Episode 4
Location: Carnoustie Ayurveda & Wellness Resort, Mararikulam, Kerala 688530
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A sense of serious intent pervades Carnoustie from its manicured gardens to your personal schedule for next day’s treatments delivered to your villa each evening. You arrive in one condition hoping to leave in a better one – and you probably will, thanks to the resident cohort of doctors, professors and other highly experienced specialists who are devoted to improving human wellness.
There are three kinds of people who seek a wellness hotel: annual returnees with a specific medical purpose, people escaping their frantic lives (‘they know they need out but not precisely how’), and those seeking a holiday resort experience. Carnoustie belongs firmly in the first category. Their guests may seek relief from arthritis or skin disorders to chronic exhaustion, diabetes, high cholesterol, stress, depression and other lifestyle disorders. 50% stay three weeks (the minimum stay is two weeks), 95% are non-Indians.
The hotel sets the tone. Well-drilled staff are abundant, the restaurant is fairly formal, there’s no liquor license and no buzzy informal café. For action, take a 50-minute drive north to Kochi’s historic buildings, Kerala culture and lively cafés.
At Carnoustie, achieving wellness is not a quick fix. First, a consultation which, in accordance with pregathi, assesses your diet, living and sleeping habits, metabolism and more. Then, tailor-made pranika healing treatments are scheduled which, through Ayurveda methods, remove and eliminate toxins, stimulate the vital force, boost immunity, and achieve mental and physical wellbeing. Finally, guests continue some of these at home.
Practicing a healing exercise on the beach through slow sunset is a must-do!
Carnoustie buzzwords: daily structure, naturopathy, Marma therapy
Ideas for unpacking your kind of slow-down wellness at Carnoustie
Drink in the goodness of forest bathing in the tranquility of your villa, one of just 26 spread over 25 lushly-planted acres beside the Arabian Sea.
Enjoy a pink and apricot sunset as you sway to the rhythm of the waves or practise some yoga to complete a day's rebalancing treatments.
Regain your vitality through naturopathy, based on the five elements - earth, fire, water, air and space - to take control of an A-Z from allergies and fatigue to insomnia and weight.
Breath, breath, breath the pure sea air as you practice pranayama (breath control) to achieve better health and harmony, and complete your day's wellness treatments and activities.
Take your Carnoustie experience home, then expect full results after six months. As one doctor put it, ‘Ayurveda is a lifestyle science it is necessary to learn through exercise, diet and sleeping disciplines, with yoga to teach concentration’.
Episode 5 visits Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh, where the sacred Narmada River offers wellness of many kinds.
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Join me in finding your idea wellness experience
As we emerge into a more cautious world, my 2021 small group tour will be suffused in wellness and controlled interaction. In a month of slow travel, you pick and mix your selection from four week-long, in-depth visits to four South Indian spotsI especially love - plateau, coast, forest and delta. Our hotels offer scrupulous hygiene, we avoid crowds.
If you have not traveled with me before.....
Please know that we experience great sights in the best possible way, with lots of add-on encounters and visits to off-beat places. We meet conservationists, curators, craftsmen and musicians, we walk with naturalists, we cook with local chefs. In sum, we imbibe the essence of each area thanks to my four decades of studying and visiting India - and making great friends who I share with you.
I also create tailor-made trips to all corners of India, for all budgets, for all interests and special needs, for families and parties of friends, for business groups and for honeymoon couples - India is idea for everyone!