Thursday, February 18, 2010

AyurvedaBlog

The blog's going Ayurvedic!

Over the last few days I've been staying at a hermitage. I'm not even sure what a hermitage is; it sounds like a nursing home for old Hermit Crabs.

I'll be here for 7 nights and hopefully I wont get bored out of my skull staying alone and being all "auyrvedic holistic healing" etc. I am a cynic, what can I say.

Anyway, The Beth Saida Hermitage is also an orphanage in Kovalam, Kerala. They invest some of the profits of the (mostly Swiss, Russian and German) guests back to educate the kids that were deserted by their parents (mostly because they just can't afford to raise them).

I found this place with the help of all sorts of travel sites, and finally Tripadvisor's #2 rating and raving customer reviews.

First impressions are that it's just amazing here... I fear that talking about how amazing it is will just solicit jealousy and rage, and those are certainly not emotions I should be concerned with during a week of wellness.

Oh what the hell- I'll give you a little mental picture, just promise you wont get jealous. Feel free to get even though- come visit and tell 'em I sent ya!!

The resort sits on muliple acres of hillside overlooking the Arabian sea. Set in lush tropical foliage, the buildings are sympathetic to Keralan traditional architecture- white and terracotta with rich wooden furnishings.

Every room overlooks the crystal blue water, with just the sound of lashing waves to soothe the soul.

It's about 34C every day, hot and sunny. There are 2 lukewarm swimming pools to cool your body along with daily yoga to calm your mind.

The resort is filled with stairs and walkways leading you from one nook to another; you feel like your corner is all that matters.

Every day begins with a 90 minute ayurvedic massage at 8am, and you can follow up with breakfast on the outdoor terrace on a cliff that has views overlooking the beautiful, clean white sandy beach below. Here you can see brightly robed Keralan fishermen set sail for their daily catch at 5pm each day, or returning early in the mornings. You can also often see scantily clad Russian men that obviously didn't get the memo about Speedos not being too flattering on a 300lb Moskovite.

As for the Ayurvedic part, I'm too cynical to believe it can do anything but hey, I've paid my monies, so I'll eats their pills. (I did google the tablets and the liquid to ensure the FDA hadn't put it on their hitlist). I'm really not sure what they're supposed to be doing for me- but one of the pills is recommended for arthritis, so maybe it's a good pre-emptive strike!

Now that I've had a chance to start reconnecting with my Chakras, my Doshas, the Earth, Wind and Fire (I love that band!) and all things vegetarian, I can report that it is starting to have some effect on me.

You see without the buzz of 'something going on', which for most of us is the daily chaos of non-stop working life, my mind has started cleansing itself of 'the chatter'.

This in turn has created a void which needs to be filled with other (better!) thoughts. The brain has delved into its deepest parts to conjure up the creative genius that it's convinced is lying there... and until it returns with something, I'm getting what I call 'limbo thoughts' (they're in limbo until those better, creative thoughts arrive).

These thoughts I'm having are random and dream-like... and I'm trying not to let them worry me!

Example. The other day, dozing off, I pondered if a mosquito landed on my eyelid and, would its proboscis be able to penetrate the lid and actually reach my eyeball.

You see, in normal life, one doesn't have time to wonder such obsurdities.

If I get more of these limbo thoughts, maybe I should dedicate a blog to them?!

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like such a calming place!

    You don't appreciate burly 300-lb European men in Speedos? Then you'll definitely want to avoid Koh Samui.

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  2. I promise I won't be jealous, I'm gonna follow you someday!

    X Dunya (from Disneyland)

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