Bringing Home the Spirit of Ayurveda After a Retreat in India
Nattika Beach Ayurveda Hospital and Resort
I was sitting on a small wooden stool in a dark room, wearing nothing but a piece of white cloth tied around me like underwear when my Ayurvedic practitioner, Vijay, began singing me a pre-treatment prayer song. Her voice was soft and melodic, and the air around us smelled like jasmine and rose incense. Once the song was over, Vijay began to massage my scalp with warm medicated herbal oil, and I felt it dripping all over my head and onto the rest of my body. By the time she guided me over to the wooden massage table to cover the rest of my body with the warm oil, I’d already fallen into a state of deep relaxation. The voices in my mind—the ones that tend to narrate a situation as it is happening—had quieted. Of course the meditative power of massage is nothing new, but Vijay’s beautiful pre-treatment prayer song, coupled with the soothing Ayurvedic oils she rubbed into my skin, put me into one of the calmest, most grounded states I had ever experienced.
Such is the power of Ayurveda, a traditional medical system that originated in India more than five thousand years ago. I’d first learned about the ancient science through my husband Rahul, who grew up in New Delhi and had introduced me to its basic premise on my first visit to his childhood home a few years back. But after casually dabbling in its teachings here and there over the next few years, I’d finally decided to go all in and fully immerse myself–this is how I found myself at an Ayurvedic retreat in the southern Indian state of Kerala, the birthplace of Ayurveda.
Commonly referred to as the “sister science” to yoga, Ayurveda was first recorded in Sanskrit in four sacred texts known as the Vedas. It teaches its students that true health is achieved when you are living a life of perfect balance in your mind, body, and soul. Reaching this equilibrium requires a daily dedication to all sorts of habits and rituals, like timing your sleep to the sun, using healing herbs, spices, and medicated herbal oils, and eating with your dosha (the energy that defines a person’s genetic makeup) in mind, to name a few.
At Nattika Beach Ayurveda Hospital and Resort, where I stayed in Kerala, this was especially easy to do. The property is set on 16 acres of lush coconut groves overlooking the Arabian Sea, with 52 thatched-roof villas, an organic farm where the staff grows all their produce and herbs, a gorgeous yoga and meditation shala, and an Ayurveda Center where they conduct all of the treatments. Everything on my itinerary, from what I ate to how I exercised to the treatments I received, was selected by a team of expert Ayurvedic practitioners in an attempt to guide my body, mind, and spirit into harmony. Mornings began with sunrise meditation and gentle yoga by the sea, followed by a soothing Ayurvedic breakfast: warm herbal-infused water (my go-to was coriander water), spiced tea, and a variety of homemade dishes, from idli (South Indian fermented rice cakes) to cardamom oatmeal. Afternoons were spent at the treatment center, where I received all sorts of personalized therapies to balance my internal state, including shirodhara (during which a practitioner poured a steady stream of warm medicated oil over my forehead), ksheeradhara (a therapeutic milk bath where I laid down on a wooden bed and a practitioner poured warm rose-infused milk all over me to soothe my soul), and my abhyanga oil massage with Vijay. Dinners were early and light, and by the time I reached my villa around 8 p.m., it was easy to fall right to sleep under the slow hum of the overhead fan. Not that I had many other options anyway: WiFi was only available in the lobby, and there were no TVs or electronics in the room, either.
Given this backdrop, it should come as no surprise that I was glowing from the inside out by the time I left Nattika. Of course I was! I’d spent every hour of every day devoting myself to myself, and all of this self-care showed. But taking care of yourself at a dedicated wellness retreat is–no huge surprise–not that hard to do. The bigger challenge is finding ways to weave the lessons you learned into your everyday routine back home, when real life gets in the way. It hasn’t been easy, but I have managed to do it. While Ayurveda is a science of discipline—meaning the best results come from adhering to the Vedic texts as strictly as possible–there are still ways to incorporate Ayurveda in daily life without going into full-on retreat mode. Dr. Saroj Barthwal, an Ayurvedic practitioner from Jaipur, India, and the spa director at The Palms and The Shore Club in Turks & Caicos, says this Ayurvedic realism is more than okay: “The ancient Ayurvedic texts are filled with strict discipline, but today’s modern interpretation can be more loose and flexible,” Dr. Barthwal told me. “We simply encourage you to be aware, and then choose what’s best for you.”
With that in mind, I now attempt (key word: attempt, especially since I’m a New Yorker) to time my sleep to the sun whenever I can. I prioritize sleep even more than I already did in the past, specifically by aiming for a 10 p.m. bedtime. “We teach our guests that a good day starts with a good sleep—it’s the number one most important aspect of health in the Ayurvedic texts,” Dr. Naresh Perumbuduri, the senior Ayurvedic physician at Ananda in the Himalayas, one of the top Ayurvedic retreats in India, told me after my trip. “To make the most of your circadian rhythm, the ancient Ayurvedic texts recommend going to sleep around 10 or 10:30 every night, and waking up to watch the sunrise.”
Since returning from Nattika, I’ve also tried to eat and exercise with my dosha, or mind-body type, in mind when possible. Ayurveda teaches its students that the five elements of life—earth, water, fire, air, and space—combine to form three different doshas: vata (air and space), pitta (fire and water), and kapha (earth and water). Keeping your dosha in balance is the key to well being, but that’s pretty hard to do when you aren’t at a retreat like Nattika that sets you up for success. In everyday life, all sorts of environmental factors like the weather, lifestyle choices, and even travel can easily throw your dosha out of whack, perhaps causing various health struggles. At Nattika, I learned that my dosha is primarily fiery pitta, which can lead to inflammation when out of balance. So these days, whenever my digestion is feeling off or my skin is flaring up, I try to counteract my internal fire with cooling foods like melons, cucumbers, and papayas, and calming exercises like yoga and pilates. While the concept of doshas confused me a bit at first, I now find it incredibly helpful to think of my body like a pendulum: When one side is too high, I do what I can to even it out and bring myself back to baseline.
Last on my Ayurveda in daily life list: cultivating more of a routine. When I first quit a full time job and went freelance, I wasn't great at implementing structure. I was traveling all the time to report my first book, and when I was home, I was mostly winging it, just sort of waiting for the day to unfold. This was exciting at first. But once I went to Nattika, I realized how peaceful and grounded I felt while sticking to “Dinacharya,” which is the traditional Ayurvedic daily routine for health. The ancient Vedic texts say that doing the same maintenance tasks every day—like going to bed around 10 p.m.—means you are less likely to fall sick down the line and more likely to notice if something feels different and needs a bit of tweaking.
Now I start most days with breathwork and warm coriander water for digestion, and end them with a quick self-massage before my evening shower. I may not be able to enjoy my morning herbal water by the Arabian Sea, and I may not have Vijay’s calming voice to lull me into a relaxed trance, but the effect is palpable all the same, no 17-hour flight required.
Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler
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