It is possible to get a good quality ayurvedic health treatment in South India, fully personalized, without checking into an overpriced 5 star ayurveda resort designed for tourists.

When you are in Kerala, there is a very high chance that great ayurvedic doctors are just around the corner. He or she does usually not reside in a luxury retreat but is a doctor running their own health clinic, just as your general practitioner or homeopathic doctor in your city would be. Choosing a smaller clinic most probably results in more authentic ayurvedic treatments than in the expensive resorts with access to beaches. You can go for the treatment of a specific chronic illness, or just do a general detox and rejuvenation program.

How to find these clinics? Either you get a recommendation from your friends, or you start trying them out yourself. I have tried both and found a small clinic, Ayurjani Ayurvedic Hospital, run by a woman doctor in Kochi, Dr. Lekha Dharsak, which I highly recommend. They have mostly customers from Kochi itself but do also accommodate guests from out of town. You can even stay at the hospital in simple guest rooms and food is cooked for you. A pharmacy is set up for ayurvedic medicine and the herbal mixes for the treatments are prepared in their special metal pots in the kitchen, slowly steaming 24 hrs a day.

As usual in India, you are fully looked after and pampered, and there are no questions going unanswered at this hospital. After two, three days you start feeling like part of the family and knowing the place like your home. Extremely helpful staff under the attentive eyes and ears of general manager Shanoj Stanly and very able therapists guide you through a program designed after your personal health requirements.

I took a 7 day treatment, which I had already reserved ahead of my stay. But I recommend taking more time, at least 14 days, even better 21 days. I combined the treatment with my visit of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, so I took the treatment in the morning and evening, going out during afternoon hours. If one can concentrate entirely on the treatment that is even better. I liked the combination, as I always need some food for thought as well, while I give my body some attention.

The treatment starts with a health check with your doctor, where you are asked an entire catalogue of questions, including about your digestive system. Blood pressure will be checked, and depending on your health condition some blood tests need to done. The blood test is provided at the clinic itself. The results arrive very quickly and immediately after they are in, the therapy starts. You get ayurvedic treatment sessions, which last one hour or one hour and a half each. After and before that you need to rest for one hour; before and after resting you eat. So one treatment cycle easily takes four hours – including eating and resting.

You eat breakfast, served to your room – freshly cooked idly with veggies and papadam – you rest, treatment, rest, eat lunch – a thali with veggies, rice and roti. You drink hot water with cumin seeds all day and there are no sweets and no alcohol., smoking is not permitted. The simple vegan food is part of the therapy. Along with the meals (or before and after) you take herbal ayurvedic medicine. Two entire cycles of treatments will last eight hours. It is recommended not to be in the sun during the entire time you undergo therapy, so stay in the shade or indoors. Also take it easy on sports – swimming or running are out, light walks are fine. It changes your routine and shakes you up a little bit, but the healing starts after that, so you will feel the energy come back after the entire treatment is finalized.

Since there is a lot of different massages followed by resting time, your body softens and has time to recover, also you can do some reading while resting or just doze or sleep. I used most of the resting time to catch up on my reading. I got up early, did some breathing exercises and yoga before breakfast on the rooftop, and finished in the evening with some breathing exercises and went to bed early.

Your daily schedule will look about like this:

6 am get up, drink hot water

6.30 – 7.30 pranayama and yoga

7.30 am ayurvedic medicine before food

8 am breakfast

8.30 am rest

9.30 am ayurvedic treatment

11 am rest

12 noon lunch

1 pm medicine after food

afternoon is free time

5 pm ayurvedic treatment (finalizes before the sun goes down)

6 pm rest

7 pm dinner

8 pm medicine after food

8.30 pm pranayama

9 pm sleep

Your day is quite structured and as you follow it for severals days it becomes your cherished routine.

I guess it would be wise to continue doing an ayurvedic treatment at least once a year. I have not been sick the entire six months after the treatment.