Ayurveda Spiritual Retreat
This place has not been sponsored
A spiritual retreat is a place of introspection and reflection together with oneness with one’s divine (anything you believe in or not). Retreats have been religious since the beginning of time. An Ayurveda retreat means that the place will follow Ayurveda principles.
What is Ayurveda? It is the oldest holistic way of medicine and healing that started over 3,000 years ago! (some said it started 5,000 years ago). It is a holistic approach to medicine that involves body, mind and soul.
A retreat is an integral part of Hinduism. You don’t have to be Hindu to attend most retreats and or have a specific reason to attend one. An Ayurveda retreat provides the opportunity to live a healthy lifestyle and to break the routine.
What draws me to Ayurveda it is that there is no one size fits all approach. Individual meetings with the ayurvedic doctor will determine the course of each and every treatment.
I spent several weeks at an Ayurveda yoga clinic and spiritual retreat by the beach. The place was located almost a mile away from the small village of Kadikode. It took four-plus hours on a truck from Goa to get to this incredibly beautiful remote location.
My first solo trip after the death of my father needed to be more of a spiritual journey. The purpose of my stay in this Ashram was to focus on the experience without mixing it with sightseeing and other activities in between. The success of the program depends on being able to be fully immersed in the experience with little distractions working on your body, mind, and spirit.
The village is a holistic center with research with a traditional approach to Ayurveda treatments. Yoga, meditation, consultations with an Ayurveda doctor, special diet, prayer, contemplation, and Panchakarma (a detoxification treatment) were available. I took them all!
The whole experience was amazing with a genuinely professional and caring staff. I did the Ayurveda experience which is a Hindu system of medicine, the oldest health care system in the world. In Ayurveda, we work on the mind, body, and spirit.
No television and or internet. There was the internet for a few hours in a common area that was available for a couple of hours. We were obviously discouraged from being online. I only used my time to call my elderly mom, I allowed no other distractions. Peace, quiet and secluded places are my favorite spots in the world!
Panchkarma was the hardest treatment for me, it took a lot of mental and physical energy but it was worth it. I did it once and that was it for me. The beauty of Panchakarma comes after the whole process is over
Every corner of the place was able to provide a space of trust to relax and to recompose. The ancient philosophy tells us that we are more than skin deep and that our emotiosn play a vital role an our mental and psychological health.
Worship/Prayers/Introspection
Every morning really early woke up at 4:45 am to shower and to go for the Puja. It is a Hindu worship of a loving offering of water, flowers, and food to the divine. I was incredibly hooked to the ritual and I surprisingly went to worship every early morning.
Lord Ganesh, also called Ganapati, is the son of Shiva and Parvati is the lord of success and the remover of obstacles. The elephant-headed statue has a right tusk that represents wisdom and the left tusk represents emotion. Lord Ganesh also represents education and wisdom. We prayed to Ganesh offering fresh flowers that we placed on the statue.
गणेश
MANDALAS
A mandala is a symbol of the universe, the spiritual realm, and in Hinduism represents occurrence, reoccurrence, and existence.
Mandalas, or circles, are geometric designs used to represent the spiritual journey and it starts from the outside to the inside, the journey has layers we go through in life. The beautiful mandalas are made with rice flour and it is an ancient art called “kolam.” It takes a long time to make them this perfect! with lots of love. The people that have done these mandalas are artists.
Mandala in Sanskrit means “circle.” The key to drawing a mandala is patience, doing it slowly. I have been drawing mandalas, well not that good but that is a whole new “paragraph.” and it is almost doing meditation. I start drawing my mandalas on a piece of paper by first drawing a big circle and then drawing geometric and organic drawings.
Yoga
After Puja came the time for yoga and meditation. What a fantastic way to start the morning; at the beach but in contemplation.
The yoga Yalla is built with sturdy wood and was located overlooking the Arabian sea. At times, yoga classes were held at the beach, which allowed us to watch the sunrise during practice.
All yoga classes at the Center were taught by experienced yogis (practitioners of yoga, meditation, and Indian religions) and different types of meditation sessions with Pranayama. Superb each and every time.
The style of the yoga classes and poses depended upon the yogi (the practitioner of yoga and meditation in Indian religions) who was teaching the class. We went through different yoga positions (asanas), breathing techniques, and exercises with great care on the part of the yogis.
Meditation
Meditation (consciousness with yourself and higher power) became “easier” with time in particular doing meditation with genuine lifelong practitioners. Meditation for Hindus is becoming more spiritual and the goal is to obtain physical, mental, and spiritual enhancement.
After attending the retreat, training in awareness became much easier. The Yogis were so experienced with different types of people and they had a huge amount of patience. Focusing my mind on being aware and being still was one of the highlights of the retreat.
I don’t use the word “mindfulness” because it has been so used and abused in the last years, that the commercial side makes me want to run back to the retreat!
Ayurveda Diet
Ayurveda diet regards a meal plan that regards your “doshas” and to know the doshas you need to know your body type. The Ayurveda doctor prepares a meal plan to balance the doshas to attain optimal health.
The doshas are body types (Vata, Pitta, and Kapa. Eac circulates the body and governs physiological activity. We did not have any food or drink that was cold regardless of the hot weather.
Each meal was vegetarian and carefully designed and prepared for my treatment with guidelines for my own dosha. The food was grown onsite organic and fresh and even milk was from the site next door. According to Ayurveda food should have prana (life force) that comes from the earth.
The food is definitely not the typical “Indian food” so please let’s not get confused. All of the ingredients were homegrown. Was I hungry? at the beginning but then I got used to having just what my body needed.
Ayurveda Treatments and Massage
Traditional Ayurvedic massages were part of the treatment. The massages incorporated special oils, herbs, special pouches with different natural elements, etc.
Massage therapists are professional therapists with a degree. There are many institutes and colleges that teach Ayurveda, in particular in South India in the city of Kerala. These therapists
The massages consist of kneading and soft strokes on a wooden massage table knowing well the pressure points of the body. The therapists had to prepare the mix of herbs prescribed by the Ayurveda doctor and use special utensils and pouches.
The purpose of the massages is: to balance doshas, relieve stress, strengthen the immune system, relieve pain, and improve skin among many other benefits.
This retreat was a non-budget type of experience, quite pricey and I rarely spend this money but I can attest totally worth it. This place was NOT sponsored, I paid with my own money as with most experiences here until I can collect some funds.
It is really hard to keep the state of balance of body and mind once you get back to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Our Western way of life is a completely different world, I wish I were a yogi!
