01.06 what's your dosha?

i begin my day with a swig from the bottle of good ole safi syrup.

also known as liquid hell.

safi is a blood purifier made with 24 natural essences, and the most vile tasting concotion ever. i've been instructed take it every morning by the doc at the ayurvedic centre to help fix the trouble he found in my solar plexus during my reflexology treatment...

according to the label, safi cures skin blemishes, rashes, nose bleeding, eruptions, measles, burning fiery pee (the label says micturition!!), and general lassitude (also known aas a state of comatose stupor). yes, that's right! safi to the rescue!

the label omits any mention of my poor solar plexus. but i'll forge ahead. aside from tasting like tar and gasoline, i'm sure it can't do much harm.

the dosha
i found an interesting introduction to the three main categories of body type according to the ayurveda. ayurveda, the science of life, focuses on mainatining a healthy spirit, body and mind. the categories are called doshas - there's vata, pitta and kapha. each one represents a combination of two elements, from air, fire and water. most people have one or two dominant doshas and one or two 'recessive' ones.

i'm mainly vata (air and space), with some pitta and less kapha, so i'm vatta-pitta-kapha. according to the most revered ayurvedic text, the Charaka Samhita, the characteristics of vata dosha are:

:dry and rough (rookshaha); cool (sheetoha); light--lacking weight (laghuhu); very tiny, penetrating molecules (sookhshmaha); always moving (chalota); broad, unlimited, unbounded--akash means unbounded space (vishadaha); and rough (kharaha).

....vata tend to be thin, with a slender frame and prominent joints, delicate skin that is naturally dry, and dry voluminous hair. They are quick and lively in thought, speech and action, and make friends easily. There is an element of airiness to their step, a quality of lightness in their laughter. Change is usually their second name. They are light sleepers and gravitate towards warm environments. Creativity and enthusiasm are hallmarks of balanced Vata.

it goes on to describe the lifestyles and the diets preferred by my fellow "vatans". normally i would pooh-pooh all this but as i read more, i'm agreeing with a lot of what it says. i'm like a kid learning about electricity and conductivity for the very first time. shabash!! no more the ayurvedic virgin. i'm hooked.

to find out your dosha or your natural state of "prakruti", use this great online test.

the dosha descritptions, lifestyle and balancing diets are also interesting.

there is a separate "vakruti" or imbalance test and lifestyle, exercise and diet on how to get you back to your optimal state.

amazing stuff... just no mention of the magical safi syrup...

12.31 reflexology

so the vision therapy is going well and today after my yoga class, i decided to book myself in for a reflexology treatment at the ayurvedic centre. they have an ear treatment that they will perform after to help me get well and hopefully unplug my poor little ears.

reflexology is the art of using the pressure points on the bottom of your feet to identify parts of the body that are out of balance and need healing. i've surprisingly never had this done before, so i am excited to see what i will find out.

i get interviewed by the doctor and then he and shreeja start the treatment. lying on the table, i am supposed to tell shreeja when i feel any pain as she proceeds to skewer spots along the bottoms of my feet with her fingertips.

i occasionally yelp and each time it's documented in a little notebook. the painful spots are really painful! at the end of the session, i get the results: right foot: top of the head, sinuses, eye, ear, stomach and solar plexus. left foot: top of the head, eyes, ear, stomach. solar plexus?! on google i learn the solar plexus, or 3rd chakra is linked to the abdomen, diaphragm and stomach.

i leave the presribing to the doctor, who brings shreeja and another therapist to work on my ears and throat.

ear procedure...
i am lying back on the table, for another hot oily massage, this time restricted to my face, ears, and throat area. as shreeja works on me, the other therapist is heating something on a fire at the other end of the room. out comes a long wooden tube resembling a wooden flute. my head is turned so that i am looking to the side and one end of the tube goes in my ear, extending straight up to the ceiling. the thing that was being heated is a special oil. a mound of tight cotton is dipped in this oil, and the dipped end is set on fire. the fire goes out, leaving the end smoking.

two drops of heated oil are put into my ear, and then the smoke is then applied or blown into the end of the stick and forced down into my ear. shreeja begins massaging my ear and surrounding area rigourously. more smoke, more massage. the same thing happens on the other side. i wonder if this can possilbly make me deaf. then they lift my head and put a couple of drops of this oil into each nostril, and massage my nose and throat before making me inhale the thick grey smoke curling out of the cotton. i almost choke, it's too much. before i know it, it's all over.

the doctor walks over and asks me how i feel. trying to be polite, i say, i'm okay, but that my throat is burning from the smoke. the three of them smile and shreeja takes me into the ensuite bathroom, hands me a bunch of tissue and tells me to blow my nose and cough up the smoke. i expunge all that i can from all orfices, eyes tearing and throat like sandpaper.

i head back to the guest house and take a nap before dinner and heading to the beach... surprisingly, after just an hour of sleep, my ears feel so much better!

12.30 oil me up - but hold your fire

still feeling crappy (my ears are blocked since yesterday morning's flight so i worry), i book myself in for yoga and a massage tonight at the ayurvedic centre in the french quarter.

after yoga, i meet a young venezuelan woman who has just gotten a massage - very good, she says, i am in for a treat.

shreeja is my massage therapist, and takes me into the massage room where i am asked to undress. off go the clothes, i go on the table.

shreeja begins by pouring what feels like a barrel of heated oil on me and rubbing me all over. the ayurvedic massage boosts the body's natural healing systems (rather than working the knots out of tired and stressed out muscles). it's all about circulation, working along the body's long meridians and boosting the immune system. let's just say that shreeja is very thorough - i didn't know that certain areas of the body had anything to do with healing! she is under the impression that i am 24 years old - a compliment coming from someone who is presiding over your naked 32 year old ass!

after about an hour i am a hot shining mound of brown clay. i ask shreeja to take a photo of me (fully intending to have her shoot me shoulders up). i am amused. she looks simply horrified! i need the doctor's permission for her to take my picture! i would have done it myself if it was easy enough to do. but feeling the urgent need to de-slick myself, i showered with three rounds of soap (the shampoo never did cut the grease on my head) and called it a night. looking back i could have snapped a shot before showering, but i was afraid of the camera getting yucky or slipping from my hands.

so did it work? well i don't exactly feel better yet. i'm considering coming back tomorrow if the ears don't unplug themselves.