Ayurveda Daily Journal – Day 9

Feb 11 (Day 9):
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
All morning long, I have been exhausted, impatient and incredibly hungry — so hungry in fact, that I find myself obsessing about food. I’ve even started planning my first dinner as a free woman. I’m thinking dinner at Romano’s, our favorite restaurant in Bombay. I’ll start with a glass of cold champagne and a caprese salad, follow it with Tagliolini San Marzano and wrap things up with their special branzino steamed in parchment paper. I fantasized about this meal all morning; in fact, I even made the reservation!  Don’t judge me…The hunger is getting harder and harder to handle.  All in all, it’s not my best day.

THE TREATMENT:
This is my second day on the ghee, so they doubled my dose today. The doctor said the calories in this dose should really help with the hunger. (Frankly, I’d rather have a steak.)

I know to some people this Ayurvedic journey of mine seems crazy…especially since I’ve started talking about drinking clarified butter. But when you have serious health issues that make every day a struggle, you are willing to do almost anything to push through them and get to the other side. There has to be a reason this form of medicine has endured over 5,000 years, so I’m more than willing to step outside my comfort zone and be open to what it has to offer. Bear that in mind please, as you read my posts for the next few days when things get rougher — or whenever you are tempted to dismiss this place as just a silly resort for tree-hugging hippies out for adventure.

This place is serious about making people better. Ayurveda has been successful at treating a myriad of illnesses. People come to these top centers in Kerala to cure diabetes, high blood pressure, lupus, cancer…all sorts of things. Everyone I’ve spoken with, who has either been here themselves or known someone who has gone through the process, swears that Ayurveda changes your health for the rest of your life.  Dear Lord, I pray that’s true!

THE DOCTOR:
Dr. Sankar doubled my dose of bitter ghee today and then weighed me. I’ll admit, I was frustrated that my weight hadn’t gone down much since I’ve been here, considering how drastically all my eating habits have changed. The doctor commented that I am special — most people just naturally drop weight here much more quickly than I have. He attributes this to my general lack of health. Grrr…

Trying to keep me from being so impatient, Dr. Sankar used the analogy of renovating a house. “You want us to rebuild your house where it sits, but the terrain there is very bad. The house will never last if we build there, so we must pick up your house and move it to better terrain. That takes time. Be patient. Once we have moved your house to a stronger terrain that supports it, we can start to work on giving you all the things you want.”  That made me feel better. Much better, actually.

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” — Colin Powell