AGraceful World

Feb 21 (Day 19)
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
I’m learning to accept the things I can’t control, like my weight. I’m starting to feel stronger and calmer — just better overall. I’m less worried about my health…or weight…or politics. I’m less worried about everything.

The only thing that is really still a bit of an issue is my hunger. Since I am eating about 1/3 to 1/4 of what I usually eat, I’m hungry pretty much all the time. When I tell that to Dr. Sankar, he smiles and starts teaching. He tells me that we must train our bodies that they don’t need that much food. He tells me that my emotions are hungry, not my stomach. At least that’s what I think  he said…My stomach is growling so loud I can barely hear him talk.

He explains that people just get used to eating a lot of food, so they THINK they need it. They MISS it when they don’t get it, but the need isn’t coming from the body, but the mind. I’m trying to roll with it, but I am so hungry I could eat my own foot (…and I’m sure it would taste delicious. After all, I’ve been marinating in butter for over two weeks!)

THE TREATMENTS:
You are not going to get any real details about yesterday’s ghee enema. I will only say that it didn’t “kick in” until about 4 o’clock this morning, and I’ve been dealing with its effects all day. Dr. Sankar said this is absolutely normal. They even have adult diapers for the patients who need them. (Yikes…I am not going to do that, I can assure you!)

I had another new treatment this afternoon that was so relaxing. It’s called “Kadeevasthi” and it is extremely helpful for back pain. You lie face down on Cleopatra’s treatment table and the therapist makes a ring of bread dough on your lower back. She makes sure the seal is very tight to your skin and then they pour hot, medicated oil inside the dough ring. For about 10 minutes, while the warm oil does its work on your lower back, the therapists massage the rest of your body. Once that oil has cooled off, they drain it and repeat the procedure, refilling the ring with a new round of fresh, hot oil. The do three rounds of the hot oil for a total of around 30 minutes. Once they’re finished, they wipe your back with a hot, damp towel…It feels like heaven.

THE DOCTOR:
Dr. Sankar was asking how I was feeling today. As usual he went point by point. “How is your nausea? How are your ulcers? The acid in your stomach? The cramping? Have you fainted any more? How is your back? Is your knee still hurting? Are you sleeping well? How is your stress level?” After each question, I replied, “I’m great. It’s great.” Once we had been through the whole list, I told him I thought all the problems were gone. His reply was typically cautious. “Well, I think of each of these issues as your children. So…all your children are sleeping?” I said, “Yes, all my children are sleeping.” Then he said, “Well, occasionally, one of them will wake up; that is what children do. But, do not worry when that happens. They sleep, they wake up, they sleep…just like children. But, for now, they are all sleeping — Good.”   (I love this guy.)

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” — Marcus Aurelius

Feb 20 (Day 18):

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there’.” — Eckhart Tolle

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
I am so grateful that patients are allowed to have conversations in the reception salon of the resort. I have met the coolest people in the last few days. I met yet another one just last night. Her name is Indu, and she is so lovely and easy to talk to. When she found out that Leon and I were going to visit Dubai next month for a long weekend, the first thing she said was that we had to call her so she could show us around. (Turns out, she actually lives there!) Later in the evening she sent me an email that she’d worked on, filled with cool places in Dubai to go out to eat or go shopping. What a fun woman — can’t wait to get to know her better.

THE TREATMENTS:
10 am – It has taken me 18 days to get semi-comfortable with being naked in front of the women on staff. But this morning, I hardly even noticed!  I also had another treatment of “Nasyam” again. That’s when the doctor comes into the room after your first morning treatment, and puts the medicated ghee drops up your nose. We did four drops in each nostril today, instead of the two we did yesterday. Afterwards, I had to inhale medicated smoke to dry out the oil so that it wouldn’t leak out of my nose when I started moving around. (The medicated smoke you inhale smells and burns a bit — kind of like you got too close to a barbecue and got a snootful of charcoal).

What’s fascinating about this treatment is that you have four women all standing around you, each with a different job, helping you get through this process as lovingly and easily as possible. The first woman is of course, the doctor, who administers the drops and supervises everything. Then, Greeshma is the number two. She holds a piece of muslin around me so that I don’t get cold. She also watches my facial expression to see if I am uncomfortable in any way. The third person holds a glass of hot water so that each time I gargle, I can take sips of it. (I must gargle over and over again for about 20 minutes or so until the burning in my sinuses and throat is tolerable.) The fourth person, who I can only assume is the newest apprentice, holds the brass spit bucket (which looks like a beautiful, brass vase). She also hands me tissues to wipe my mouth with each time I spit. It is humbling to sit there with so many people watching your facial expressions, your posture, and your movements, trying to anticipate every little need. Seriously…only in India.

4pm – This afternoon’s treatment was difficult. Let’s just say, it brought the lack of privacy here into sharp focus. It is called “Mathravasthi” and it is an enema of medicated ghee. (Just as I become comfortable with the nudity, they “up” the embarrassment factor ten-fold.)

THE DOCTOR:
I won’t lie…The weight is a thing.  I’m eating so little and doing all these treatments and still I’m virtually the same weight I was when I got here. It’s frustrating for me because people that I know personally, have lost 20-25 pounds during their three-week stays here and I’m still almost exactly the same weight I was when I arrived. To be honest, I was really hoping to get back down to my fighting weight (which I haven’t seen in about 20 pounds), but so far, I’ve lost almost nothing. By contrast, in just 8 days, Jan has already lost about 12 pounds. (Grrr…)

Dr. Sankar attributes this to several factors. 1) My ulcers are my main issue and all the medications he would normally give to reduce weight would inflame them even further, so I am out of luck on that front. 2) I am in the normal range of weight for my height (although just barely) which makes it more difficult to lose weight. 3) Evidently, from 50-55 years of age, it is very difficult for a woman to lose weight due to those falling hormone levels that I wrote about yesterday. (The body wants to hold onto the fat because it is worried that you may need it later for energy.) Fortunately, at about 55 years old, my weight should be a bit easier to manage because by then my body will have adjusted to the new hormone levels and not be reacting to them as much.

I have surrendered all hope of losing weight while I’m here. It was the only way to stay sane. Besides, that wasn’t why I came originally. I came because I was sick…really sick…hospital sick. I needed to find a way to survive in India until Leon and I could leave here together — as a family. Dr. Sankar knows this, and he very candidly said, “We will build up your digestive system; we will strengthen your constitution. We will alleviate the pain from the ulcers, and make you feel much better overall. We will do all these things to get you through the rest of your time here in India. But I will be honest, you are under too much stress in this country, and your body attacking itself as a result. Once you get back to Europe, you will remember how to breathe again…how to relax. When that happens, your health will improve.” Just hearing that I wasn’t under any pressure to relax, helped me to relax…I think Dr. Sankar is a very smart man.

Feb 19 (Day 17):
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:

Ever since the morning after the cleansing day, I have felt like a completely new person: happier, healthier, stronger and much more calm. Everything negative just sort of evaporated overnight. I’d heard stories about the tiny miracles that happen here…I’m so grateful they were true.

The best way I can describe it is with this illustration. Picture yourself at a metro station, waiting on the train to take you where you need to go, BUT you realaize that you are standing at the wrong track. You can wait there forever, but your train is never going to come. You have to be on a completely different track to get where you want to go. Well yesterday, I woke up on the new track. Like I said, tiny miracle.

This was Emil’s last morning here; he’s in the car right now, headed to the airport.  Even if I got nothing else out of this trip but my friendship with Emil, it would have been worth coming here. What a lovely soul he is. To top it off…My new friend, Jan, is here for another week, so I’ll still have a playmate. Today, I feel like a very lucky girl.

THE TREATMENTS:
This morning I had my first Nasayam treatment, or as I affectionately call it, “ghee up the nose.”  They have a medicinal ghee made especially for this purpose, infused with 64 different healing herbs. The doctor puts a few drops in each nostril to open the channels from your sinuses to your brain and down your spinal column. This is done to help with back issues, nerve connections and sinus problems. It burns quite a bit for about a half hour, both in your nose and in the back of your throat, but I am breathing easier than I have in years. (Honestly, If you just close your eyes and trust these people, they really can work wonders.) Sometimes I just shake my head, not believing what I’m about to do. But then I just “get on with it” and it works. It’s crazy…but it works.

I love my therapists too. Greeshma and Reshma: these sweet, smiling girls, each one under five feet tall. They look like beautiful, little brown birds, utterly quiet, and always scrubbing and punching and working their hearts out. What lovely spirits they have. This afternoon, they started another new treatment called Dhanyamla Dhara, which, roughly translated means “sour grain pouring.”  Wow…did I ever love this one!

You lie down face up on Cleopatra’s antique brass and wood treatment table and they set out four curving, brass hand-pitchers at your feet, next to an enormous batch of hot, medicinal tea. The two ladies pour pitcher after pitcher over your body while a third woman refills them. They start by working on the front of your body, then you switch positions to lie to one side so they can get your side and your back. Then a return to the front side, then you switch to the other side. After that, you have one last turn face up.

This hot tea, being poured all over your body for 45 minutes is completely relaxing…like a hot bath when you really need one. I loved every second. The tea never stops pouring, pitcher after pitcher of warm tea from your toes to your neck. This is the best treatment I’ve ever had in my life. I sure hope I get to do it again!

THE DOCTOR:
Dr. Sankar told me something very interesting today. He said that from the age of 50-55, women almost invariably gain weight due to the falling hormone levels. During these years, it is very difficult to lose that weight. But once you hit about 55 years of age, it becomes much more manageable. (So, all I have to do is wait three more years?) Well, not exactly.

He also reminded me of somthing…From the age of 50 onwards, you must reduce your portion size and consume fewer carbohydrates in direct proportion to your activity level. If your activity level goes down, your intake of calories has to decrease in equal measure. In other words, you cannot keep living the lifestyle you are used to, eating the way you used to, while at the same time lowering your activity level.  If you do that, your weight will just increase every year until it’s almost an insurmountable hill to climb. So for those people who never had to watch their weight…get ready. You’re either going to have to increase your activity level or reduce your caloric intake once you hit 50. (Old age makes no room for sissies.)

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“You wanna fly, you gotta give up the shit that weighs you down.” — Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

Feb 18 (Day 16):

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” — C.S. Lewis

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
Woke up this morning feeling like a new person. I’m so relieved that the hard part is behind me. From now on, no more ghee, no more purging…I can actually eat again! I can even have a glass of juice in the morning and a piece of fruit in the afternoon…feels like a miracle. That last week was so rough it made me doubt myself and want to run away. Now that the hard part is over, I know I can finish this. My energy is higher and I am so much happier. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders for the first time since we moved to India. I don’t just see the light at the end of the tunnel, I’m standing in it.

I spent a lot of time talking with Emil today too, which always makes me happy. Since he’s leaving tomorrow, we spent the entire evening learning more about each other. What a remarkable man Emil is. He’s an economist, an entrepreneur and a philanthropist…But the best thing about him? He absolutely adored his wife. That alone makes me love him to pieces! Emil will definitely be a houseguest once we move to London. We’ll also get to visit with him when we take our vacation in Zurich next year. I can hardly wait to see him again…He’s one of the loveliest men I’ve ever met.

Emil introduced me to another wonderful person here, a man named Jan (pronounced djahn). Since Emil is leaving tomorrow, he wanted me to have a friend here after he left and he picked a total sweetheart. Jan is open, interesting and all heart…another kindred spirit. He lives in Paris and owns a large company that specializes in trekking through the Himalayas and once in a lifetime trips throughout India. How cool is that?

Emil and Jan love travel as much as I do, so we spent the night going over our favorite places on the globe. We even discussed the difference between travel and tourism. Tourism is when you go to the top tourist spots and check them off your list, never bothering to learn about the life and culture of the place you’re visiting. Travel is when you look at every new country through the eyes of the people living there. You learn their customs and interact with the people. Travel is when you fall in love with a place because you immerse yourself in it. You live like a local, even if you’re only there for a week or two. As a traveler, every place you visit becomes a part of you. It inhabits a tiny corner of your soul. Jan, Emil and I all travel like that. We fall a little in love with every place we visit. Life is so much more fun when you get to discuss the things you love with people who you respect and enjoy. What a wonderful night!

THE TREATMENTS:
Today I started having my oil treatments again with Greeshma. This morning I had the Dhatupushty Uzhichil. (That’s the one where they push the medicated oil into your skin.) This afternoon, I had Lekhaneeyam (the mud-paste scrub to draw out toxins), Sirodhara (the oil running on my forehead for an hour) and Thalam. Thalam is a medicated oil that they rub into your head. Then they wrap your hair in a turban and leave it in for at least three hours. Both Thalam and Sirodhara are supposed to be very good at relieving stress. (Frankly, all they had to do to relieve MY stress was stop making me drink ghee!)

THE DOCTOR:
Dr. Sankar confirmed that the hard part is officially over! Starting today, he will try to help me figure out what core issues are causing my body the most stress. All we’ve done up to this point was get my body to a neutral enough place that he could study me. Who knew that getting neutral would be so much work?!?!?! I am so glad to be moving on to the “answer” portion of my stay. I am relaxed, open and very ready to work.

Feb 17 (Day 15):
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
There was the sweetest, silent ritual the other day; it was for the birthday of one of the patients. The man was in the dining room along with all the rest of us when a silent procession of about 20 members of the staff filed into the room…and over to his table. Each person was holding a tropical flower and as they approached him one by one, they would stop and quietly lay their flower on his table. Then, they would place their hands in the prayer position, bow their heads in blessing and slowly walk away. It was such a powerful, quiet testament to life and the beauty of aging that my eyes filled with tears. I thought to myself how blessed I am to be here…to have witnessed that. I know everyone else felt the same. Sometimes, I really do love this place.

THE TREATMENTS:
7 am – Today is “cleansing day” also known as “purgation day.” (Trust me, it’s as scary as it sounds.)  In about an hour I will  go to the doctor’s office to drink a glass of a bitter medicine which will induce diarrhea and vomiting for the rest of the day and night. This is to eliminate whatever toxins are left in my system after the ghee has had a chance to do its work. I absolutely cannot believe I am doing all of this stuff by choice. Right now, I feel like a granola-crunching hippie with no common sense.

I have talked to a few people who have already been through the purge, so I know what to expect. Today, I have been told, will be my last really difficult day…Then things should normalize. I’ll be allowed to eat a piece of fruit in the afternoons again as well as have a glass of coconut water in the mornings. I will even get to have a bit of almond milk at night before bed to stabilize my blood sugar, so I can start doing yoga in the mornings again.

THE DOCTOR:
9:30 am – Well, I just drank the medicine for the purge. It’s called “Avipathy Choornam” which means “not dangerous.” That’s comforting.  Another good thing, it doesn’t taste nearly as bad as the ghee. The overriding taste is that of cinnamon, though it also contains cayenne pepper, black pepper, long pepper and a lot of other things designed to blow through your colon to get things moving.

11:30 – Been crying all morning…no idea why. The doctor thinks my pitta (fire energy) is too high.

12:30 – The doctor sent over some salted rice water to help calm down my pitta. Within 5 minutes, I stopped crying and felt completely normal. Maybe this guy really is Yoda…Who knows?

1 pm – I’ve been waiting for hours for this medicine to take effect. I’ll keep you posted, but I’m already starving.

1:30 – Still no fireworks yet.

2:30 – The doctor just gave me another dose of medicine, hoping that this one will “get things rolling.”

3:30 – The wait is over! Oh my gosh, is it ever over! I’m done with updates for today. Things will only get worse from here. I’ll talk to you tomorrow!

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.” — Saadi

Feb 15 (Day 13):
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
I have been having a maddeningly hard, heavy heartbeat for three days now. The doctor has been watching me very closely because of my heart issues, and I know I’m in good hands, but when your heart beats this hard for three full days, it makes you a nervous wreck. This afternoon, I had an experience that made me totally lose my cool. I felt so badly all day that the doctor had to cancel my afternoon treatment so that I could rest in bed all afternoon and evening. (I didn’t even have the energy to get out of bed for hours.)

At about 4:30 I decided to take a quick shower to get the oil out of my hair from this morning’s treatment. Ten seconds after I’ve lathered up my hair, the phone in my room rings. After about 10 rings, they hang up, and ten seconds after that, the phone rings again…10 more rings. Ten seconds after it hangs up that time, the phone rings a third time…10 more rings. I step out of the shower, wrap a towel around my wet hair but can’t find one for my body, so I run to answer the phone stark naked. Just as I get to the phone, the person hangs up. Then as I’m walking back to the bathroom (still naked) someone rings the doorbell to my room (the doorbell located next to the door with the huge window). It is at this moment that I remember that I’ve left the front door unlocked, so I scream “GIVE ME A MI-NUTE! I’M NA-KED!!!!” as loud as humanly possible. and snatch the towel off my head, wrapping it around my body to run to the door.

Turns out, the doctor had been the one trying to call, and since I didn’t answer, he was worried I had passed out…or worse. Long story short, I am now the crazy American who yelled at the sweet lady that came running to check on me when the doctor thought I was in trouble.  Not my finest hour…to say the least.

THE TREATMENTS:
In the plus column, I’m one day out from the ghee treatment!  One weird thing: Even though I didn’t have any ghee yesterday, my taste buds were still in ghee overload. Everything I ate yesterday tasted like really oily fish, even the plain rice. I couldn’t eat a bite until dinner last night. Ack…it was awful. I’m much better today, though I’m absolutely exhausted. My heart feels so heavy — like it’s beating out of my chest. The doctor said it’s a combination of the stress from the ghee treatment and dehydration. Things are getting better every day, though. I just need to be patient — to hold on for about four more days. After that, the worst of this will be behind me. I can do that, right?

THE DOCTOR:
Dr. Sankar stressed the importance of letting my body rest a full three days because my reaction to the ghee was so severe. During that time, the ghee will continue its work in my system. On Friday, I will have my “cleansing day.” After the cleansing, things should be much more normal. I can hardly wait for the normal; just to eat a piece of fruit would be heaven. I am impatient by nature, but I’m learning to go more with the flow. At least I’m trying to learn it. In the meantime, I will be practicing patience, acceptance and relaxation…and letting the ghee do all the work.

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“Remember, diamonds are created under pressure so hold on, it will be your time to shine soon.” — Sope Agbelusi

Feb 14 (Day 12):
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
I’m really sad…like “little kid” sad. Why? It’s February 14th, and my husband and I aren’t together. For most couples, Valentine’s Day is just another fun holiday: you go out to dinner, you exchange gifts or cards and have a nice night together. But for Leon and me, Valentine’s Day is also our anniversary, so it’s a pretty big deal. Twelve years ago today, Leon proposed to me on the streets of Paris. And two years ago today, we moved there as man and wife. For us Valentine’s Day isn’t just a “greeting card holiday.”  It’s our day. I’m having a really hard time knowing that this is the first Valentine’s Day we will have spent apart since we met. It feels like a part of me is missing. Well…I guess a part of me is.

We knew when I came here that I would miss not only Valentine’s Day, but Leon’s birthday as well. But, we also knew that this was the only month all year when I could make this 28-day stay in Kerala work. Now, enough of the pity party — onto the good news.

THE TREATMENTS:
I am officially done with the ghee!  Hallelujah!  Evidently, there are three saturation levels to look for: the low point, the optimal point and the maximum point. I was at the low point yesterday morning, before my last dose of ghee. Sometime yesterday afternoon, after my last dose of the ghee, I blew right past the optimum point and slid into the maximum range. Honestly, I could have lived my whole life without that particular set of symptoms.

I got a metallic taste (like copper or iodine) in my mouth, and became incredibly sensitive to smells. Everything seemed to make me sick: the smell of the water in the flower vase, the maid’s cleaning supplies, the smell of my own hair, my own breath. Ugh…the nausea just wouldn’t go away. Then I started shaking and got a terrible headache. The worst bit was how hard my heart started beating…like it was trying to pump butter through my veins instead of blood; I’ll admit, that part freaked me out. Then, early evening, the diarrhea started; I ran to the bathroom 12 times yesterday. I am so grateful that this is all over with (at least for now).

THE DOCTOR:
The doctor said this morning that he pushed my ghee one more day so that I could feel the saturation. He was worried that if he didn’t push me to the point where the symptoms were severe, I might always wonder “Did I go far enough?” He figured being really sick for a day was worth my having the certainty that I had done all I could. I laughed out loud and told him I will NEVER wonder if I went far enough after yesterday. Never…Ever…Ever.

The upside is that today the symptoms are much better. I am still weak and exhausted, but I have my appetite back and am ready to go on from here. Dr. Sankar said that due to the severity of my reaction to that final dose of ghee, he wants to give my body a full three days to allow the ghee to work its magic in my system. Then, we’ll have the cleansing day. That is my last really difficult day, I think. After that, everything should get easier.

It’s so pretty outside today. The weather is much cooler than it’s been. Makes me wish Leon were here with me, just so we could sit under the coconut trees together and soak up the view of the lake. But he’s in meetings all day, so we’ll have our Valentine’s-Anniversary-Birthday on the Saturday night I return home.  (I can hardly wait!)  I miss him so much it makes my stomach ache…Or maybe that’s the ghee.

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“The minute I read my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” — Rumi

Feb 13 (Day 11):

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life.” — Anne Rolphe

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
This cleansing process is such an emotional roller coaster. I suppose it’s because we have so much time here to think…to feel. My friend, Emil’s grief over losing his wife is running over him like a train. I wish there were something I could do, but I know better. This is the process of grieving — of life and death. Right now, Emil is working through it. He keeps remembering his life with Maria, their entire life together. He said it plays like a movie in his head…Over and over, from beginning to end.

I know that grief is necessary and sacred, that it is connected to all the love he feels for her and to all the love she felt for him. This misery is the work of grief — to allow us to break, to crack apart in order to let the light sneak its way back in to our souls, so that we can rebuild our lives. But I am heartsick for my beautiful friend. I’m just thankful that the doctors are here to see him through it. I pray they can help. And I pray that even if I don’t find the right words, he’ll feel my love for him, and that will help him somehow, if only to make him realize that he isn’t alone. Please Lord, lay your hand over the heart of my friend and bring him peace. Amen.

THE TREATMENTS:
8am – Day four of the bitter ghee…What was I thinking, coming here? Dr. Sankar said that I’m starting to show saturation signs. I must say, I agree.  I feel like I’m drowning in butter. I’m so nauseated that I’m afraid to open my mouth for fear I’ll throw up. It feels like I have oil leaking out through my eyes. Seriously, I could hardly make myself drink the stuff today. It’s like you’re drinking motor oil. This better be it for the ghee. I’m as good a sport as the next girl, but I think I’ve reached my limit.

THE DOCTOR:
2pm – Everything got more intense this afternoon. Dr. Sankar was very sweet though, and reassuring. I was so sick I couldn’t get out of bed: headache, extreme nausea, sensitivity to smells, the taste of copper in my mouth, and worse, my heartbeat became very hard and heavy. Anyway, Dr. Sankar and his wife, Poornima, came to my room, took my blood pressure and said I have gone all the way past the optimal saturation point and into the maximum range. It’s a good thing too…I can’t drink any more of that stuff again tomorrow. Just the thought of ghee makes me cry.

I’m done with ghee! I can’t even tell you how happy that makes me. Now, as far as I’m aware, my body rests for a day or two while the ghee does its work. After that, comes the last, difficult phase of the treatment. It’s a day they call “the cleansing.” That is the day they force all of the toxins out of your body after the ghee has had a chance to do its work.”  (I’m not going to think about that right now though or I’ll start crying again.)

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, a day that celebrates taking care of the people you love. I’m hoping that tomorrow will mark the beginning of my learning to love myself…putting Grace first.  Leon is always telling me to do that, but I can never seem to manage it.

TODAY’S PRAYER: Dear God, I pray I will learn how to love myself, to care for myself with the same devotion I show everyone else in my life. To learn that skill in this beautiful place filled with strangers who love me and wish me well would be a blessing I would treasure for the rest of my life.

Feb 12 (Day 10):
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
Hallelujah! I am on DAY 10: I am now officially a third of the way through my treatment! This morning was much easier than yesterday; I wasn’t nearly as hungry or nervous. The doctor was right…The calories from the ghee really stay with you. Another fun thing, they changed my hot water from cumin to ginger; I can’t tell you what a difference that makes. The ghee is making me a little loopy though, so I hope these articles still make sense.

THE TREATMENT:
I am also on day three of the “bitter ghee phase” of the treatment. (And, yes, that’s what they call it!) They increased my dose of ghee again, so today I drank about a third of a cup of the stuff. Let me tell you, it’s really tough to keep drinking  warm butter for that long. The doctor said that saturation symptoms should start to appear in the next day or so: headaches, nausea, sensitivity to smells and heat, even possible vomiting. What’s even more intimidating is that he wants me to continue the ghee for at least another day or two if possible; I just hope I can hold out.

THE DOCTOR:
Today, Dr. Sankar gave me some pretty cool insights on how the three doshas (bio-elements) manifest in the human body, comprising each person’s general constitution and well-being.

The doshas are the biological energies found throughout the human body and mind. These three bio-elements, known as vata, pitta and kapha, govern all of the physical and mental processes inside each of us. When one element overpowers the others, it can lead to problems not only with our health, but also with our satisfaction in life and ultimately, our happiness.

Vata people (just like the air and space that they resemble) tend to be very fast and changeable. Think of an Indian motorbike cutting in and out of traffic, always shifting and moving. These people are usually slender…more wispy-looking…like birds. Usually very enthusiastic, these people are very high energy, and always tend to embrace change, especially changing their surroundings. A career well-suited for the this type of personality? They make great purchasing agents and are well suited for any career that requires a lot of travel, as they always enjoy new environments and challenges.

People who have an over-abundance of vata energy sometimes won’t take the necessary time to develop a plan or think through their actions. As a result, they can make a lot of mistakes. Health issues you sometimes see when vata energy overpowers the other two doshas? Drying/cracking skin, tremors and shaking, osteoporosis, ADHD or general inability to focus.

Pitta people (with a constitution similiar to fire) are more like a race car. Think gasoline: hot, fast, and fierce. These people see things in black and white. The want things to be precise. Pitta people make great critics. They are also great managers because of their attention to detail. Additionally, they always want things to be visually appealing; beauty is very important to them.

Because pitta is a fire energy it always wants more: pushing, pushing, pushing. When a person has an excess of pitta energy, they want everything their way. Physical symptoms of an over-abundance of pitta are acidity, ulcers, oozing, skin problems. People with a predominantly pitta constitution also loathe heat…they want the temperature to be cold. (Makes sense since they’re on fire all the time.)

Kapha people, (with more water and earth energy) tend to be more grounded. Think of an SUV. Or even better, think of an elephant: big brain, great memory, slow and steady. These people work hard and get things done. The body type associated with kapha people is more sturdy-looking; they look as though they are built for work. (Dr. Sankar says that I have a Kapha Constitution but an excess of pitta…Go figure.)  Once kapha people begin something, they tend to finish it. These personality types do not like change, however. Physical symptoms of an over-abundance of kapha are obesity, sluggishness, cough and cold, blood clots, blockage, thrombosis, even paralysis.

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“It is wisdom to know others; It is enlightenment to know one’s self.” — Lao-Tzu (6th Century B.C.)