The Backstory

In the summer of last year, I started to experience headaches, anxiety, and fatigue unlike anything I’d experienced before. Most days I woke up feeling exhausted even after sleeping for 8-9 hours. I could not focus, I had low energy and motivation, and I felt stressed and confused. I was not myself. I’d go through moments of extreme anxiety and brain fog that left me with little desire to live. It was painful.

The irony was that I already dedicated a lot of my energy towards a healthy diet, exercise, and mindfulness practices as a student and practitioner of holistic health. So here I was presented an opportunity to apply what I’d been learning to myself. I switched to a very strict elimination diet. I did several detoxes and gut cleanses. Knowing stress was a factor, I dialed in on my meditation practices.

I saw some signs of improvement, but I still felt like I was throwing a bunch of darts on the board hoping I’d hit bullseye. I knew there were a combination of underlying physical and mental causes to this problem that I needed more insight on. So I sought out help from practitioners in functional medicine, naturopathy, Chinese medicine, and Ayurveda. Lab testing confirmed I had mold toxicity, pathogenic gut bacteria, and that my detox pathways were on overdrive (of course).

I found great relief through the adjustments I began to make with a more focused plan of supplements and diet adjustments. While I found recommendations from the different doctors to be helpful, I resonated most with my practitioner at Santa Cruz Ayurveda. After expressing my desire to go through a deeper cellular detox, I was given the advice to check out a panchakarma. It’s a 21 day cleanse of mind, body, and spirit following protocols that have been developed over thousands of years.

After an enriching experience during my yoga teacher training a few years ago, I was already drawn to the ancient Indian practices and wisdom. My gut was telling me it was time to head back to India where I could find an authentic clinic and go through a deep transformational journey. I’d also get to visit family since both my parents grew up in India. After doing research, contacting different centers, and figuring out which places had availability, I eventually decided on Mitra Hermitage Ayurveda Hospital in Kerala. Here’s how my experience went.

The Panchakarma

The first day I met with the doctors for my initial consultation and assessment of my dosha constitution, or prakriti. You can think of the prakriti as a biological blueprint for how our individual body functions. Each dosha represents different energies that correspond to elemental, physical, mental, and emotional characteristics. They had already received my health history before I arrived, so this was the time where they did in depth physical assessments, asked more about my lifestyle, my habits, and ways of thinking. They also did a pulse evaluation on different areas of my wrists to gauge the energies of the different doshas. While my main reason for coming was to experience the panchakarma as a way to detox, I was also curious to see how it would impact my sciatica and joint pain that I’ve lived with for over 16 years and have come a long way to manage to a healthy level.

So what does this whole process entail? Each day would consist of check-ins with the doctor, a series of treatments, food tailored towards my condition (my favorite part), and several rounds of herbal medicines. The treatments mainly used the healing power of medicated herbal oils applied in various ways -- on my body through massages (abhyanga), up my nasal passages (nasya), ingested with ghee (snehapanam), poured on my forehead (shirodhara), and enemas (vasti), which I will never forget! The rest of the time I was on my own, away from the world, just to be with myself. This allowed for deeper introspection and the opportunity for parts of my subconscious to come to the surface so I could see them in greater light. In a way, I created circumstances that forced me to focus on what I needed to.

The first 7 days of the panchakarma was a period of preparing the body to release toxins. This included a process of Snehapanam where I took medicated ghee every morning. The lipids of the ghee are able to cross the cellular walls and pull out the toxins. Along with this I was getting oil massages every day that I would describe as intense. As a trained massage therapist, I’m used to deep tissue and heavy pressure, but these abhyanga massages were fast and vicious. I could barely relax on the table! After all, they focused on getting as much oil on my body and into my pores as possible. So I went into the place of acceptance and surrender and trusted that they were doing what was needed even though I didn’t really enjoy the sensation. The combination of the medicated ghee and the oil massages made me feel exhausted. I was told not to exercise at all during this time, not even do simple yoga postures. So, here I am, feeling frustrated that I cannot exercise, and also feeling so tired that I could barely walk up a set of stairs to go to the dining area. It challenged me for sure!

At the end of the first week, it was time for Virechanam, or purgation. The medicated ghee had done its job to pull out the toxins where they were sent to the digestive tract to be expelled. The doctor warned me that this would be a challenging time and lots of emotions would come up. I took a very strong herbal concoction that morning and went to the room to rest. Shortly after, I started to feel some headaches, a bit dizzy, and was lying around in a restless, anxious state. At some point the onslaught of emotions came up. Worry, sadness, anger, confusion, self-doubt, judgement. I questioned the point of everything in my life. All of it. I went through a swirl in my mind, somewhat in a trance where I was half asleep and awake at the same time. I couldn’t really escape this feeling, so I did my best to be present. Several hours later I had the feeling to purge, and finally felt a sense of relief. Glad this was only for one day, thank God…

Over the next week we continued with the treatments and the daily schedule. I very much looked forward to my meals at the cafeteria. The food they cooked was incredible, and I loved the way they prepared all sorts of different vegetables and sauces. I tasted things I’d never had in my life before, like bitter gourd, and preparations of plantains that I never knew existed. I love food, so this was definitely a highlight.

By the third week I started to feel some more energy in my system. At this time they started the process of revitalizing the body which included a series of vastis (the enemas!) specifically medicated for my condition. Some of them were short, small doses of medicated oil and were relatively painless. Some were larger doses of an herbal solution that were extremely painful. The great part of these experiences is that I felt extremely light and relieved after I was able to release all the sh*t.

Thankfully, not everything was intense. I received more relaxing treatments in the third week like shirodhara. I would lie down on the table and warm oil was poured over my forehead for about half an hour. It felt like a continuous soothing sensation around my third eye, and it helped me get into a state of meditation. I also had massages with a medicated rice paste that was heated up and applied all over my body. After the rice cooled down, they repeated the process several times. Compared to the abhyangas, this was much more relaxing and I oddly liked the sensation and smell of the porridge-like rice on my skin.

The Mitra Experience — My Takeaways

Overall, I felt the experience to be transformative and insightful. Yes there were challenges, yes it was a long journey, and yes the treatments were very different and sometimes uncomfortable. But, when I signed up for something like this, I knew it wasn’t going to just be relaxing at a resort.

Mitra Hermitage was a 5 star experience in my book, even though I wouldn’t describe the setting as a luxurious resort feeling. Rather, it had the cozy, family style feel. The doctors, therapists, and staff were all very professional, welcoming, and easy to communicate with. I felt a bond with the therapists after the panchakarma was over. They had cared for me so well and I could feel the intention they put into their work. The facilities were well maintained, and there was a pleasant garden area and a river view at the back. And I cannot forget about the food! The Ayurvedic dishes were amazing. I loved the different textures, tastes, and varieties of vegetables they used. Since I was eating nutrient dense, whole foods, there wasn’t a worry about controlling how much I ate because the food was both filling and low caloric.

Final Thoughts on Ayurvedic Treatment

The experience helped me feel rejuvenated and healthier in my body. I am now a couple months out, and I notice that I feel more clear and energized compared to when I finished the panchakarma. My level of sciatic pain has minimized to a lower base level even though it was exacerbated at times during the treatment. My level of inner peace and mental calm definitely improved. I was evaluated by the doctors at the end and they noticed a difference in my energy reading.

After going through this experience, I am a believer in the Ayurvedic method. It resonates with my philosophy of holistic healing, it is an ancient time tested method, and it includes the whole essence of us as mind, body, and spirit. Ayurveda looks at the body in terms of energies and the elements. It uses natural medicines and food to treat underlying conditions.

So, if you’re curious about Ayurveda, I highly recommend it! More importantly, I recommend listening to your gut and finding practitioners and methods that are appealing to you. Many societies and cultures have their own systems of health and natural medicine, so definitely take a look and see what resonates with you and your background. After all, there are infinite paths towards health and wellbeing. I wish you the best on your journey!

Here are some photos that I took during my experience!

Entrance

Backwaters

Side Garden

Buddha

Birthday treat