JOURNEY BACK TO HEALTH

Ayurveda & Wellness Holidays

“Modern medicine, for all its advances, knows less than 10 percent of what your body knows instinctively.”
– Deepak Chopra

It’s not surprising that wellness is actually intrinsic to travel. Vacations have the power to instantly boost mental and emotional well-being; they also often entail far more physical activity than we imagine they would.

In these challenging times, holistic wellness, centred on mind-body healing, is becoming a top priority for many who choose to travel. And it is boosting a renewed interest in wellness tourism and retreats.

As things gradually get back to some sense of normalcy, more and more travellers will be keen to plan their trips or vacations around and to places that offer wellness and good health-enhancing opportunities. For both domestic and international travellers, mere spa and leisure holidays may not accomplish that. Instead they are likely to seek out committedly wellness-focused places which offer holistic therapies.

India is a major hub of several holistic and traditional systems of healing such as Ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy, and more. Practices such as yoga, Ayurveda, and meditation especially, are intrinsically aligned with spiritual perspectives and nature, the perfect balance of complete well-being for many.

Hence, for any wellness traveller, balance is key in finding the right retreat or resort or centre. An ideal place or program will be a good mix of destination experiences, comfort (or luxury as the case may be!), effortful treatment sessions with restorative ones, extensive spa facilities, and an excellent team of doctors, therapists, nutritionists, instructors etc. Especially since guests will probably require to spend at least a week or so at a retreat.

Most importantly, in the coming months, wellness retreats will ensure and prioritise enhanced safety and hygiene measures to safeguard the guests, the staff, as well as local communities around.

So take a driving holiday to any one of India’s superb Ayurveda and wellness retreats to revive, rejuvenate, relax, and reboot. Find vitality and joy!

Here are some of our top recommendations from across India, along with insights into Ayurveda.

Ayurveda

The extraordinary intelligence of the hunter-gatherer peoples of India is, in fact, what led to the consolidation of the science of Ayurveda. The abundance of forests, water, land, and natural resources thousands of years ago made it possible for these ancient communities to discover and collect herbs and rare medicinal plants.

They then spent years researching, experimenting, and developing practices through a trial and error method in the best scientific traditions – to treat, heal, and cure the human body.

Ayurveda (literally meaning ‘the science of life and longevity’ in Sanskrit) is the traditional Indian system of natural and holistic medicine that combines healing with philosophy, and complete physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness. Its core principle is to lead the right and healthy way of life – one that is disease free.

The knowledge of Ayurveda in India was passed down over the centuries through an oral tradition, until it was methodically collated into text around 2600 BCE.

The Charaka Samhitha (Treatise on Medicine), Susrutha Samhitha (Treatise on Surgery) and Ashtanga Hridayam Samhita (Treatise on the Basic Principles) are considered to be the three oldest known foundation texts of Ayurveda.

These olden texts reveal marvellous insights into the human body based on pure observation, sans any tools! The pioneering texts are also forerunners in the fields of surgery and the human anatomy, suggesting techniques well ahead of their time.

Ayurveda stresses the importance of pathya (lifestyle, eating habits, and daily routine), and is also a guide on how to adjust one’s lifestyle based on the change of seasons.

But more importantly, it prescribes a way of life that goes beyond mere healing; that helps us realise our true energies and how to best channel them.

The heart of Ayurveda is this: Good health leads to a happy and confident state of being. A happy mind in turn brings calm, ensures better decisions, and assures right living.

Treatment and Therapy

According to Ayurveda, the panchamahabhoota (five basic elements) – earth, water, fire, air, and ether – manifest in the human body as Vata (air and ether), Pitta (fire), and Kapha (earth and water), and are known as the Tridoshas (three body types).

Hence, the prakruti (natural constitution) of every human being is determined by the dominance of Vata, Pitta or Kapha or their combinations. It is also why each person is uniquely influenced by certain doshas (elements) more than others.

Harmony in prakruti indicates good health.

Each dosha influences the shape of one’s body, food preferences and digestion; and intellectual and emotional temperament. An imbalance in the doshas results in accumulation of toxins; and energy points in the body are blocked.

Ayurveda, with its highly specialised therapies, massages, medicines, diets, and prescribed exercise, removes these blockages and toxins.

All three classical texts stress a firm code of ethics to be followed by practitioners of authentic Ayurveda – physicians, surgeons, scholars, students, nurses, and patients.

This also means that a patient must strictly adhere to the physician’s instructions without any compromise in order to ensure complete healing.

The essence of Ayurveda is natural remedies – non-toxic and chemical free. Everything prescribed is based on a deep study of thousands of plants and herbs; their curative qualities; nature’s seasons and cycles; and the way our bodies respond to all of these based on mutual chemistry – ensuring ideal health, a relaxed mind, and a rejuvenated body.

Most Popular Treatments

Stress Relieving

Modern life is fraught with hectic lifestyles and demands on your time. Stress, in small doses, can help you perform well. But when you are constantly running to stay in the same place, your mind and body will pay the price.

Fatigue is linked to multiple biological responses that might surface in the form of unhealthy conditions like cardiovascular diseases.

Ayurveda’s stress relieving programme helps the body achieve a state of ‘Ojas’ (primary vitality).

Ayurvedic treatments based on Panchakarma and Rasayana chikitsa along with Yoga, Pranayama and Meditation can bring about immense changes in a person.

These preventive therapies have long-term benefits. Ayurveda brings about balance in the body, and creates harmony of mind, body and spirit.

Rejuvenation Therapy

With age, the body weakens and various ailments begin to set in.

Rejuvenation therapy is directed at restoring your overall wellbeing, by helping the body reach its natural state of physical and mental comfort.

This therapy helps you gain energy and feel more youthful; it enhances skin texture and shine, increases sound sleep, and improves concentration and memory.

Ayurveda’s rejuvenation therapy strengthens all the tissues in the body so as to achieve wellness and longevity.

It also increases ‘ojas’ and improves ‘sattva’ (mental clarity), thereby increasing the body’s resistance to disease.

This therapy consists of:

• Head and face massage with medicated oils and creams

• Body massage with herbal oils or powders

• Medicated steam baths

• Herbal baths

• Oral medicines

Body Purification Therapy

The body accumulates impurities and chemical toxins over the years, resulting in little or no immunity, dullness, weakness, and even allergies.

Ayurveda’s body purification therapy detoxes the body, not only freeing it of harmful toxins but also balancing all its vital elements.

This therapy includes:

• Body massages

• Steam baths

• Purgative medicines

• Oral herbal medicines

The therapy is highly recommended for even healthy people – every five years to keep chronic health problems at bay.

It has the potential to cure many illnesses; to the point where the patient may not need any other line of treatment later.

The therapy removes weak vibrations from the body and contributes to complete physical, mental, and emotional wellness in a holistic way.

Immunity Boosting Program

Immunity is the body’s natural defence system that plays an important role in maintaining one’s optimal health and keeping diseases at bay.

When this immunity is compromised or weakened, then the body is susceptible to diseases and infections.

The immune system represents the capacity of an individual to defend their health against physical, emotional, and environmental challenges.

Ayurveda’s extensive knowledge base on preventive care derives from the concepts of Dinacharya (daily regimes) and Ritucharya (seasonal regimes) to maintain a healthy life.

Immunity is also connected to ojas – the essence of the 7 tissues that make up our body. These are:

• Rasa – nutritious part of food that reaches blood from the gut

• Rakta – blood tissue

• Mamsa – muscle tissue

• Meda – fat tissue

• Asthi – bone

• Majja – bone marrow

• Shukra – reproductive system

The Sanskrit word ojas means ‘vigour’. Ayurveda relates the body’s immunity to ojas, the quantifiable liquid in the body responsible for overall health, energy, and liveliness.

Slimming Programmes

Being overweight or obese is one of the most common health problems today.

Ayurveda says that this is because of imperfect harmony between the three doshas – Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. This imbalance can occur despite a controlled diet.

Weak digestion or weak metabolism are the root causes of this condition.

Ayurveda’s slimming programme involves:

• Massage with herbal oils and herbal powders which are medically treated

• A restricted diet regimen

• Drinking herbal juices and herbal teas

• Medicated steam baths