12th March — 19th March
Hello everyone, I hope you all gravy on the flip side. Second week here at the detox camp and fortunately I’m allowed to eat like a normal human. In the mornings I’ll go big and usually have steamed banana, vegetable juices, muesli and the odd dosa. For lunch and dinner, I largely ate salads and curries, which were supposed to reduce my Vatha. The doctors introduced new treatments, last week mainly involved a massage with Pizichil which is good for blood circulation. This week I had a lot of Nasya and Sirodhara.
The doctor prescribed me Nasya as he realized that my sinuses were not fully clear and may have contributed to my low energy levels. This is apparently one of the most simple but important treatments because if you’re sinuses are not fully clear it could mean that your body is not getting adequate oxygen. It was quite relevant for me considering that the breathing in Yoga should largely occur through the nose and not the mouth. The therapist drips maybe 5 drops of hot liquid in each nostril and you breath the liquid in through your nose. This went straight to my brain and caused my eyes to water heavily. After about 10 minutes I had a runny nose and was sneezing all over the gaff. Life was a big snorty blur.
The second major treatment was Sirodhara which involved a continuous flow of hot oil over the head. The actual pot of oil moves liked a pendulum over the head. This treatment is good for memory loss and for insomnia. It lasts about 45 minutes but 20 minutes in, I experienced deep relaxation followed by an impromptu kip. The sleeps were the kind when you wake up and have no idea where you are or what is going on.
Last week I watched many YouTube videos to help with my Selfisio. While doing my selfisio, I often forgot certain exercises, which meant wasting time and going on YouTube. To prevent this, I spent about 2 hours taking video snippets on my phone of Youtube and putting them in different albums for different issues. In total, I think I have about 20 different exercises that will help for my Anterior Pelvic Tilt, Scapula clicking, Elbow rehabilitation etc.
For my Yoga, I moved away from Youtube and did a lot more restorative Yoga. This involved legs up against the wall, spinal twists and some pretty deep leg stretches. I found that I got a lot more out of staying in a pose for 2 minutes or so as the first 20–30 seconds my body & mind is fighting but after this time I can relax a little. I felt this helped me increase the quality of my practice compared to last week.
Friday was rather eventful. About half way into my massage, the therapist whispers into my ear and says ‘pee pee’ (it’s a guy). The toilet is basically right next to the massage table with only a door separating the two rooms. He goes in, leaves the door open and does his business. I’m thinking this guy is a bit casual but whatever. After the massage has finished, I go in to wash my hands and discover the tap is super oily and that there is no soap. It was at this point, I realized that he had hadn’t washed his pee pee hands with soap. If you’ve ever been to India, you’ll know the hygiene levels are poor. I wanted to do something about the situation but also didn’t want my therapist to get in trouble. So, I strolled into the doctors office and explained my little episode but also said that that my therapists tekkers were solid too (which they were). The doctor was very apologetic and said he would make some changes. I felt like Gordon Ramsay on Kitchen Nightmares and walked out feeling India is now a cleaner place. That was until a I inhaled a waft of burning plastic fumes from a street fire. I guess there’s always more work to do hey?
Next week, I’m heading to my first Yoga Ashram and can’t wait to actually start learning under the guidance of a teacher. Will try and post some actual photos too. Until then my peeps! x
Yoga — 10 hours
Selfisio — 10 hours
Biggest win- Touching my toes while standing. I am really a beginner.
Moral Victory — Grassing on my pee pee therapist for the greater good.
Location- Detox Camp, Kerala