Week 2

During the second week of my traditional medicine program, I spent Monday through Thursday at the keivalyadhama yoga place. On Monday I went to the 'basic' yoga class in the morning (easy, slow stretching). In the late morning I met with Dr Bhalekar to learn about the general aims of a yogic lifestyle (in short: 'cortical exercise' to develop the brains cortex, where intellect is found, and to use that to modulate adverse effects of limbic (emtional) signals to the body- think chronic stress etc). That was pretty cool because he was talking about abunch of papers that show differing levels of stress hormone, neurotransmitters etc. I was also able to experience an 'oil application and local steam' a naturopathic treatment for backpain. I believe she said it's supposed to release stiffness and toxins. Felt pretty good, but not going to cure me I don't think. That evening I went to the yoga 'therapy' class which I found tone very much like the basic class. After that was my first class in Pranayam, where we learned a few of the breathing techniques and tried them out. Tuesday was very similar. I went to the advanced yoga classes, which were much more to my liking. We did some sun salutations, and more difficult poses. There was still rest time between each set of poses, and a lot of stretching poses to keep it traditional (would have been very tiring otherwise, like the yoga in the US). dr bhalekar talked about Pranayam and it's physiological and psychological effects. My treatment on Tuesday was a 'water massage', which was just abathtub with jets. But that was nice too. Wednesday we talked about specific yoga asanas and the different things that effect each pose. My treatment that day was a mud bath. The lady took me to the mud bath 'room' which is a roofless room outside. The mud comes from a special place where they have to dig 3ft deep. Then they allow the mud to dry and turn it into a powder. When a patient comes, they add a bit of water to make it into a thin paste and then smear that on the skin. It's a nice exfoliation, and gave me a way to stand in the sun without burning, but i'm not sure it did much for my back pain. Thursday was the last day and the doc wasnt around. Thursday I got a local (back) massage. Wednesday and Thursday we had Tratuk instead of (but actually includes) pranayam. The whole week was pretty cool to 'live the yogic lifestyle' and learn about the science behind it (science that came after the practice). The diet at the place and yogic lifestyle seem to at least make people lose weight (even I lost weight, their food is somewhat lacking of protein, and flavor..) so I'm happy to be back eating at the guest house since then. Friday we went to a place called Herbal Hills, which is an organic farm. On the way there, Aruns car was overheating, so he pulled over and called Farooq to drive me the rest of the way on his motorcycle. The owner gave me a tour of the place. They have one area for herbs (including mint, ginger, stevia- which I ate a leaf of, and it really tastes sweet. There was also a plant that is used for colds and throat problems than made my mouth all tingly which was kind of cool). Then he showed me the Gir cows, which are used for their milk to make Ghee, which is like butter kind of but supposed to be less cholesterol. The cows have a weird hump over their shoulders which he said is supposed to help make vitamins? Not too sure, his English wasn't very good. They then use the manure to make fertilizer, and harness the methane gas as biofuel to run the place. They have flower, vegetable, and fruit plants as well. That was a short day. Audrey and I went to Lonavla to make more passport/visa copies (seems everyone we interact with needs one), got some money from the ATM, and a flash drive for pictures. When we got back, 15 of the Australians doing the Film and Media program in Mumbai came to stay here for the weekend.