Jelly

The pharmacy of this hospital is the gardens themselves.

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Most unusual is this beautiful dominating tree bearing these bright green pods, which are larger than plantains.

Sanskrit name: Moca, Salami
Tamil name: Illavu
English name: Red Silk Cotton Tree
Important uses: healing blood impurities and wounds

My body is feeling like jelly this week as I am going through the "intensive treatment" segment of my stay here. I feel high on endorphins from the Dhara and Pizichil treatment.

The Dhara is a procedure where cool medicated oil from a pot above the head is poured in a steady lullaby-like stream onto the forehead for an hour by 2 therapists. The oil absorbing into my head and the gentle rocking motion activate the nervous system. The doctors say the results are permanent in conjunction with all the other lifestyle changes we make here daily.

Simultaneously, the Pizichil treatment involves 4 therapists squeezing warm medicated oil from cotton cloths onto the entire body from a certain height and then rubbing it off.  This is done with 3 liters (yes) of medicinal oil that has been formulated for my ailments. I'm basically swimming in the oil. The oil is continually warmed, squeezed and rubbed in for one hour. It's not really a massage - it's more of an oil application. The nature of the oil is to penetrate through the skin and through all the bodily tissues and eventually into the bones and blood. The effect detoxifies and thus temporarily weakens the immune system so the impurities can come out.

Yes, do the math - that means 6 women are working on me in my little loin cloth at the same time - a bit awkward at first, but then I just surrender to it all.

After my treatments, I feel euphoric as prana flows, unblocked, through my body. Very powerful. After my first day of the treatment, I sat on the veranda and stared at a tree for about an hour completely relaxed. Present yet wonderfully "zoned-out".

During this intensive treatment (7-10 days for us), we are restricted to our cottage and veranda as our bodies become very weak and we could catch illnesses very easily. This uhhh...."quarantine" is fine by me because I've morphed into an incredibly tired zombie in a blissful trance. So tired, weak and relaxed. Stairs are difficult, even for someone as active as me who's used to jogging and doing yoga daily. The weakness is temporary during this part of our treatment. I'm drinking in all these changes in my body and the toxins freely come out. Let's hope the stay out. Besides, at least hubby's enjoying the entertainment of watching me in my stupor-like state stumbling around the cottage and running into walls.