Ayurveda therapy for fifteen days

A 15-day standardized Ayurvedic intervention cannot reverse organic diseases such as diabetes, nodules, and tumors, but it can make more than 80% of people with functional imbalances—people who cannot find a clear cause in tertiary hospitals, but are long-term troubled by insomnia, recurring indigestion, unprovoked chronic fatigue, and prone to anxiety and irritability—to perceive a clear improvement in their status. The final effect varies greatly depending on individual physical baselines, implementation strictness, and school programs. There is no "standard 15-day formula" that applies to everyone.

To be honest, before I stayed at a traditional Ayurveda clinic on the seaside of Kerala for 15 days last year, my impression of this thing was still in the marketing picture of "covering the whole body with oil for detoxification" posted by an Internet celebrity blogger. At that time, I had just finished the deadlines for three projects. I slept 4 hours a day for three consecutive months, drank iced coffee instead of water, and was constipated to the point of relying on Kesailu. Chinese medicine said I had liver stagnation, and Western medicine said I was not sick but sub-healthy. I signed up for this clinic's project with the mentality of being a dead horse.

At seven o'clock in the morning on the first day, Dr. Suresh sat behind a wooden table and felt my pulse. He put three fingers on my wrist, closed his eyes and felt for almost five minutes. Then he said, "The Vata wind energy is seriously imbalanced, the Kapha earth energy is slightly stagnant, and the pitta fire energy is okay." I thought it was quite mysterious at the time, until he reported that not only had I been suffering from insomnia and constipation recently, but I also always felt tight in my shoulders and neck, and I would get flustered when I was free, I sat up straighter.

Interestingly, Anna, a yoga instructor from New York, lived in the same room. She had tried a modified version of the 15-day Ayurveda treatment in the United States. The organization sent herbal teas and essential oils, and she did oil pulling and herbal baths at home every day. She said frankly that she felt nothing but excessive farts, so she came to India to do the traditional version. Our plans are not even close to each other: I, who have high Vata, drink warm ghee with three fruit decoctions on an empty stomach every morning, and then do 45 minutes of Abhyanga full-body oil therapy, with herbal fumigation only on the waist and abdomen. ； She has high pitta, easily gets angry and has a lot of stomach acid. Not to mention ghee, even the chopped turmeric that the chef adds to everyone has to be picked out separately for her. She is not allowed to touch the fumigation. She has an extra hour of pranayama practice every day.

I didn’t notice any changes until the 7th day. After the oil treatment that day, I wrapped myself in a blanket and lay in a hammock in the yard. The sea breeze made the coconut leaves rustle. I took out my phone and wanted to check my work group. The moment I clicked on it, I lost the anxiety of “something will happen if I don’t read the messages.” Anna's changes were more obvious than mine. On the 9th day, after she finished the vomiting cleansing therapy for Kapha (oh, yes, not everyone has to do this, only those with severe Kapha siltation will be arranged, so I didn't touch it during the whole process), she came back and told me that she could breathe smoothly after suffering from allergic rhinitis for almost half a year.

Of course, if you want to ask if this thing is really that amazing, I won’t give you the hype. After I came back, I specifically asked a friend who does clinical nutrition with the conditioning recipe given by the clinic. He rummaged through it for a long time and told me that the ingredients used in it, such as three-fruit soup, Ceylon cinnamon, and holy basil, do have the effects of antioxidants, regulating intestinal flora, and stabilizing cortisol. The so-called "15-day detoxification" essentially means that you completely cut off refined food for 15 days. Sugar, highly processed foods, ice drinks, alcohol, coupled with a fixed schedule and light exercise every day, the metabolism will naturally return to the right track. There is no need to put on the metaphysical filter of "life energy balance" - this is also the general attitude of mainstream modern medicine towards Ayurvedic therapy: it can be used as an auxiliary means for lifestyle adjustment, but do not use it as a life-saving straw for treating diseases.

There are indeed some pitfalls. I once had a friend who did the so-called 15-day Ayurveda "deep detoxification" at a domestic internet celebrity health center. The boss did not give her any physical identification. Everyone fasted and drank only herbal juice, and had to undergo 40-degree high-temperature fumigation every day. On the 10th day, she fainted due to hypoglycemia and was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. The doctor said that if she came two days later, she would have electrolyte imbalance. This cannot be called Ayurveda at all. The first step in serious traditional Ayurveda is physical identification. Not to mention that everyone is different in the 15-day plan. Even the daily diet will be adjusted according to your status the day before. How can one person be the same?

Now that I have been back for almost a year, I still retain the habit of oil pulling for 5 minutes every morning and doing oil therapy on my arms and calves at home once a week. My previous constipation has long been cured, and I only occasionally suffer from insomnia when I am working on a project. Occasionally, people ask me whether it is worth spending tens of thousands of yuan to go to India to practice Ayurveda for 15 days. I always say it depends on what you want: if you expect that 15 days can cure the high blood pressure and thyroid nodules that you have suffered for ten years, then I advise you to save your money and go to a tertiary hospital to register. Don’t waste time. ； If you have checked it out and found nothing wrong, and just want to get back your messed up routine and broken state, and are willing to not touch milk tea or coffee for 15 days or check your mobile phone until the early morning, then there is a high probability that you will be pleasantly surprised.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that before I left, Dr. Suresh told me that Ayurveda is never a 15-day "therapy", it is a lifelong lifestyle, and 15 days is just the beginning. I didn’t quite understand it at the time, but now I gradually understand it—there is no miracle that can be solved once and for all in 15 days. To put it bluntly, these 15 days just force you to focus on yourself, eat well and sleep well.