Ayurvedic Massage Therapy in India – Part One

I have come on a pilgrimage to India to find out if it is possible to cure all my ailments (excess pounds / fluctuating but generally high blood pressure / high cholesterol and probably more) in two weeks.

I heard about Ayurvedic medicine and the great results that some people have experienced, so here I am at Sagara Resort on Kovalam Beach in Kerala, awaiting my consultation with the doctor.

The complex is intriguing as much as a work in progress. Apparently it all started with a couple of rooms and then the owner built some more and so on until here it is today, almost finished! In fact, a huge swimming pool has just been finished and only the tiles that are expected to be finished during our stay remain. Workers (laborers actually, since I don’t think there is such a thing as a construction worker in all of India) are everywhere and apparently they are working twenty-four hour shifts. They run with towels rolled around their heads, in which they place gravel baskets to tilt them towards the driveway that is under construction. Labor is cheap and machinery expensive, so this is the cheapest construction method. But surely it is not easy under the hot midday sun!

We often see the owner of the resort, a charming, funny and caring man, who lives nearby and who, the staff tell me, is humble enough to do whatever work is needed. If a servant girl is ill, she enters cheerfully and prepares the room herself for the newcomers. Similarly, he is delighted to act as a waiter or a member of the kitchen staff in the hotel restaurant. He is an impressive man who surely deserves his great success.

They have given us a beautiful suite with a large bedroom, bathroom with bathtub, living / dining room and balcony. Also included is a TV with cable connection, which is only as good as my understanding of Malayalum (the local language) is nil. We have a spectacular view of Kovalam Beach and the lighthouse that stands proudly above it.

The second day and I have my first appointment with the Ayurvedic doctor (Dr. Jayahari). He is young and very friendly, and absolutely passionate about Ayurveda. He spends a considerable amount of time drawing diagrams on a piece of paper as he explains the history of Ayurvedic medicine.

He wins my heart right away, he asks me about bodily processes that have long expired. I ask him how old he thinks I am and he replies that I am twenty years younger than I really am. How good is that? If only my friends (and enemies) had been there to hear it! Dammit!

He asks me about my dreams and the climate I prefer. This is to get my body type. It can be one of three types or a combination of all three. Called doshas, ​​these types are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. I am Vata / Kapha dosha. Since Kapha is fat, I have too much Kapha, to put it bluntly.

He weighs me down and takes my blood pressure, it’s 130 above something or another and then he feels my pulses (on my wrist). He tells me that my excess cholesterol is due to excess oil in my body and that his first plan of attack will be a foot massage. This will be the first step to lose a lot of weight!

He tells me that the next day he will have a fourteen-day treatment plan for me.

Hmm, a foot rub … how nice! This may not be so bad at all. I am totally intrigued by a foot massage that takes weight off me.

I return at 2 pm for my foot massage. I have a problem with massages as some masseurs have such a hard touch that I can almost go through the roof with all their pressing and kneading. But a massage with food should be quite bearable and I love how my feet feel afterwards.

At the agreed time they take me to the treatment room. My first thought is that I am experiencing a live episode of “Wire in the Blood”. Hanging from the ceiling in the tiled room is a rope. I have visions of being hung, but I blink and look around. There is also a massage table with a brass pot on a stand.

The masseuse arrives and asks me to take off all my clothes. All? If all. Oh!

Now why do I have to be naked to get a foot massage? I just knew that there were deviant activities in this room. The rope was an indication of death.

Oh well I have to let the world know about this and the kinkier the experience the more I think everyone will love to hear about it so I obediently undress, sit on a little stool, and cross my legs.

Treatment begins with a head massage. Spray oil on my head and shoulders and knead and pound for five minutes. I am totally numb in a false state of security.

Then he asks me to lie down on a gym mattress that goes under the rope. I lie on my stomach and she begins to massage (quite vigorously) my back and arms. But what happened to my foot massage?

I look around and there he is, dangling from the rope with one hand and balancing against the wall with the other as he deftly massages my body with one foot. And what a powerful foot he has! I have to ask you to tone it down. He massages me from top to bottom, back to front. I am totally smeared with thick yellow oil. THAT is a foot massage!

Now he asks me to lie down on the massage table. It’s not easy negotiating the room when I’m greasy, but somehow I manage. It’s also hard to climb into bed without shooting over the edge like a greased rocket ship. Then he proceeds to give me another long massage, this time with his hand.

She cheerfully tells me that if I undergo this treatment every day, my fat will melt away.

So this is the way to remove fat without lifting a finger! Wow, I mean without lifting a finger! I have often wondered if it is possible to lose weight with a massage. Apparently it would have to be a very long and vigorous massage, every day of the week! But who can normally afford that luxury?

Anyway, the treatment is not over yet. Pull the brass pot back on the holder and fill it with warm medicinal oil. My head is positioned under the pot and slowly the oil drips through a hole in the bottom of the pot. This is Shirodhara, a treatment that is reputed to open the third eye. Move the pot and the oil drips in a stream on my forehead for twenty minutes. What a joy!

The whole exercise takes two hours and, as you can imagine, I am totally soaked in oil.

In the meantime, I’ve been mulling over a rather troubling issue that I see looming. I mean, oily as I am right now, I’ll have to put on my adorable red kaftan when I get back to my room. But he puts my kaftan in a bag and hands me a green hospital gown. She tells me to use it back and forth during the course of my treatments. Thank God for that.

The masseuse tells me to wait an hour before showering and since my hair is dripping with thick oil, I also have to wash my hair. This will become a daily ritual. Personally, I find it a bit boring to wash my hair on a daily basis, so I am doubly annoyed to find that there is no complimentary shampoo or conditioner available in the bathroom. Fortunately, for once in our lives, we have brought with us a few hotel bottles that we have saved from previous holidays, but found that there is no hotel (in our price range) in all of Kerala, supplying hair. products. Biju (our driver) tells us later that this is because the people of Kerala only use coconut oil on their hair. (But would this also clean her hair, I wonder?)

I wondered if my mother would receive the same treatment as me. However, he did not receive the foot massage. Maybe this is reserved for the fat people. Later, the doctor tells us that due to my mother’s advanced age (80 years), she thought it was too exhausting for her.

This is the first part of a three-part article.