March 26th - Day one at Devaaya Spa

Thursday, March 26^th. We were up and out the door for morning Yoga at 7am. The basic yoga is sunrise salutations as the sun rises overlooking the water and includes other balancing poses, stretches and breathing, and lasts one hour. 

Daily Schedule

Buffet breakfast follows 30 minutes later and is open for one hour. The first morning, because they had had a storm the night before, breakfast was served by the poolside which is the usual dinner location. There was oatmeal, almonds, dates and honey, bread along with other Indian vegan options to choose from, including rice, daal, and masala. No fruit or juice to be located.

We saw Dr. Akshata, a young woman, to review our medical history and she would then devise a program for the 2 weeks we are here. We were given a list of foods that David cannot eat (unfortunately nuts are a favorite snack food for him and now he can only eat walnuts) and we both lost yogurt as a food according to Ayurveda logic.

You are given a colorful cotton gown to use for going to and from therapies. I now understand that Ayurveda is synonymous with oils! Each guest has 2 therapies a day; the one in the morning is 45-60 minutes and the one in the afternoon is 30 minutes.  We both had the Abhayanga massage as our first therapies.

Abhyanga includes – coconut oil on the scalp with the head massage, a face massage with a cream and then the followed by a whole body massage with herbed oils on a hard table surface. The treatment ends with steam therapy. One must put modesty aside as you quickly learn here…you might get a thin papery loin cloth but that will be gone as soon as you turn over. This up-close and personal procedure is going to take some getting used to!  In Ayurveda an “Abhyanga Herbal Oil Massage is a holistic healing and complementary medicine program and NOT a conventional massage, oils are applied to detox physical toxins, mental toxins and emotional toxins and also for pacifying aggravated vata dosha (due to hectic and stressful lifestyle and improper foods/food habits) which is the root cause of imbalance, also it helps relieve stress” (aurvediainpittsburgh.com). I see in Pittsburgh for $100 you can get the same treatment the following listed benefits: “Nourishes mind and body; Rejuvenates the whole body; Increases longevity; Delays aging; Relives fatigue; Builds stamina; Promotes deeper sleep; Enhances complexion and luster of skin; Cleans your body (detoxify) ;Helps you avoid stress and enjoy a brightness of the senses (Balance body, mind and soul.); Prevents stiffness of muscles; Corrects digestion and blood pressure and enjoy better sleep; Mind (Avoid bad thoughts and feel happy) ;Soul (Only a sound body can bear a good soul).” (aurvediainpittsburgh.com)

They ask you not to shower for at least an hour after these massages and to leave the oil on your head as long as possible

Lunch was served down by the water in a covered upstairs area which received lovely breezes off the water. The meals are served buffet style with all foods described by name, ingredients and then by dosha (Vata, Pitta, Khapa) Leslie was told to eat the VPK Balanced and VK foods and David the VPK Balanced. The selection of choices included a soup, 2 salads, 4 cooked choices all vegan, 2 types of bread which are usually a nan and roti variety, a dhal and white rice. At lunch a dessert is served – happiness. The sweets are based on honey and/or jaggery (a coarse dark brown sugar made in India by evaporation of the sap of palm trees. Jaggery is made up of longer chains of sucrose. Therefore, it is digested slowly and energy release is also slow).  The drinks you get with your meals include hot water plain or hot water with ginger. There is also a choice of Masala chai (black tea, milk and spices) or herbal tea for after lunch.  No fruit is served with cooked meals.  There is a fresh cut fruit time every day at 11am but we missed it today. It is believed that you should have at least 1 – ½ hours between eating cooked food and fruits.

We had our afternoon therapies about an hour after finishing lunch. David’s therapy was Shirodhara. “A steady flow of warm oil onto the forehead stimulates the pituitary gland, or "third-eye." This is one of the most divine therapies, awakening your body’s intuitive knowledge. Benefits of Shirodhara include: Stimulates the 3rd eye and crown chakras, and awakens intuition and inner wisdom; Relieves stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia through natural serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin release; Helps mental focus and concentration; Balances VATA DOSHA; Works on the cerebral system, helps to relax the nervous system, and balances the 'Praan Vaayu' (life force energy) around the head; Improves the sensitivity of five senses; Reduces and relieves migraine headaches; Decreases hair loss and fatigue and makes one calm and refreshed; Deeply relaxes mind and body; Releases negative emotions and thought patterns; Improves sleep patterns; Rejuvenates the entire face and softens worry lines; Heightens the senses; Increases spiritual awareness; Pacifies vata reducing anxiety, restlessness, irritability, nervousness, fear & excessive thinking; Improves mental focus and concentration.” ($105 cost in the spa in Pittsburgh from which this information was derived)

Leslie’s therapy was a foot massage to increase circulation.  Unlike a Thai foot massage where you sit in a chair, here you lie on the table and they only work on the soles of your feet. Minimal time is spent on the front of your foot and ankles and no time on your legs. The thirty minute massage hits energy points in a linear fashion and also focuses on the toes.

Tea time is at 4:00pm and is a choice of two masala teas. You can add honey for sweetness. We are really missing our diet cokes!! We were busy doing a laundry in the bath tub and hanging things out on the line we made. While we sent some clothes off to the laundry service here it takes basically two days before you get your clothes back. With all the heat, humidity and oil treatments we need to get our clothes back faster than this!

Questionnaire for Dosha Type 

 

We headed off to 30 minutes of Advanced yoga (total of 3 of us in the class) followed by 30 minutes of meditation. The yoga we survived and David gamely sat through a 30 minute meditation session with pulled a back muscle. Mediation was seating cross legged on a mat with a small cushion while you stared at a candle flame. There were probably 8 women and David in that session in two groups.

Trāṭaka is a fixed gazing method of meditation – we were staring at a candle flame placed on the closed window ledge such that it was eye level. You are to breathe deeply and regularly sitting with your back straight and legs crossed. You are to keep your eyes focused on the candle flame without blinking and let your thoughts just focus on the candle. All the while the yoga teacher will gently remind you to focus on the candle; this gets more necessary as we older folks keep adjusting our uncomfortable positions!  After about 15 minutes of this you are then instructed to close your eyes and focus on the candle image in your mind. This takes some concentration. We limped back to our rooms after this experience.

Dinner is served at 7pm. After dinner you check the spa board to see what time your therapies are. Today there were 21 guests shown on the list but tomorrow we drop down to 14. We put the TENS unit on David’s back and will have to tell the Dr. about this injury tomorrow.

Our home for the next 2 weeks is the room J-4 which is below the pool and directly across at the bottom of the photo

We are hoping that the pictures with words can be clicked on and then zoomed so that you can read what is written if you are interested in some of the details.