“If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads.”
― Anatole France
How fast time flies, it will be a week for me tomorrow already. Today’s wake-up call didn’t take much convincing as my dreams kept waking me up. This time from being bitten by a rat on my finger with him still on it and me throwing him off, to an ex-boyfriend who came to meet me while I was with another ex-boyfriend (imagine that!), both from same country and technically both don’t exist in my world anymore. It was maybe some impression from the book I had been reading called “The handbag and wellies yoga club”, as the lady moves countries with her loved one and is now searching for her base to settle in life. How this relates to these two precisely or otherwise, I have no clue. Anyways, the one who came to patch up apologized and wanted me back whereas the one who I was with, was understanding enough to give us space to talk it out. In the end, I remember telling the former one that it won’t work anymore especially when both of the guys started arguing and he left whereas the one I was with, comforted me saying it’s all ok. I thanked him for his patience and told him one day I will tell him the story of this guy and he said sure, one day will know. Wow what a way to end the dream? I must say that in the end, I was contented not agitated.
I woke up few times and each time the watch said sleep some more. Finally got up for yoga, did my morning ritual that’s increasing by the day, removed the two Band-Aid taped on the shoulder, spooling oil all the time. Today was supposed to be a good class as doctor mentioned last night, one of the guys was leaving in the afternoon so in his honour the doctor was giving a morning class instead of daily 5pm one. This made us all very happy and we were happy for him too as he was ready to leave. Life is interesting like that, you meet people, make friends and know that one day they will leave, move on and so will you. What we basically then do is live in the moment, one of the subjects of last night’s dinner conversation. We all learnt to do that at some stage or the other of our lives, especially if we are travelling all over. We learn to make acquaintances, talk to people new, learn from their experiences, and know them better and move on. We are also not shy of sharing our experiences, that’s how life rolls after a stage and that’s how we learn about different people and the cultures around us, else how would I learn so much about Kerala and Ayurveda in such a short time?
Talking of short, soon came my shot glass of ghee (50ml later I learnt) in hot water to drink along with a lime to sniff if I felt yucky and once 4 sips were downed, I had some cardamom to change the taste. What a way to start the day! This was my day one of the 3 days of cleansing part-2, drinking ghee every morning.
The teas poured in by the hour until I went in for my consultation and massage. After the consultation, during the treatment I struggled with my right shoulder as it seems that I peeled the skin a bit in the morning while trying to remove the Band-Aid, something I have done quiet recently too so I recognized the pain. With this, the potli application was hurting and it seemed too hot hence they didn’t put any Band-Aid on the day or at night as it was still red, to give it a break. Foot massage was good and one of the areas identified was my lower back which surprisingly wasn’t hurting until then. This was discovered when I asked the therapist why one particular area under the foot was hurting and he replied it was the nerve connecting to the lower back (reflexology is amazing!).
Lunch was a pot of soup made out of brown rice and coconut milk with of course, ghee on top. Tea time I got lucky with a steamed banana and so much for my luck, instead of the regular 5pm yoga class (as with cleansing I wasn’t supposed to attend evening sessions due to low energy), it was replaced with a cooking session that went on for 90 minutes, in time for dinner where the others consumed what was prepared. Funnily enough, I wasn’t tempted at all even to taste a bit of the paneer masala, tomato rice, chutney, chick peas curry or okra curry. I diligently wrote down the recipes and took pictures, promising myself one day I will try to make these amazing, under 5-ingredient dishes at home. The appetite that I saved for the soup during dinner was worth it as I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. We had great laughs as usual over dinner following any topic of discussion that would bring everyone together. This time, it was the Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty suggesting us to chew 32 times. Hang on, didn’t our parents say the same when we were kids? But it seemed like because she said it, it was right and had to be followed, so we teased our dear friend from Mumbai for his statement.
Just before dinner, I met the doctor in passing by and he asked about my progress and pains to which he suggested a fix. He twisted me in ways I couldn’t imagine to crack my spine, sort my hip for the pain in the lower back and shoulders as well. He then touched my head that am sure was pounding by then and suggested to drink more water. I almost felt like they all have some sort of magic in their touch that the body automatically communicates with them, like an Ayurvedic Bluetooth connection.
wow…really inspired me. Really tired of current job situations. Saving money to visit kerala and ayurveda. Hope I can visit there soon..