Rejuvenation
Day 9, and I gratefully bid farewell to the cleanse stage and move into the promising new territory of rejuvenation. I’m not quite out of the detox woods yet though; several enemas scheduled over the coming days loom large, but nevertheless, there’s a sense of achievement in having made it this far.
Our diet begins to relax a little. We’re allowed a plate of cut fruits for breakfast (heaven!) along with a small curry rather than the usual rice porridge. A roti and an extra curry are added to our lunch plates, and there are even two tiny refined sugar free deserts on offer after lunch and dinner. After having one the first day they’re offered, I decide not to get back in the habit of rounding off meals with something sweet. Recalling how I felt in the early days of the detox, I’m currently full of good intentions to keep my sugar consumption pared right back going forwards.
The treatments continue to flow. In recent days I’ve experienced Siro Vasti - a rather bizarre treatment best described as a very tight crown on your head that’s filled with warm oil, which is then allowed to sink into the head; it’s supposed to be beneficial for various emotional and neurological conditions -, Pizhichil - a warm oil “bath” where litres of very unctuous oil are poured over the front and back of the body, a relaxing experience if rather messy! - and Podi Kizhi, a hot poultice based massage using dry poultices filled with herbal powder; this ones feels really therapeutic to me.
I experience my first ever enema, a “small” enema (they differentiate here between small oil enemas called Matra Vasti and herbal enemas, which are much more voluminous, referred to as “big’ enemas, or Kashaya Vasti). The small enema is administered by one of my regular afternoon therapists, and she does so with the same pragmatism she employs as she massages my near naked body, which puts me at ease too. It’s not as bad as I’d feared at all.
The following day it’s time for Kashaya Vasti, and it’s clear from the moment we arrive at the hospital that this is a different beast from the small enema. We’re seen first by a doctor (Dr A’s been called away on business, so others are stepping in), who explains the procedure and gets us to sign a disclaimer that lists possible side effects including vomiting, abdominal cramps and fatigue. We then have a half hour massage with just a single therapist for the first time since our arrival (it has a calming quality, I notice) and a quick steam. Meanwhile the second therapist is busy preparing the enema, which it’s her job to administer. I’d asked the doctor about its content and it varies from patient to patient but is 750ml in volume and a mix of warm water, milk and herbal powders. I choose not to look at the concoction before its administered but my friend does and later tells me hers was a beigey colour with the appearance of herbal tea.
The enema is again administered by the therapist, but this time the doctor is present too, in case of any problems. It’s not a particularly pleasant experience but not at all painful. Afterwards my tummy is rubbed vigorously by the two therapists and I move my legs as instructed in and our of tent position until the urge to go to the loo overcomes me. There’s a bathroom attached to the therapy room and it’s there that I evacuate the enema. This is the least dignified part of the detox (maybe of my life thus far?!), as whilst doing so the therapist comes in first with some tablets (I’ve no idea actually what they’re for but am in no mood for questioning!) and a big glass of warm rice water, which I have to finish, then a glass of herbal water and finally a large glass of lemon water with sugar and salt in it. It’s then time for an extremely welcome shower.
After Kashaya Vasti, we’re taken to a quiet part of the hospital for more drinks and some rice porridge, of which I manage a little, before being discharged feeling slightly crampy and weak but definitely relieved to be done. I spend the rest of the day fatigued and low in mood and wondering again about the efficacy of this curious panchakarma process.
But there are compensations; peak yoga Nidras where I feel gloriously floaty, games and movies together with my friends in the evenings, deep conversations and the reemergence of a body that feels and looks a little like 5 years ago me. There’s also space in my head for some proper reflection, a key driver to my being here in the first place. I recalibrate how I’d like my life to be as I move into my second half century and I feel a gentle loosening of some unhelpful behavioural patterns acquired over the past decades.
So, tentatively, I do I think have a sense of the beginnings of a rejuvenation - and I’m looking forward to this growing further over the final days of the panchakarma.
