7-Day Ayurvedic Rejuvenation Retreat in Bali - my thoughts

Authentic Ayurvedic Centre run by doctors from Kerala, India on the ourskirts of Ubud, Bali, Amrtasiddhi has welcomed us with traditional Bailanese hospitality.

I chose this time to come for 7 days only as a quick digestion reset and muscular and nervous system rejuvenation. There were five of us in a group and not a single person was treated the same.

I was persued by the Doctor during our initial consultation to kick off with the 2-day Soup fast to reset my Pitta digestion. I have accumulated too much fire in my system and in Ayurveda fire needs to be expelled from the body before it starts burning out the tissues and create further health issues. My soup fast followed by Decoction Enema and then I would continue with more variable but yet wholesome vegan diet and rejuvenating oil treatments.

In the morning for 2 days I would have some variety of clear vegetable soup which was delicious and satisfying. Generally by then I would have had my morning swim and hatha yoga session, now light breakfast and prepare for the treatments.

Generally sunrise was about 5.30ish and by 5.45am I was greeating sunlight by the pool sometimes visited by the monkeys from the nearby Monkey forest. This was one of my favourite things.

We were extremely lucky to have a master yoga teacher who led 6.45am yoga hatha class and 8am restorative yoga class for those who were taking ghee and going through deeper detox pregrams.

Delightful yoga hall with morning yoga sessions and evening meditation or yoga nidra classes.

Everyone gets 1,5-2hrs daily treatments. Here is my schedule as an example (Everyone's program is different which really impressed our little group):

Day 1- Abhyanga oil massage + Ubtan (herbal full body scrub) + Shirodhara (Oil flow over your head for deep relaxation)

Day 2 - Abhyanga oil massage + Elakizhi herbal heated bags to treat muscular pain areas + Ksheeradhara (Milk flow over your head to cool and relax), I think these was also Steam in the steam bath

Day 3 - Herbal Detox Enema in the morning, then in the afternoon Abhyanga oil massage + Ksheeradhara and Elakizhi

Days 4-7 - Pizichill (this is a king of treatments and cant' really be experienced in Australia as it will be extremely expensive - approx. 3L of sesame medicated herbal warm oil is poured over you and massaged - this feels like an absolute treat and calms any body aches; it was preceeded by Ksheeradhara treatment

As if this wasn't enough there are lots of spas around where you can get an extra facial or a foot massage for complete indulgance.

Ed had his own program with the 3-day Soup fast and liver flush. This was his first time to experience an Ayurvedic treatment and he was blown away by how well he felt throughout the whole program.

Highlights:

• 5 star vegan wholesome meals - I haven't experienced this level of individualised prescribed food as medicine

• gentle nature of Balianese therapists - I could truly relax during my treatments which doesn't happen often for me

• professionalism and urgency of care by Doctors

• this place runs like a well oiled machine - if your treatment is scheduled for 10.15, it will start at 10.15

• staff can't do enough for you and this place completely represents the good nature and beauty of Bali

I will be back, hopefully next year - to be decided whether to do 7-day Rejuvenation and 14-day Panchakarma deeper Ayurvedic detox.