Yoga and Ayurveda for A Better Life

Balancing Modern Day Challenges with Age-Old Science

Stress. Tiredness. Worry. Low energy. Lethargy. If you feel any of these, it probably signals that your life is at a state of imbalance. And it is time to take some time off and revitalize your life. In today’s world, it is increasingly important to find the time, to truly relax, and to come out again to face the music with a completely new self, totally in balance.

How we do find balance depends on the person, but I recommend Yoga and Ayurveda. The best is to practice Yoga and Ayurveda on a daily basis, but for many, including me, we get carried away with our daily busyness, and hardly have time to engage on daily good yogic and ayurvedic habits, unfortunately.
Thus, for many of us who have somehow lost the balance, I recommend either a trip to the coastal city of Trivandrum in the south of India, or to the forests of Bali, Indonesia, for a week-long yoga and ayurvedic rejuventation experience to regain balance and to truly experience the benefits of yoga and Ayurveda.

Many say that “Ayurveda is the science and yoga is the practice of the science”. It is truly so, and the mind, spirit, and body should be revitalized with the best treatments available. Yoga and Ayurveda are ancient crafts, and grounded in ancient and sacred texts dating as far back as 5000BC.

A typical yoga and ayurvedic retreat will start off with a consultation with an Ayurvedic doctor who will diagnose your body type and your current situation. Typically, observation of the person, touching the body to take for example the pulse, and asking questions about the person’s general condition, are three methods used in a consultation.

Typical ayurvedic techniques include “Shirodhara”, a special technique involving dripping medicated oil on the forehead or “third eye region”, suggesting a better diet and nutrition for the person, engaging in ayurvedic massage, and starting “panchakarma” or detoxification regimen during the treatment.

Typically, one starts off the day next to the beach, with an early morning yoga session, practicing poses whilst listening to the waves and appreciating cool breeze as the sun rises. This is then followed by a 2 hour ayurvedic massage using oils that are tailor made for the person. Breakfast follows, which is usually only vegetarian, light and easy to digest, and is taken with lots of water. You return to your room, and relax, listening to the waves and taking a short morning nap. Thereafter, you walk the hills around the coastal area, and return for a quick vegetarian lunch. This is followed by a Shirodhara treatment and or a panchakarma treatment, where your mind is totally relaxed and body revitalized. You return to your room, and sleep for about an hour or so, and take up reading something you like reading, on the beach, swim a bit, and then watch the sun slowly set as you lie on the beach. You sleep early, right after a light vegetarian dinner by the beach, of course without any alcohol.

This routine, you do for a week, and your entire body, mind, and spirit comes back revitalized. Your energy level goes up, and your body and mind have a tone and manner that is completely different from the imbalanced you of before. Many captains of industry, regularly embrace yoga and ayurveda retreats on an annual basis, and they say their success is partly due to being able to take that one week off a year, to totally and utterly relax and be rejuvenated to challenge more, and take the business and life to another totally amazing level.

Go for that yoga and ayurveda retreat, today. Enjoy.