All my newly married friends had same story to tell about their honeymoon - they were so tired with wedding and all the rituals that they were making up for all lost sleep on their honeymoon. I am very sure you don't want to do it in a expensive foreign location.
When you start planning for wedding at some point it becomes tiring, even the fun part like pre-wedding shoot or deciding on a honeymoon destination seems like "a task or a to do list". If you are a introvert so much attention and human interaction drains you out.
So a month before our wedding we decided to go to Krishnendu Ayurveda Spa and Wellness Center in Kerala. Basic idea was to slowdown after months of running around, relax, detox and rejuvenate.
Landed at Trivandrum Airport at 9:00 am, got picked up by cab sent by Center. It took almost 3 hours to reach Center located in Chingoli.
Once we reached, we met chief physician who briefed us on Panchakarma Wellness Program and chalked out treatments , schedule and diet for us after checking for our vitals and medical history.
Panchakarma is a natural cleansing process that releases stored toxins and restores body's inner balance and vitality by removing the harmful toxins out of your system through the body’s channels of elimination like sweat glands, lungs, bladder, urinary tract, stomach, intestines, etc.It is a mostly pleasurable experience that is tailored to individual needs and involves:Daily warm oil massage (abhyanga),Herbal steam therapy (swedana) , Snehapaanam and Other special treatments (depending on individual's doshas)
We had vegetarian Kerala meal and 3 hours later went for Abhyanga followed by hot herbal bath. Abhyanga is Ayurvedic massage with warm oil massage performed by two massage therapists. This treatment relaxes the muscles which enhances the skin tone and induces sleep. It was so relaxing that I fell asleep on massage table and had to be woken up when it was over.
Missed yoga session which is at 7:30 every morning. Had rice porridge breakfast as suggested by doctor. Head for Abhyanga , today it was followed by Dhanya Kizhi . This is a kind of therapeutic sweating. In this Ayurvedic, body is fomented with linen bundles containing herbs like cereals, black gram, horse gram, cotton seed etc, in semi-powdered form which helpful for joints, neck and lower back pain.
Dinner is supposed to be done by 5 in evening and around 7:00 pm doctors visit each room to administer Panchatikta Ghrit. This medicine is prepared with ghee as base and infused with five bitter herbs which is filtered out. The dose of is increased every day , till finally on day 3 or 4 body flushes out all the toxins. This was the only part of the otherwise delightful experience that I disliked.
Missed Yoga session today as well. Everything similar to Day 2 , only dose of ghee was increased.
Attend yoga class in morning.Today Abhyanga was followed by Njavara Kizhi instead of Dhanya Kizhi and Thakra Dhara (Medicated butter milk streamed continuously on the forehead in between the temples which is good for stress , insomnia and helps improve concentration). While my Husband was given ShiroDhara (warm medicated oil is streamed on the forehead) since he has sinusitis . Njavara Kizhi is done using a specific type of rice known for its medicinal and nourishment value. The rice is prepared cooking in milk along with a special herbal decoction. Then the whole body is fomented with linen boluses (Kizhis) filled with medicated rice. This procedure is good for body pain ,rejuvenation and healthy skin.
In evening we had to take another increased dose of medicated ghee.
Attend yoga and meditation class.During our morning consultation doctors were satisfied with our progress and we were allowed to have food of our choice and finally stopping ghee intake.
Usual Panchakarma procedure was done. Today we took herbal steam bath to further eliminate toxins through sweating .
In evening my husband underwent Nasyam for Migraine and Sinusitis.
Morning consultation with doctor , where we were briefed on post Pachkarma care, lifestyle improvements and discharge formalities.
Flew back to Mumbai feeling completely revitalized, energetic , radiant & glowy and ready to rock another big fat wedding of a cousin.
Important Notes :
-There are number of Ayurveda Wellness Center you could choose from depending on your budget. Just make sure it is NABH accredited.We went to Krishnendu Ayurveda.
-Pankarma will require minimum 5 of days stay to complete the treatment.
- It can get a bit boring by day 3-4, so carry a book , cards or board games for leisure.Try staying away from phones and social media while there.
- You can go for local site seeing which can be arranged by your Center.
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