Ayurveda – mid-term check-in

I have never been massaged this much and this consistently in my life. I also think my body hasn’t seen as much as oil as it has in the last 5 days in the previous 30+ years. Literally every day I get a full-body massage (this is actually less of a massage but rather two people rubbing your body down with the aim of getting toxins out of your body), a back massage, a head massage (which leads to accelerated hair loss, thank you very much), sometimes a foot massage and a foot bath. Obviously for everything but the foot bath they use monstrous amounts of darkish oil. I also brush my teeth with ayurvedic toothpaste and wash my hair (the remainder) with ayurvedic shampoo. Talk about total immersion.

Does this help anything? Heck, I don’t know, but I can tell you that the food is splendid (while being healthy) and the location really helps you wind down. I am thoroughly enjoying doing nothing but reading, sleeping, watching the occasional Netflix, observing the wildlife around and writing. Yesterday afternoon’s boat tour was almost stressful in comparison but delivered some epic sunset shots.

Could I be doing this for 3 weeks as some of the guests here are? No, sir.

Does it provide a health benefit? I certainly think so. I think this is mostly derived from eating healthy and fresh and avoiding toxic substances for a while and less so from the treatments, but on the other hand my back does feel better. I talked to one of the therapists here the other day and he explained the different trees standing right in front of us. They literally make a paste or soup or something out of almost everything here and use it to achieve some sort of health benefit. Pretty amazing. Life expectancy in Sri Lanka (blended) is 75 years. Compare that to Germany with 81 and the USA with 78,7 (Source: World Bank/WHO via Google). Not that bad given the low level of hygiene in the country. They must be doing something right over here.