfully he finished with an Indian head massage and I wept.  The emotions that poured out were of relief and gratitude.  I’m so grateful to be here and to be so very fortunate to be able to have this treatment and I’m relieved that there is some help for me.

Over 25 years of pain has led me to probably 50 or more specialists and only the best just took the edge off.  Ive had several massage therapists say not to come back as they can’t help me.  Only a few months ago I had a therapist stop ¾ into his treatment when he said he couldn’t think what else to do that would help me – and I so walked out in despair.  I’ve had acupuncturist say that they couldn’t help me.  I’ve had Chinese Doctors doing cups where my body swelled up bizarrely into big mounds underneath the cup which freaked him out and said he has never seen this before.  Ive been turned away by many and told that “Im an interesting case”.  Not so for the Ayurveda therapists who say “why not” when I ask “can I be helped”.

I feel overwhelmed with relief to be lucky to have found Ayurveda and that its relatively so simple. 

Over the years, the closest to a diagnosis for my “condition” was by the Head of the Pain Clinic at St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst Sydney.  He said it’s similar to Fibromyalgia but not since I still have physical strength.  So his answer was to switch the type of Anti-Depressants I had been put on (halve the dose immediately which after research even I knew this was dangerous to just cut down so suddenly) and since it was an “older style” anti-depressant it had an anti-inflammation added to it.

The typical Western medical answer was to medicate me and so I was a serious anti-inflammatory pill popper for nearly 25 years.  Who knows what damage that has done since recent information showed that it can cause stomach ulcers – however even before this, at the age of 12 I was diagnosed and treated for a Duodenal Stomach Ulcer so this was dangerous pill popping.

My neck first went out when I was about 14 years old into spasms that my neck was fused over to the left so I couldn’t lift my head.  The physio answer was to plug me into a device that I controlled that emitted electric pulses to my spasmed spots.  It was actually kinda fun to turn it up to “11” and spasm my whole shoulder out – well I did say I was only 14.

Then came the chiropractor who cracked me even without muscle preparation, and the one who ran his finger down my spine and I jumped off the bed accusing him of dragging a cutting knife straight down my back.  And so it continued, visiting specialist after specialist for over 25 years, it was exhausting and expensive.

Today Dr George has created a 14 Day Treatment Plan just for my body needs which will be done for 2 hours at a time (though sometimes some split into the evening – making a whole day of bliss):

·         Udvartana Powder Massage and Abhyangam Massage then a Steam for 5 days

·         Abhyangam Massage then Kizhi and Nasyam for 5 days

·         Dhanyamly Shara – 3 days

·         Abhyangam and Shirodhara – 4 days.

UDVARTANA – Ayurveda’s specialised Weight Loss Massage: One of the tools for weight loss is Udvartana, a specialised herbal treatment for weight reduction.  An herbal powder is applied all over the body and deeply massaged with specific movements by massage therapists for one hour.

Benefits: This therapy is very effective in naturally reducing weight.  Toning the skin and muscle after child birth or weight loss, removes cellulite, obesity, weight reduction, imparts good complexion to the skin, revitalises the sense of touch, removes Kapha toxins from the body, tones the skin and muscles.

This was first time experiencing this massage, and at first I was worried that the powder like sand was going to be too abrasive and hurt – but its not as strong as a loofa, and nowhere near as rough as the Shafair Ayurvedic Fairness Soap I mistakenly bought at the Supermarket.  This is designed for creating “fair, youthful and glowing complexion” and far out it’s like taking a layer of skin off – just to be white – that’s really sad.

Apparently the powder is massaged into you until it turns into a black paste which is the “junk/fat” coming out of your body – wow if that works it will be fantastic.

Normally I feel more inflamed after a massage which is why I stopped going for traditional type massage, but so far its late and nothing, I feel great.  Tomorrow I will tell you more about the “mother of all massages” - the Abhyangam Massage and the stash of Ayurveda medicines I have to take. 

(PHOTOS: look how crazy I look after the Steam treatment - like Ive done a full 2 hours aerobics class.  Even a little puppy growled at me on my walk home - sooooo funny Im frightening small animals.

AND LOOK AT MY NEW EARINGS: They only cost 300Rs (about $5) and I feel about a million bucks thanks to Dr George and my new therapist).

Day 1 of treatment in the am:

if your like me & u like to be "in control" and have some sense of order, then these early days in India can often be a little frustrating & disempowering.

Truly it's just the early days of adjustment, & I realise that I need to go thru this to adjust to the indian me, to down scale, to simplify. the kovalam lifestyle is butting up against the western me. The one who has fought to have most things around me just the way i like it. my need to have everything done & sorted, have my comforts especially my technology (mobile & Internet) & food I like, to b sorted, but it's essential to realise ASAP that it's just not possible in the same time frame as I'm used to, if u don't figure this out ASAP then life will head but u back.

My previous Bowen Therapist said that pain down the right side especially back & legs is a typical affliction of single mums & is an indication of trying to control yr life too much.

This reminds me to do my morning mantra. "I am willing to place my complete trust in the universe that it will take care of me"

My 9am ph reminder to say this to myself must be set to a different time. See I need a reminder to trust the universe. I know it works, I find it important to note to self that no matter how centred I'm feeling, or how unbalanced, for that matter, that I NEED to take a moment daily to say this, to sit in this thought, to remind my cellular body of this. I think it's human to forget.

We all "know it" but I think many people just forget. It's the practical side of me to set myself a reminder.

Gotta get prepared for 1st treatment. Preparation involves putting on a pair of undies that I won't want to wear again as the quantity of herbal medicated oil that's used in the massage is way way beyond what u get with "normal" massage. It's one of the secrets of ayurveda massage and is magic. I will b given a Lungi to wear - 2 metres of cotton fabric so when it's tied up u look like any oily Grecian goddess. I can't wait.

(Photo of my beautiful sister-in-law Judit who I found out later was actually saying prayers for me & our little family when I hugged her to comfort her as she cried through her prayers - the level of poverty they live at is quite shocking for me. The level of love they express is equally as startling. I feel blessed to have an Indian family).

Watson immediately fell in love with his cousin Febi who is 12 years old and a little piece of heaven.

Tomorrow we start

Tomorrow is my first day of a 14 day Ayurveda treatment and I’m excited.  I told Dr George that one goal is to lose between 7 and 10 kilos (sure it might take a few more weeks longer than the 2 weeks of treatment - but it didn’t last time).  So my goal is to go from 81kgs down to 71(ish)kgs. For my height that is plenty as I was about 60-ish when I was an anorexic teenager and that was just ick.  

Plus my neck and shoulder muscles have spasmed and are hot. The loads of work I did before I left Australia plus lugging suitcases to Singapore and then to Trivandrum in Kerala, India has left me in pain and inflamed. Too much Pitta.

                                                                                                        

The GREAT news is that I know that after this ayurveda treatment I will be like new, reborn, reinvigorated and the streamlined me instead of the overweight me – my dosha’s will be re-balanced.  I know this because nearly 5 years ago I experienced just that after a Panchakarma treatment and it was profound.  The change to my body after only 14 days was the extreme opposite to how it was when I started.

I had travelled with my 2 closest friends to India to celebrate my 40th Birthday at the Taj Mahal.  Only 1 hour before I left for the airport my sixth sense said to go and pee on a pregnancy stick and much to my amazement it was positive. No it wasn’t a divine intervention, I was actually having an on-again-off-again relationship with a commitment-phobic guy who also had his own health issues, and so it was his baby. 

I decided to stick to my plan and go to India and if the baby survived it would be a survivor.  Just on the off chance the test was wrong, I bought another one at Singapore airport (they stock them!!) but decided it could get too messy on the plane so waited what felt an unearthly long time to re-do the test within minutes of arriving in India – yep its positive.

I had been doing my manifesting meditation asking to be pregnant before I turned 40 and here it was.  So no celebratory drinks at the Taj Mahal for me, but I didn’t care I was thrilled and amazed – it had worked.

13 days later after many white knuckle rides around north Indian provinces in our Ambassador car with our driver, the friends separated and I travelled to Dharamsala at the foothills of the snow-capped Himalayas to begin teachings with His Holiness The Dalai Lama.

The bus ride was so scary in parts all I could do was focus all my attention on the monks shaved head in the seat in front hoping that his goodness will keep the bus on the road and not in the steep ravine.

While applying for a “passport” to attend the teachings my new French friend commented on my photo that I looked similar to the baby white owl that my friend and I had rescued in Varanasi after witnessing it being attacked by a gang of monkeys.  After calming it down with my heart beat on my chest for most of the night, it died in the morning and we did as the Hindu’s do and hired a boat to take us to the middle of the Ganges River and give him over to God.  I liked the French girl’s analogy; I felt like I had baby owl wisdom and was on a journey to gain more.

Only my face was pale for a reason because the next morning I woke to see that I had lost some blood, dark blood. My newly inherited German grandmothers assured me its normal and probably nothing to get worried about.  But I was now late for the start of the teachings and was thrilled to be let into the special area to sit amongst the Buddhist Monks and His Holiness looked directly at me when asking who of the “foreigners” was here for the first time. 

The first day’s teachings were about impermanence.  The state where nothing stays the same, that all things change and the teachings had a profound effect on my understanding that losing this baby was indeed just a state of change.  But it was physical and emotional agony.

After 4 days of heavy bleeding I could no longer attend the teachings because of the pain and too weak from blood loss and no appetite for food.  I was too heartbroken to move.  I spent a time eternal looking at myself in the mirror feeling raw heartache.  I had so much wanted to have a baby.  I felt grateful I was on my own to experience this, I felt so grateful to have had the teachings to guide me, I felt I could understand the Buddhist teachings of suffering.  And I finally said goodbye to my desire and need to have a baby.  I got in touch with the loss and feeling that it was just never going to happen for me and said goodbye to the part of me that wanted to be a mother.

After another 4 days I knew I could possibly die there so had to find a way out since there were no flights from there.  I had met an Australian/Indian woman who gave me the contact of an Ayurveda Doctor in Kerala – right at the very other end of the country.  And since I was on a journey to discover I decided I would go to Kerala to experience some Ayurveda which I knew nothing about.

I was soooo very grateful to have booked a “sleeper” bed with a curtain on the 13 hour overnight bus ride back to Delhi.  Since I hadn’t eaten in a long time I thought it best to try eat a falafel but with a bout of unexpected exploding diarrhoea and no toilet on the bus, I felt I had kinda hit rock bottom when I was forced to throw my dirty nickers out the bus window in the middle of the night.  Well I guess a bus crash could be worse.

After an overnight stop in Delhi I flew to Trivandrum and within 10 minutes was seeing this recommended Doctor who promptly shipped me off to a Hindu Medical Doctor via a hair raising rickshaw ride.  Her horror at me being unmarried, travelling alone and pregnant was really unpleasant – almost as unpleasant as the 3^rd world surgery I went to for an internal examination with a big metal rod.  I had done a total of 9 pregnancy tests over the time, even one only an hour before which had showed I was still pregnant, but I didn’t know it would have just been the hormones – I had hoped for a miracle but the scanner showed what the Doctor confirmed - that “baby is gone”.

I needed to be by the ocean, be at a beach, to rest and soak up the sun’s energy since I was still losing much blood and felt lifeless but strangely ok, like it was all ok.  Kovalam Beach itself doesn’t have any roads or cars so after being dropped off I was quickly escorted into the labyrinth of laneways in search of a hotel, and as we walked towards the beach a beautiful Indian man standing at the entrance to a bright purple hotel with swimming pool and palm trees said “come and stay here”.  So I did, and that was the man I eventually married and we had our own miracle baby boy.  

But back at my city Hotel after the miscarriage results, my friend had arrived just in the nick of time as I prepared to move to Kovalam Beach for the rest of our holiday before departing for Dubai for work. 

So from Kovalam I travelled daily by back breaking rickshaw back to town each day for Ayurveda treatment but was not feeling any better – in fact I got worse and now had a terrible sciatic pain running down my left leg.  How could my body stand any more?  I think the lady massage therapists would leave me for too long on the heavy wooden tables and it activated this shooting pain on top of everything else.

Its chance meetings that can make or break you and meeting Vim was a winner.  He had been to see Dr George who had “cured” his back pain and he looked like he was mid-40s when I later found out was mid-60s and said his body now felt like when he was a 12 year old boy.  Yay, so I booked in for a one hour’s massage with Dr George and so did my friend.  This felt different, it was an Abhyanga massage – it’s hilarious but true that it’s called the “Mother of all massages”.

And so I quit my city Doctor, quit my trip to Dubai and stayed for a 14 day Panchakarma treatment.  My friend had said that he knew I had searched the world for help with my pain and he could also feel it was something special.  Every day I felt the pain exiting my body slowly – not outwards but downwards, my back ached, then it was gone, but by bummed ached, then it moved to my thighs, then calves, the inflammation was exiting my body.

What I think made an equal profound effect was the compassion of my therapist.  He knew my “medical” condition and just let me sob and sob until my heartache was gone.  One day I asked if he thought my body could be healed and he said “of course, why not”.  Why not indeed, what was holding it back from being healed.  So I embraced Kerala and its lovely people and its treatment and I was – pretty much – healed. 

On the airplane coming to Kerala

And so I am back close to 5 years later, with my husband whose family lives close by, to introduce our 3 year old boy to 3 generations of his Indian family - Amachi (Grandma) and Oumama and Oupapa (his great grandparents).

And I am back for another treatment.  Its time.  With the undiagnosed neurological disorder I had suffered from for over 25 years the spasms had made some structural changes to my bones and this would take a little longer and the inflammation was trying to return.  And anyway its best to have a treatment for at least 3 consecutive years if you have major problems, and in the meantime I’ve had a baby.

Who is now a very vibrant toddler lapping up all this family love even when he doesn’t understand the language – isn’t that a Spandau Ballet song? The language of love.

And tomorrow it’s down to the business of healing my body again.

my lovely boy Watson at  Singapore  Airport

by Alison Jose from Prana Healing Holidays.www.pranahealingholidays.com