March 27th and 28th at Devaaya Spa

Friday, March 27^th     

Neti pot and eye cups

Leslie was out the door by 6:30am so that she could experience the yogic kriya cleaning which involves a neti pot, a cup and two eye cups. “A little common salt should be dissolved in luke-warm water and filtered. Fill it in a specially designed tubed tumbler with a nozzle. Stand up tilting forward a little. Now turn the head a little to the right. Place the nozzle of the tumbler in the right nostril and bend the tumbler such that the water flows into the nostril. Breathe in and breathe out through the mouth only. The water that enters into the right nostril comes out from the left nostril automatically, carrying out the dirt in the nose. Entire tumblerful of water should be poured into the right nostril. Now tilt the head to other side and repeat the same process through left nostril with another tumblerful of same water. Throughout this process breathing is through mouth only.” (yogasimplified.com)  This takes some practice to get it right.

The location for these cleanses is a special hut with 9 sinks and stools. The water from the taps is filtered water. You then are give a cup full of warm salt water to gargle and spit out…you can imagine the sounds around you at this point.

You pay $2 for your neti pot and eye cups. The eye cups are filled with a mixture of rose water and filtered water and you raise them to your eyes and blink 6 – 8 times. This does sting a bit and gets easier I am told with each passing day.

Then it was off to 1 hour of basic yoga with sun salutations and breathing.

David recollects getting an hour oil massage (Abhayanga) in the morning and then a shorter head massage (Shirodhara – described on March 26^th) for a half hour in the evening. Leslie’s therapies were the same as the day before being well greased with hot sesame oil mixed with herbs for an hour/steam bath in the morning followed by the foot massage in the afternoon.

We swam in the late afternoon but David was more walking in the water because his back is still a problem. Leslie recognized that the only advanced yoga person had left the resort and asked management if an intermediate yoga put be put on in place of the advanced.  It was decided to keep the late afternoon advance yoga and put on an intermediate class just before lunch from 12pm-1pm.

We enjoyed our dessert at lunch, but when we asked for dessert at dinner, we were told “No sweets in the evening, sir.” Such is healthy living….

Saturday, March 28^th

As David reported his back problem to the Dr, when we saw her in the morning and his treatment was changed from the pre-detox exterior oiling to include treatment for his back. David got treated with an hour massage with oil from 12 noon to 1 PM, in which two men simultaneously and rhythmically wacked his body with hot powdered herbs in cloth sachets. This was supposed to be good for pain, particularly for my back, on which there was some concentration of effort, although they covered the whole body, front and back, even arms and legs. After lunch, at 2:30 PM this was followed by a half hour session in which a small dam was built around my lower back injury, which received several infusions of hot medicated oil. (kati basti)

Leslie continued to be the early riser doing the yogic cleansing and then the morning yoga. The number of guests is now down to 11 and as the heat is increasing we don’t expect to have too many more new guests coming. Her morning therapy was again the Abhayanga (full body hot sesame oil massage followed by steam bath).  Her afternoon therapy was the dripping warm oil on the forehead treatment –Shirodhara. They recommend that you keep this oil on your hair overnight and I think everyone tries this once and then decides they don’t need to do it again.

David has had Delhi Belly from food possibly on the Air India flight and it had gotten worse so he went to the Dr. He was given some herbal medication  (Kutaj Ghan Vati and Shanka Vati) to take and surprisingly it did clear the problem up quite quickly.

Our Breakfast and Lunch area - cooling breezes

Our Dr. also advised us that she had now decided on the type of detox program we would each have – the alternatives were medicated oil enemas or drinking medicated ghee. David’s treatment was to be oil enemas (Anuvasana Basti) and Leslie got the ghee (Virechana). “Here’s a list of the benefits of cleansing with ghee, explained in detail below: Flushes old bile – which can be re-used by the body up to 17 times; Stimulates the liver to make new bile, so 94% of old toxic bile is not re-absorbed; Scrubs the intestines of toxins and bad bugs; Supports the primary source of energy and immunity for the cells of the gut; Supports the health of the beneficial bacteria in the gut who make butyrate; Lubricates and softens the hardened tissues of the body; Pulls stored fat soluble toxins and molecules of emotion out of the body;  Encourages fat metabolism and weight loss; Supports stable mood and energy level; Protects against bad bacteria in the gut.” (lifespa.com/top-ten-reasons-cleanse-ghee/)

Why did we pick an Ayurveda Center as a travel destination? A friend had a knee injury that would not heal. Her sister, who is a holistic health practitioner, suggested she go to an Ayurveda spa in India and gave her three spa names (Isis, Kensville, and Devaaya) . Our friend went to Isis last year and found that after having treatment her knee started healing and she felt really good and relaxed after being there.  Due to the fact that we would be here during the hot part of the year David insisted on AC, and other activities such as swimming and tennis so we chose Devaaya. We have read very little about Ayurveda and are learning as we are experiencing it firsthand.