I’m really enjoying this. I talked briefly with my therapist about my experience yesterday, then I asked him his name. He told me and tried to get me to pronounce it correctly. I think I did pretty well. There’s a vowel where you have to curl your tongue just the right way. We also talked a bit about where he is from in India and when he came here to the US. I asked him about the six therapies that I am getting:

Elakizhi: Medicated leaves used to treat all sorts of degenerative ailments and arthritis. A kind of sudation therapy using medicated leaves. The proportion of ingredients varies according to the symptoms of the diseases.

[That’s the one I thought was sandbags. It’s really hot bags with herbs in them.]

Abhyangam (Uzhichil): External Oleation Therapy with Medicated Oils. Abhyangam is a popular Ayurvedic therapy which is done with a combination of specially prepared Ayurvedic herbal oils & applied all over the body stimulating the vital points.

[All over. They really mean all over.]

Kadi Vasti: This is an ancient treatment for healing back pain. Warm medicinal oils are retained by a dough dam placed over the lumbar or thoracic region of the back. Anti-inflammatory herbs such as St. John's Wort and Nirgundi and nervine tonics such as Brahmi are used to heal and strengthen the tissue.

Swedana: An herbal steam treatment to release impurities from the skin and soothe aching muscles and joints. This treatment allows the body to perspire and release impurities from the skin.

[This time my feet were in a puddle of my own sweat. But I talked as a distraction. See below.]

Brahma Nasyam: This Panchakarma procedure helps in clearing the sinuses and alleviating the pain in face, head and neck. It also helps to reduce dark circles and puffy look around the eyes. This is an Ayurvedic Panchakarma therapy that involves an invigorating head massage followed by herbal steam inhalation and the application of hot towels. Herbal nasal drops are then administered to loosen, melt and release mucus from the sinus passages.

[I’m still releasing.]

Yoga Vasti: Vasti is the most important of all the therapies in Panchakarama. It is effective for degenerative ailments and digestive disorders. Vasti is an excellent treatment to mitigate all the doshas and helps to alleviate vata predominant diseases. It is also a rejuvenating therapy, helps to purify the body, maintain health and longevity. This is a treatment in which specially prepared medicated oil or herbal decoction is provided to the client for internal cleaning along with proper guidance for its use. This is provided at the end of relevant treatment.

[“Provided to the client…” I like that. It’s an enema. I think they meant, “In the end…”]

The above descriptions are from the facility’s website.

During the steam bath I asked the therapist about where he came from. He took out his iPhone and showed me three tourism videos. It looked like a most spectacularly beautiful place. I asked him if he was going back (as in, “why would you come here!”). He said that he would see how things went here.