Rima and Bert’s Continuing Ayurveda Adventures…
Start of Week Three
Previous posting: http://drrimatruthreports.com/dr-rimas-ayurvedic-adventures-continue/
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When I last stopped my blog (I had to go for a treatment, as I recall), I was just about to discuss how Ayurveda looks at specific diseases.
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Since there are, in that system, basic constitutional types, with subtypes upon subtypes upon subtypes and external and internal, historical, smaller and larger influences on those subtypes, they view disease and conditions as the natural outcome of the imbalances between those factors and disease diagnosis and subsequent correction, as well as health promotion, is based on bringing the factors that are out of balance into harmonious function.
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That means that, for example, heart disease is not the cause of angina, but the result of factors which will inevitably result in angina in a person with so and so susceptibility and history and balances and so on. Therefore, of course, the way to treat may include herbs or other treatments for the specific problem, but also, and more fundamentally, the discovery of what the imbalances are, what the factors keeping them from becoming harmonious balance of the factors.
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So really, considering the different language and the different tools available, there is a huge similarity between the way I practice medicine and psychiatry and the way the people here do it.
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In fact, today an Ayurvedic psychiatrist came along with our Ayurvedic physician, Dr. Aithal, to discuss his practice and interests and mine.
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Very interesting discussion.
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Now let me tell you about the change in my treatments and Gen. Bert’s.
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Last week the frying pan scouring stopped and I began having hot oil massages. Sounds gentle and soothing, right?
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Wrong.
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In fact, the two masseuses used enough pressure that if they had more English or I spoke the local language I would have been able to ask them to modify their technique, especially the end of each stroke when they decided that what they needed to do was penetrate my skin and muscle and massage the bones directly (well, that’s what it felt like!)
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But if I told them to lighten their pressure, they would have gone to what I believe is “foreigner default mode”: no pressure at all, just as if it were a lymphatic massage with less than 3 grams of pressure applied to the skin.
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I figured that they were doing what they were doing because they were supposed to so I just kept quiet and got some serious massaging, let me tell you.
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The oil was medicated to accomplish that harmonization I was telling you about and the process is designed to use the skin to allow the restorative and nutritive factors to enter the body.
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After being rubbed to pretty close to an inch of my life, it was back to the steam cabinet for 10 minutes.
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Do you like steam? I do not. But, gamely, I sat there. Happily, while the electric pressure cooker was generating steam and feeding it into the tube that brought it to the steam cabinet, the nice ladies put a pad of cotton on top of my head and poured what felt like ice water (although it was probably just regular temperature tap water) on top of my head. It cooled my scalp and ran down my sweaty, oily face.
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We like that. We really, really like that.
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After 10 loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong minutes, it was back to the treatment table for oil poured out of a special vessel over my forehead and massaged into my hair. Do you have any idea what a mess that makes of your hair? Neither did I before last week.
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I thought the rubby dubby scrubby powder in my hair plus the buttermilk with herbs was a frightful mess. It is, but NOTHING in comparison to the oil mess.
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HOWEVER, if it restores and nourishes, rejuvenates and regulates my body, digestive fires and other factors that will give me the perfect balance I need to enjoy life and continue my work at my breakneck pace, I’ll just buy more shampoo and conditioner!
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Gen. Bert had his oil massages modified so that balls made from of specially freshly fried herb leaves were pounded into his skin (he quite enjoyed that type of massage, he told me) to administer the herbal medication to him in the required fashion.
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His forehead received the oil treatment, too. His hair is short so his issues in that department are less.
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Last week he developed what both Drs. Mahesh and Aithal and I felt was a contact dermatitis to the oil that was being used so they changed it from safflower oil to coconut oil and gave him some herbal preparation for the intense and severe itching.
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That worked, along with the apis homeopathic provided by the homeopathic college.
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This week, we went back to the rubby dub dub scrubby deal for me and added a new treatment.
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One of the reasons I wanted to come here in terms of my health was that my ankles were mysteriously swelling up without any rhyme or reason. Since I know that such things should never be ignored, I thought I should make it a focus of my time here.
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Indeed, it got much better with animal protein, as I have previously mentioned, but still has been suddenly occurring, much to the puzzlement of all the doctors in the house, including me.
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So Dr. Aithal said he would treat it with Lepa, a goo of herbs known for their ability to resolve swelling, especially of the ankles.
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For three days, my ankles were coated with a hot paste before the other treatments were given and that was perfectly fine with me as it gave me a chance to breath and meditate while my ankles slowly did whatever they were going to do under their green and leafy decoration.
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Today we went for whole body Lepa. The green paste was offered to me on a spoon before we began the application process.
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Now I know that in Ayurveda and other types of herbal medicines, if it tastes bad to you, it is good for you so I had great trepidation about putting that gunk in my mouth. But in for a penny, in for a pound, as the Brits say, so I put it in my mouth.
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You know, on some rice or noodles, it would have made a great pesto – lots of garlic, parsley, probably an analogue of cilantro and some other stuff that really wasn’t bad at all.
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So when they began applying it to my entire body, with the exception of my face, but including my whole neck, I thought we were home free. Two hours lying coated in black green goo with a nice pesto-y smell did not seem too hazardous.
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Until the burning started.
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You see, there were also some herbs like turmeric which tasted just fine but burned in a gradually increasing fire until I really was not a happy camper since the campfire was me!
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I knew that I was supposed to let this stuff sit on me for a full two hours but after an hour and a half, I had had enough, thank you, and said so.
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But the masseuses were having a tea break (chapati break? samosa break? subgee break? not sure, but they were not in the room) so I was advised by the intern who accompanies me to all my treatments to please wait.
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I did. The eventually came back and performed the necessary step to allow the treatment to end: they pulled the step stool over to the side of the table.
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Why did I need them to do that when either the intern could have done so or I could just have hopped down from the table as I have done before — I have absolutely no idea. But off I got and made my way to the two large buckets of water and the cake of soap provided after each treatment.
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Now, funny thing is that they fill the water buckets from the tub/shower tap that is right there.
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Every time I turn on the shower they say, “Shower. Madam. No shower. Buckets, Madam!” I say, “Thank you. I like the shower. The shower is good.” and they walk away shaking their heads.
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After about 45 seconds, another lady comes in to tell me “Shower. Madam. No shower. Buckets, Madam!” and we repeat the process until I am finished.
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Then I take the clean towel provided, dry myself off and hotfoot it back to my lovely cottage where I take another shower, shampoo and get dressed for the day.
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During the day and the evening people drop by to ask how we are doing, how we like the food, what we need and to chat with us about all sorts of fascinating things.
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Edwin is here now. He is from the US and has been here for about 20 years.
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He is an expert in open source networking and teaches at Alva University’s College of Engineering.
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He is a passionate devotee of open source and of many other fascinating approaches to the world.
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Right now he and Gen. Bert are comparison brewing our organic coffee from Panama and local peaberry coffee from this area grown without chemicals.
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We shall see what we shall see with our taste buds.
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I do not know where you can get Edwin’s peaberry coffee, but you can get our new organic crop here: www.ValleyoftheMoonCoffee.com.
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And you should!
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Yours in health and freedom,
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Dr. Rima
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Here are all the Reports:
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http://drrimatruthreports.com/ayurvedic-adventures-coming-to-an-end-or-just-beginning
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http://drrimatruthreports.com/dr-rimas-ayurvedic-adventures-continue/ (March)
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http://drrimatruthreports.com/dr-rimas-ayurveda-adventures-continue/ (February)
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http://drrimatruthreports.com/continuing-ayurveda-adventures-start-of-week-three/
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http://drrimatruthreports.com/dr-rima-and-gen-bert-on-their-way-to-india/