Kerala - Day 8

People were getting kind of stir-crazy around here, so Dr. Shekhar arranged an outing for the afternoon and evening. This meant starting class an hour early and eliminating our siesta. Today we covered two more sudation treatments -- a wet one with lemon and herb boluses and a dry one with powder boluses, a Talapotichil - a native Kerala treatment where you cover the head, and how to make a medicated ghee (with brahmi).

I was the demo body for the powder bolus treatment. That was interesting. It's a heavy tapotement (percussion) treatment that reduces Vata. Not very intuitive, especially since it's dry. I should probably explain that, but it's almost midnight and tomorrow is a yoga day! It was nice to not be oiled up for once. I do enjoy the oil, but the cleanup is kind of a pain. Especially, when you don't have a shower. More on that later.

The Talapotichil was interesting and I want to experience that one before I leave. It's good for insomnia (and insanity) and I know a few people who could use it. I also learned some other treatments for insomnia that require some special herbs that I plan to bring home.

We made the Brahmi Grita with Karuna Vaidya -- one of my favorite people here. He always gives us treats and today it was licorice root. It was yummy! It's sweet and I liked the earthiness of it.

After class (and lunch), we went shopping. I, once again, declared that I didn't need to buy anything and was just going for the ride and ending up coming home with a bunch of stuff, including two cooking pans! Fortunately, the rest of my items were small. We always tease my mom about having a shopping disease. I think it's for real, it's genetic. and I have it.

The day ended with a nice group dinner at a restaurant. The staff at Greens is amazing. They are so sweet, friendly and big-hearted. A few of them chaperoned us on our shopping excursion and a few more joined us for dinner. They take really good care of their guests. I believe they've arranged a movie night for tomorrow, but I think I'll skip it to practice my massage with one of the senior therapists. And now I'm off to bed...